Chapter 3

Grant stared at me like he was seeing a stranger.

He crushed his cigarette into the ashtray. "Claire, don't push me. After the divorce, I’ll let you keep the lion’s share of the profits from the joint projects between Mercer Group and Bennett Technologies. Is that enough?"

"I don't want your charity," I said. "I want you to return what was never yours to begin with."

His expression darkened. "You’ve done well with your parents' company these past few years, I’ll give you that. But do you really think you can go to war with me?"

"All it takes is me pulling Bennett out of the CivicGrid Smart City Platform. I transfer the core contracts and supplier resources to Hale Dynamics. Can your company’s cash flow and investor expectations survive three months without it?"

I looked at him, genuinely disgusted. "My parents treated you like a son. Is this how you repay them?"

Grant looked away. "When millions are on the line, business is war. Keep this quiet, or I pull the CivicGrid contracts myself. I’ll maintain the suppliers. But if you escalate this publicly, investors will reassess the risk, and Bennett Technologies will be the first to drown in cash flow issues."

He paused, his voice dropping to a threat. "Think it over."

He turned and walked upstairs.

Soon, laughter echoed from the second floor. Leo’s, Tessa’s, and Grant’s. They sounded like a perfect, happy little family.

And I stood in the center of my own living room, feeling like an intruder. There was no place for me here anymore.

I walked out, got in my car, and drove down to the Seattle waterfront. The wind off Elliott Bay was biting, chilling me to the bone.

My phone buzzed. A barrage of iMessages from Tessa.

Claire, I’m so sorry. I know nothing I say matters now.

But I truly love Grant. He’s the only man who has ever genuinely cared for me.

You have your family’s company, your brains, your looks, and him. You’ve never known what it’s like to have no way out.

I have nothing. Just the pity you threw my way.

You said you’d give me whatever I needed to stand on my own.

Claire, all I want is him.

Please, just let us be happy.

A tear finally slipped down my cheek.

I remembered college. Grant was studying abroad. I got the call that my parents had been killed in a car crash. I collapsed on the way to the hospital, only to wake up and be told I had a tumor.

I thought my life was over. I went up to the roof of the campus library alone.

Tessa, my roommate, had noticed something was wrong and followed me. When she found out, she booked my specialists, held my hand through the biopsies, and cried with me when we found out the tumor was benign. She helped me handle my parents' funeral. She slept in a chair in my hospital room for a month after my surgery.

"You’re going to get through this," she had said, holding me. "I’m right here."

After graduation, I took over Bennett Technologies. Tessa moved back to her hometown and refused to hold down a real job. I offered her a position; she said corporate life was too hard. Worried she’d end up on the streets, I set up an auto-transfer to pay her rent and emergencies. I did that for eight years.

When her parents finally kicked her out to make room for her brother’s family, she had nowhere to go. I drove through the night to get her.

"Come work for me," I had told her. "I’ll teach you. You’ll learn to stand on your own."

I taught her how to read contracts, how to navigate office politics, how to never rely on anyone else.

And in the end, I had personally invited the rot into my own home.

I wiped my face, opened the Slack app on my phone, and navigated to the #All-Company-Announcements channel.

Announcement: Effective immediately, Tessa Quinn’s employment has been terminated due to ongoing performance issues and violations of company policy. Please direct all transition inquiries to the CEO’s office.

Send.

At that exact moment, my lawyer filed the divorce petition with the King County Family Court and formally served Grant.

I locked my phone and looked out over the bay. The wind was getting colder.