Hate Notes: A Grumpy Boss Romantic Comedy, page 21
An hour later, we had a more complete picture, but everything we had admittedly relied on a healthy dose of assumptions. That was until Kora clapped her hands with satisfaction.
“Oh, hell yes,” Kora said, pulling up another file. “Look at this. They’re already drafting advertisements for the location to drum up a client for the hotel builds. The snakes even have the addresses in here. It’s our smoking gun, Ember. Show this to Davenport, and he’ll never give Cole his business.
My phone buzzed. A text from Orion.
Orion: We need to talk. There's something you should know about the Davenport contract.
I stared at the message, my throat tight. It was as if he could sense my own realization about his intentions. It was a bittersweet feeling. An hour ago, I felt like the worst person on Earth for what I did to him. Now? I felt like I had company. If Orion had really been planning something like this, I thought he was even lower than me.
I wondered if he was hoping to confess and ask my forgiveness. I remembered the way he had closed the door on me when I cried outside his mom’s apartment and felt my heart harden. If he knew he was hiding something like this, how could he just let me confess my own lies like that and say nothing?
"Ember?" Kora touched my arm. "You okay?"
"No," I admitted. "But I know what I have to do."
I pulled out my phone and dialed Eleanor's number. She answered on the second ring, her voice warm despite the late hour.
"Miss Hartwell? Is everything alright?"
"I need that meeting with Davenport. Tomorrow if possible." I glanced at Kora's screen, at the evidence of what would happen to those factories—Davenport's legacy—if either company got their way. "And I need to tell you both something you're not going to like."
"I'll make the arrangements," Eleanor said. "But Ember? Whatever you're planning... be careful."
I ended the call and looked at Kora. "Make copies of everything. I'm going to need proof when I blow this whole thing up."
"You realize this could end your career, right? Not just at Foster Real Estate, but anywhere in the industry."
"Maybe." I thought of Orion's text waiting for a response. "But some things are more important than careers."
"Like what?"
"Like doing the right thing," I said. "Even when it hurts."
Especially when it hurts.
For now, though, I had work to do.
39
ORION
Iwalked to work with Remmy early in the morning, my thoughts a chaotic mess. Last night, I should have told Ember I had my own confession. I knew it even then, but the gut punch of hearing her admit to betraying me had knocked the sense out of me for a couple minutes. My opportunity to come clean had passed.
I wasn't sure how things would go today at the office, or if she would even show up. But I knew I needed to fix this.
"You're extra broody this morning," Remmy said. "Something to do with your little lover's spat last night? I know you stormed out and went home when I asked at dinner, but will you at least tell me what happened now?"
So I did, glossing over certain details a brother shouldn't share with his sister. I was surprised it only took me a few minutes to summarize everything to her.
"So let me get this straight," Remmy said, eyes narrowed. "She finally came clean about everything, and you just... let her walk away? Without telling her your own secret about Davenport?"
"It wasn't that simple."
"Really? Because from where I'm standing, you both kept secrets. She owned up to hers. You chickened out."
I adjusted my tie, a nervous habit I thought I'd broken years ago. "The situations aren't exactly comparable."
"No? She took a job under false pretenses but ended up genuinely caring about the work and the people. You planned to exploit an old man's trust and destroy his legacy, but changed your mind because of her influence. Sounds pretty comparable to me."
Sometimes I hated how easily Remmy could cut through my defenses. "Fine. You have a point."
My phone dinged with a text from Moira.
Moira: Just received a formal invitation for tomorrow night. Eleanor Golding is hosting some kind of joint reception for Foster Real Estate and Northman Group at the Metropolitan. Davenport will be there to make an "important announcement." Did you know she and Davenport were old friends?
Eleanor Golding? Something about the timing and the fact that it was Eleanor Golding immediately made me suspect Ember. In fact, this had her fingerprints all over it. But what the hell was the point? Was it some kind of trap? Or was this her attempt to fix the damage she imagined she had caused?
"What is it?" Remmy asked, trying to peek at my screen.
"Eleanor Golding is hosting an event tomorrow night. Both companies, Davenport..." I trailed off as another text came through, this one from Roman:
Roman: I’m hearing Cole Northman believes Davenport is going to announce his final decision about which company to go with tomorrow night. He seems unusually confident. Should we be concerned?
I typed out another message to Ember.
Me: Can we speak before tomorrow night? Please.
Like my previous attempts since last night, it went unanswered.
"She's planning something," I said.
"Good." Remmy's voice was firm. "Maybe it's time somebody did. You two have been dancing around each other for weeks, both carrying secrets that are eating you alive. If she's making a move to fix things, you better be ready to meet her halfway."
"If she would just answer my calls—"
"Oh, like you gave her a chance to explain last night?" Remmy raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes you have to let things play out the way they need to, big brother. Even if it means losing a little control."
Control. That's what this had always been about, wasn't it? Controlling my image, my company, my emotions. And now Ember had thrown all of that into chaos.
The strange thing was, I wasn't sure I wanted that control back.
