by Trisha Grace
No one could give her a proper answer as to what the unusual activities were. Then she received emails that her phone bill hadn’t been paid because her credit card transactions couldn’t go through.
Thankfully, she still had the money that Leanne had set aside for her. Her best friend would probably kill her if she found out that Hayley was using the money to pay for Julian’s recovery and the running of his household. But it was her only solution since there was no way she would cave to her father’s demands.
In fact, she’d be glad for the cold war to continue for as long as possible. She’d told her parents that Julian would walk again. It had been four months, and he wasn't walking.
He was making progress, but progress wouldn't keep her father from making a move either.
Like Mr. Nicholson, her father had only ever been concerned about one thing—getting full control of the company. Julian’s condition was a major opportunity for her father.
Though the cold war was costing her, it was buying her time.
Colin put a hand on her back and led her to the entrance of Julian’s apartment building. “Go on in.”
“You’re not coming in?”
He cocked his head to the side. “My car’s still out here.”
“Oh.” She hadn’t even noticed.
“I was driving by when I saw you. I’ll pull the car into the garage and come on up.”
“Thank you for stepping in.” If it had been Julian, he probably would have continued to drive by instead of getting out of the car to help her.
“It’s nothing.” Colin jerked his chin forward. “Go on.” He didn’t leave until she waved to him from behind the doorman.
Hayley closed her eyes and pushed the conversation she had with the truck driver out of her mind as she headed past the main elevators to the one further back. The private elevator was the only way to reach the penthouse.
She entered the elevator that had only three buttons on the panel. One was for the private garage, another for the lobby and the last for the penthouse. She pressed the button for the penthouse and realized her hand was shaking.
Hayley shook out her hands and sighed. How useless she was to be quivering over something so trivial. She clenched and released her hands, then straightened her back as she dropped them. That was nothing. I handled it well. And Lord, thank you for Colin.
“Mrs. Nicholson—”
Hayley shot a glare at Doreen from within the elevator. She’d told every member of the penthouse staff to stop calling her that.
“Miss Hayley.”
Hayley nodded and stepped out of the elevator. The maids at her parents house had always called her that, and it seemed appropriate since she would be reverting back to her single status once Julian was up walking on his own.
“You have a letter.”
She paused and stared at the white envelope in Doreen’s hand. This was the first time she’d received a letter at Julian’s penthouse. She opened the letter as Doreen moved away.
Pulling out the white card within, Hayley frowned. I missed you. The black cursive words were surrounded by embossed flowers on the thick white card. She flipped the card open.
I’m back.
Who? Hayley looked around. It couldn't have been from Julian. He would never miss her. Besides, he hadn’t gone anywhere.
Was this a joke? She reread the card a few more times, checking the front and back of it, then examining the envelope. No name or signature. No other message. No return address. Did someone post this to the wrong address?
But her name was on the envelope.
She folded the card and put it back into the envelope when the elevator door opened.
“You didn’t have to stand here and welcome me,” Colin said with a smile.
Hayley rolled her eyes as she stuffed the envelope into the back pocket of her jeans. “I was distracted.”
“By the beautiful scenery here?”
She chuckled and headed into the living room with Colin. She hadn’t thought she could find a friend in Julian’s best friend. Colin was a loyal friend, so she’d assumed he would have the same distaste of her as her husband did.
“Do you want to report to the police about the truck driver?”
Hayley shook her head. “Forget it. I’m sure he won’t show up again.”
“I’ll speak to the doorman and tell him to keep a lookout for the guy.”
“Thank you.” It was nice to have a friend on her side in all this. “Colin, I doubt it’ll come up, but I’d prefer if you don’t tell Julian what happened.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged. Julian wouldn’t care anyway, but she didn’t want to have to deal with her husband getting angry at her on top of all she was juggling. “It’s my problem.”
“Hayley, I—”
“Please, Colin. I don’t think I ask for a lot.”
Colin stared back at her for a moment before nodding once.
“Thank you.” She tipped her chin toward Julian’s study. “His session should be over soon. I’ll let him know you’re waiting for him.” She turned and headed toward her room.
“Hayley.” Colin grabbed her arm. “Promise you’ll let me know if the truck driver continues to harass you.”
She cracked a smile and nodded.
Colin let go of her arm. “I’ll be in Julian’s study.”
She went to her room while Colin headed to Julian’s study.
Hayley didn’t have a study of her own, so she didn’t have a writing desk. If she needed to work on something, she’d bring her laptop out onto the dining table. Julian’s study was his, and he’d made it clear right from the start that she wasn’t allowed in there.
She’d only been in his study twice. The first time was on the first night she moved in. She’d gone to his study to inform him that dinner was ready, only to get shouted at and warned never to step into his study. The second time was when she went in to put his rehabilitation schedule on his desk. That was it.
