Part 6
“I wanted one thing in my life that wasn’t negotiated,” he said.
Cassandra waited.
“I wanted to be the man who fixed airplanes when I was with you. Not the man whose vote could close a factory. Not the person everyone studies before ordering dinner. I liked that you complained when my truck smelled like hydraulic fluid. I liked that you told me my apartment needed better lamps.”
“That apartment belonged to the company.”
“Yes.”
“You said you rented it.”
“I paid rent.”
“To yourself?”
“To a holding company.”
She stared at him.
He rubbed his forehead, leaving a new trace of grease near his hairline. “That sounded less ridiculous when I said it internally.”
Despite herself, Cassandra made a small choking sound that might have become a laugh in another life.
It disappeared quickly.
Elias looked at her.
“I did not intend to humiliate you,” he said. “But I did let you operate with incomplete information because complete information frightened me.”
“And incomplete information frightened me.”
“Yes.”
“We were both protecting ourselves.”
“Yes.”
“But only one of us threw a ring.”
He said nothing.
Cassandra walked several steps along the aircraft, the hem of her gown whispering across the floor.
“My father wasn’t poor when I was little,” she said. “You know that.”
“I know the hotel failed.”
“You know the public version. He expanded too quickly, took loans he couldn’t cover, and lied to my mother for almost a year. We went from a house with staff to an apartment where the bathroom door would not close. He kept telling us everything was fine. Then men came and photographed the furniture.”
Elias watched her.
“I was fourteen,” she continued. “At school, girls asked whether the bankruptcy meant we were homeless. One of their mothers had shown them an article. Lydia paid my tuition that year. She paid for college. She taught me never to depend on a promise that could disappear.”
“She also taught you what to fear.”
“Yes.”
Cassandra touched the necklace at her throat. “When I saw you under the airplane this morning, I didn’t see a man doing work. I saw my father saying everything was fine while the house was already gone.”
“I’m not your father.”
“No. And I’m not Natalie.”
The words held between them.
Elias looked down at his hands.
“No,” he said.
The side door opened slightly. Mara’s face appeared.
“The guests are leaving,” she said. “There is another issue.”
Elias straightened. “What?”
“Someone recorded the confrontation.”
Cassandra closed her eyes.
Mara entered and shut the door. “Security stopped one of the freelance photographers near the south exit. He had video from the moment Ms. Whitmore removed the ring.”
“I thought phones were restricted,” Elias said.
“His credential allowed professional equipment.”
“Can we seize it?”
“No. Security had no lawful basis to confiscate his property. They asked him to delete it. He declined.”
Lydia entered behind Mara. “I told you those journalists were a mistake.”
Cassandra turned. “You invited them.”
“I invited reputable society reporters, not a freelance parasite.”
Mara’s expression hardened. “He has already sent a file to his editor.”
“How do you know?” Elias asked.
“He showed security the transfer confirmation.”
Lydia spoke quickly. “We need an injunction.”
“On what basis?”
“Privacy. Defamation. Trespass.”
“He was invited, credentialed, and recording in the designated media area.”
“This was a private conversation.”
“It occurred in front of employees and vendors at an event with press access.”
Lydia’s face flushed. “Then buy the footage.”
“No,” Elias said.
All three women looked at him.
Cassandra’s voice was thin. “Why not?”
“Because paying to suppress it will become the story.”
“The story is already me throwing your ring on the floor.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re willing to let people see that?”
“No. I’m unwilling to use company money to erase something that happened because it is embarrassing to us.”
Lydia stepped closer. “You have no idea what public humiliation can do to a woman.”
Elias’s gaze moved to the empty floor where forty employees had stood minutes earlier.
“I have some idea.”
Cassandra sat again.
Mara unlocked her tablet. “We can request that the publisher withhold names until facts are verified. We can also issue a joint statement discouraging speculation.”
“There is no joint statement,” Cassandra said.
Lydia rounded on her. “Do not be foolish.”
“I’m not signing something that makes it sound mutual.”
“Cassandra.”
“I ended it. Everyone heard me.”
Mara studied her. “Acknowledging that may reduce speculation, but it will increase immediate attention.”
“I deserve attention.”
“No,” Elias said. “You deserve consequences. Attention is not the same thing.”
Cassandra looked at him.
He walked toward the workbench, picked up his watch cloth, and cleaned the face of his silver watch with his thumb. The time was twelve forty-three. The ceremony had been scheduled for noon.
His mother’s empty chair remained behind the partition.
He suddenly could not bear the thought of it.
“Daniel can move the aircraft,” he said. “Cancel the flight. Refund the guests’ travel where appropriate. Pay every vendor in full.”
Mara nodded.
“From my personal account,” he added. “Not the company.”
“Understood.”
Lydia gave a brittle laugh. “How noble.”
Elias looked at her. “Would you prefer I contest the invoices?”
“I would prefer you stop performing restraint as though it absolves you.”
“Absolves me of what?”
“Deception.”
Cassandra stood. “Aunt Lydia, stop.”
Lydia turned. “I am defending you.”
“No. You are trying to make his mistake large enough to hide mine.”
Evelyn had reentered quietly. She stood by the door, one hand covering the bracelet at her wrist.
Lydia looked at her niece as though she had spoken in another language.
“You are in shock,” she said.
“I am embarrassed.”
“Exactly.”
“Not because he owns the company.”
Lydia’s mouth tightened.
Cassandra looked at Elias. “I’ll make my own statement.”
“Do not do it today,” Mara said.
May you like
“I should.”
“You are wearing a wedding dress and have not eaten since six in the morning. Whatever statement you make now will follow you longer than the feeling that produces it.”