"I need to find her," I said. "Before tomorrow night."
"And if you can't?"
"Then I'll show up to this thing and trust that Ember knows what she’s doing. I owe her that much."
"You owe her more than that," Remmy said softly. "You owe her the truth. All of it."
She was right. The property transfer documents I'd thrown away might be gone, but the intent behind them—my willingness to destroy Davenport's legacy for profit—that guilt was still there. Just like Ember's guilt over Cole.
The difference was, she'd been brave enough to face it head-on.
Now it was my turn.
I just hoped I'd get the opportunity. That whatever she was planning for tomorrow night wouldn't destroy any chance we had of making this right.
Because for the first time in my life, I was ready to choose something more important than winning. I just needed her to give me one more chance to show her.
40
EMBER
Iarrived at the Metropolitan an hour early, my hands shaking slightly as I arranged the documents in my folder. The evidence of Cole's plans to demolish the factories was damning enough. But what truly made me sick was knowing Orion had planned the same thing.
When Kora and I broke into Cole's files, we'd also discovered communications with his lawyers about the same legal loophole Orion had intended to exploit. The property transfer documents would have given either company control after Davenport's death. The only difference was that Orion had apparently thrown his away.
Roman had accidentally confirmed it yesterday when I cornered him, guilty conscience making him spill everything about the documents Orion had discarded. It helped that he thought I already knew, given how close Orion and I had become. It also helped somehow that Orion hadn’t even tried to defend himself. In a way, it was frustrating and stupid that he wouldn’t just tell me he changed his mind. But it was also oddly noble and something I couldn’t help grudgingly respecting.
He knew what he did was wrong and maybe even unforgivable, so he hadn’t even tried to seek my forgiveness. He was willing to bear the cost of his choices, no matter how severe.
"Miss Hartwell?"
I turned to find Daniel, Orion's assistant, hovering nervously. "He's here. In the lobby. He's asking to speak with you before—"
"Thank you, Daniel." I straightened my emerald dress—the same one I'd worn the night Orion and I first kissed. I considered continuing to avoid him. I had managed it so far, ignoring every attempted phone call, text, and email. I hadn’t even let myself read them. I didn’t want anything to shake my confidence in what I was about to do.
But now? Now things were already in place, and there was no stopping this.
I also found my anger and disgust over what Orion wanted to do cooling rapidly ever since I found out he threw the documents away. He had changed. Yes, he made a mistake, but he changed. That had to mean something.
“Okay,” I said after a long pause. "Tell him I'll meet him by the east entrance."
I found Orion pacing near the ornate doorway, looking devastating in a perfectly tailored black suit. He stopped when he saw me, something raw and vulnerable crossing his face.
"Ember—"
I held up a hand. "Whatever you're planning to say, I already know. About the property transfer documents. About your original plans for the factories."
His jaw tightened. "How?"
"Does it matter? What matters is that you changed your mind. That you threw those documents away weeks ago, before I even confronted you with my own lies."
"I should have told you myself." He took a step closer.
"Yes, you should have,” I said plainly. “But maybe we both needed to face our mistakes separately before we could fix them together." I pulled something from my folder—a notecard with the Hate Notes logo. "I was planning to read this to you after everything was over, but since you’re here…”
Orion noticed the card with a mixture of anxiety and amusement. A ghost of a smile touched his lips as he watched me take a breath and prepare to read him one last hate note.
Dear Mr. Foster,
You're an idiot. But so am I. Maybe we deserve each other.
With complicated feelings, Ember
I lifted my eyes to him nervously, unsure of what to expect. Orion pulled a card from his own pocket, but this one looked like an ordinary notecard. He held it up so I couldn’t see what was written.
“Believe it or not,” he said. “I had my own hate note for you, as well.”
“You didn’t…” I breathed.
He cleared his throat and began to read.
Dear Miss Hartwell,
I planned to destroy something beautiful because I thought profit mattered more than people. You made me realize I was wrong. I'm sorry for what I planned to do, that I kept it from you, and that I made the mistake of letting you walk away from my mom’s apartment with those feelings of guilt. I’m especially sorry that you had to walk in the rain.
With regret (and other feelings I'm not equipped to express), Orion
I laughed, then realized I was crying a little too. “The rain part was really sad,” I said, sniffing.
Orion pulled me in tightly, running a hand down my hair. “I know. Remmy told me it cost me a lot of ‘points’. She said if it hadn’t rained, I wouldn’t have been in such deep trouble.”
“Your sister is wise,” I said, wiping at my eyes and trying not to get makeup on his nice suit.
I let him hold me for a long while until I knew I had to step back. I could hear voices from the ballroom, and I needed to get this thing going if it was going to happen.
As Orion stepped back, I caught sight of the notecard in his hand and snatched it from him with a crooked smile.
“Hey!” I said. “This is blank.”
“Yeah,” Orion admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “I learned that move from you. Remember?”
