chapter 8
The next morning brought trouble.
Johnson Group’s legal department alerted us to a leak. Sensitive financial documents had been accessed from a side account linked to Emma’s property.
Michael’s expression darkened as he read the report.
“She used me,” he muttered.
His thoughts confirmed it.
I was such an idiot. She played me. And I let her. I endangered the company. I endangered Lily.
“Let me handle it,” I said, my voice low.
“But—”
“I’ve cleaned up worse messes.”
He looked at me with something between awe and shame.
She’s not just strong. She’s brilliant. And I don’t deserve her.
I stood and kissed his forehead.
“You don’t have to deserve me,” I said softly. “Just stop pushing me away.”
I called Emma that afternoon.
She answered on the second ring.
“Lily,” she said, voice saccharine. “Everything okay?”
“No,” I said. “But it will be. Because I’m giving you one chance to walk away quietly. Delete everything you accessed. And stay out of our business.”
There was a pause.
“Or what?” she asked finally.
I smiled. “Or I’ll make you the face of a corporate espionage scandal that’ll leave you blacklisted from every investment firm in the country.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.”
Click.
Later that night, Michael joined me in the garden behind the mansion. The same one we used to ignore.
He stood next to me under the old sycamore tree, hands buried deep in his coat pockets.
“She’s gone,” he said. “Resigned from everything. Even deleted me.”
“Good.”
He nodded. “Thank you. For protecting us.”
I looked at him.
“No,” I said. “Thank you. For finally choosing us.”
He took a step closer.
Don’t mess it up. Just say it. Tell her. It’s now or never.
“I love you, Lily.”
I looked up, shocked.
Then I smiled.
“I know.”
For a few precious weeks, everything seemed to settle into a rhythm that almost resembled peace.
Michael and I began to share the same space. Not just bedrooms and breakfast tables, but the subtle, silent things too. Unspoken looks, late-night teas, quiet smiles when no one was watching. His hand began to rest lightly on the small of my back as we walked through boardrooms. My coffee cup was always warm by the time I arrived at the office.
I no longer felt like I was living next to a stranger.
I was living with a man who, day by day, was unlearning how to run away from what he felt.
And I was beginning to let him in.
But peace in our world, especially one built on family alliances and corporate power plays, never lasted long.