I ran my thumb over the card. “Somehow, it means even more knowing that you spoke all that in the moment and from your heart. I could believe you would be able to draft something like that, but…”
“I mean it all,” Orion said softly. “I am sorry. More sorry than I can properly express. You… are perhaps the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’ve known it for weeks, but I’ve been afraid to admit it because I was certain I couldn’t keep you. Admitting I needed you would be admitting the tragedy of losing you.”
“Same,” I said, voice thick with emotion as I failed to form words. “Same,” I said again, laughing as I let him hug me again. This time, he pulled back slightly to lift my chin and kiss me tenderly and softly.
For the first time, it felt like there wasn’t a shred of emotion held back in that kiss. It made me see stars. It made the room feel like it burst into clouds of glitter and fireworks.
When he pulled back, I had to hold onto him to keep from slumping to the ground in a smiling mess of happiness.
“Okay,” I said, letting out a heavy breath and bouncing on my toes. “I still need to do this.”
“What exactly is it you’re planning, Ember?” Orion asked, eyes searching mine.
“You’re going to have to trust my instincts. A lot. Can you do that?”
He studied me for a long moment, then nodded. "Yes."
"Even if it means letting me tell everyone the truth? About both of us?"
Another nod, slower this time. "Whatever it takes."
41
EMBER
Orion was back in his seat and the grand ballroom was already filling with faces from both companies—Foster Real Estate employees clustered on one side, Northman Group on the other, like some corporate version of West Side Story.
I halfway expected the men to tie their ties around their foreheads and start brawling while breaking out into stage songs.
"You look like you're about to jump out of your skin," Eleanor said, appearing at my elbow. She wore an elegant navy dress that somehow made her seem both regal and approachable. "Everything's arranged exactly as you requested. Though I still think you're taking an awful risk."
"I know." I smoothed my emerald dress.
Eleanor squeezed my arm. "Marcellus is ready when you are. And dear? That young man of yours hasn't taken his eyes off you since he walked in."
I didn't need to turn around to know she was right. I could feel his presence like electricity in the air. But I kept my eyes forward, watching Cole work the room with his usual swagger. He actually winked at me when he caught my eye, as if we shared some secret joke.
My hands tightened around the folder I carried. Soon he wouldn't be smiling at all.
"Places, everyone!" Eleanor called out. "Mr. Davenport would like to say a few words."
The room quieted as Davenport took the small stage. He looked frail under the lights, but his voice carried clearly.
"I've spent my life building things that last," he began. "Not just factories, but legacies. Communities. Tonight, I'll be announcing which company will help preserve that legacy."
I saw Cole's satisfied smirk, the way he was already half-rising from his chair in anticipation. I caught Orion's reflection in one of the room's mirrors. He wasn't looking at Davenport at all. His eyes were fixed on me, and there was something like understanding dawning in them.
"But first," Davenport continued, "I believe Miss Hartwell has something to share."
My heart hammered as I walked to the podium and adjusted the microphone. This was it. It was my chance to make everything right. To prove I wasn't the person who had taken this job for revenge, but someone who had grown to care about these people, this work, this company.
Someone who had fallen in love with a man everyone thought was heartless, only to discover he was anything but.
I clutched the podium like a lifeline as my legs threatened to give out from under me.
Time to blow it all up.
I took a deep breath and opened my folder.
"What I'm about to share affects everyone in this room," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "But first, I need to apologize. To Foster Real Estate, to Mr. Davenport, and especially to Orion Foster."
Whispers rippled through the crowd. I forced myself not to look at Orion.
"Miss Hartwell," Cole cut in smoothly, raising his deep voice so it could be heard around the large room. "I'm sure whatever dramatic revelation you're planning is fascinating, but Mr. Davenport called us here to announce his decision."
“Sit down,” Orion growled, drawing surprised and scared looks from around the room.
Even Cole looked a little rattled as he stared at Orion and adjusted his coat.
"Actually," Eleanor said from her seat, "I called you here. At Ember's request. And Mr. Davenport agreed to join because Ember promised he would want to hear what she has to say."
To my mild satisfaction, Cole’s expression went a little green as he sat back down, glaring up at the stage.
Orion gave me a small nod of encouragement and I flashed a smile his way as I pulled out the first document. It was a printout of Cole's plans for the factories. I tapped a button on the podium’s control panel and projected a large copy of the document for everyone to see.
"These are architectural plans commissioned by Northman Group two months ago,” I said. “Plans to demolish the Davenport factories and build luxury hotels."
The room erupted in murmurs. Cole's face went from confusion to fury as he recognized his own documents.
"Those are confidential company files—" he started.
"So you admit they belong to you?” I asked sweetly. “I’m glad we could establish that so much more easily than I expected.”
Cole’s mouth pressed into a furious thin line.
“It didn’t matter what you told Mr. Davenport you were going to do with his buildings, Cole. To you, the real prize was what you could do with them after he died. You wanted to demolish them and use the land for your own purposes.” My voice rang clear and cold.
"Is this true?" Davenport asked Cole, his weathered face tight with anger as he rose from his own seat a few tables away from Cole.