She strode into the dressing room—Julian’s dressing room—and pulled out a small cabinet, where she kept her laptop and iPad. Every panel in the walk-in closet was overlaid with dark wood laminate. Every cabinet and shelf in the penthouse had the same dark brown laminate. She loved the texture, loved being able to feel the grooves as if the laminates were made of real tree bark.
But with the rest of the fittings in black, the penthouse gave off a sophisticated—but moody—atmosphere. Perhaps that was why Julian was always so miserable at home, or perhaps it was all her.
Well, she blamed her cheerlessness in the house on the decor.
She laughed as the thought of redecorating popped into her mind. Julian would probably throw a fit even if she were to add a single candle to the penthouse. “Maybe he’d even be angry enough to stand up and yell at me.”
Hayley took out the envelope she’d stuffed into her back pocket and took another look at the card. With a frown, she dropped the envelope into the cabinet. She’d deal with this—if it was something she had to deal with—another time.
Her phone’s alert rang. Julian’s session with Dale Andrews, the biomedical engineer was over. Hayley walked over to the converted rehabilitation room and smiled when she overhead Dale telling Julian about the advances they’d made.
It hadn’t taken Julian long to get the character on the screen walking, and his muscles had responded well to the electric jolts that were supposed to help his brain reconnect his thoughts about walking to his leg muscles. Now, Julian was working less with Dale and more with Matthew Skrypec on his physiotherapy.
Nearly a month ago, Matthew had begun putting Julian into a harness attached to the ceiling so they could work on him walking again.
His weight was mainly held up by the harness, but he could already shuffle his feet forward.
“That’s great news.” Her smile widened at Julian’s grin—her natural reaction to a smile. She wasn’t reacting to his brilliant grin, something which was never directed to
ward her. He probably hadn’t meant to smile at her. It was probably meant for Dale and he hadn’t wiped his smile off when he turned to her.
“Thank you, Dale,” she said, pulling herself out of her silly thoughts. “Your work is amazing and has so much potential.”
“Thank you, and thanks for your very generous donation.” It wasn’t entirely her money. She didn’t have that kind of money to donate anymore. But Hayley was still an Espel, and she knew enough wealthy people who were more than willing to cut checks for worthy causes.
“This technology deserves to be made possible for everyone.” She looked over at Julian. “Colin’s here. He’s waiting for you in your study.”
“Okay.”
Without being too obvious, Hayley watched Julian as he shifted the wheelchair and left the room. Since coming back to the penthouse, Julian had barely let Hope help him with anything. He didn't like how his personal nurse shadowed him almost everywhere either. So after a month, she’d let Hope go.
“I’ll walk you out,” she said to Dale and headed out of the room with him while he told her how he would put the donation to use.
After walking Dale to the elevator, Hayley strode back toward the living room. She had barely warmed up her seat on the couch when Doreen hurried over to her.
“Miss Hayley, the doorman said your father is here. He’s on the way up.”
Hayley sighed. “Bring him to the dining room.” She got to her feet, then sat back down when her head spun.
“Miss Hayley?”
Stars went off behind her closed eyelids.
“Miss Hayley.”
She buried her face in her hands. “Ugh.” She was certain she wasn’t moving, but it felt like she was spinning out of control.
“Are you okay? I’ll go get Mr. Nicholson.”
“No.” She forced her head up and took a deep breath. “No matter what happens to me, you don’t call for Mr. Nicholson.” He wouldn’t care. He would only be annoyed for being disturbed. “If I do pass out …”
Hayley had never fainted in her life, but the moment before had scared her. “You call the ambulance, then call my friend Leanne. I’ll send you her number later.”
Doreen looked at her, blinked twice, then nodded. “Yes, Miss Hayley.”
Hayley extended a hand, and Doreen helped her to her feet. “You do not mention this to anyone else. Especially not to my father.”
“Yes, Miss Hayley.”
After another deep breath, Hayley moved over to the dining table and waited for her father, bracing herself for yet another battle she would have to fight. Stand your ground. You can do this.
“Hayley,” her father said. “How are you feeling?”
Hayley smiled and gestured for her father to take a seat. “I’m okay. What can I do for you?”
“How’s Julian?”
“Perfectly fine. Getting better every day.”
“Yet he’s still in his wheelchair.”
Hayley shrugged. “He’ll walk again.”
“Hayley!” Her father slapped his hand on the dark wooden dining table. “Old Nicholson knows that too, and—”
“What can he do if I refuse to budge?”
“You may be the single largest shareholder—”
“If you stand with me, we’re the majority. The directors know we can boot them if we want. They won’t dare to kick Julian out as CEO.” The chances of that happening were close to none. Her father’s move of cutting off finances had shown Hayley where he stood. Which was why she’d hoped for the cold war to continue instead.
Politics in the office had gone somewhat stagnant since no one knew exactly what the largest shareholders were thinking.
But if her father revealed his refusal to support her, Julian’s father could very well gather enough shareholders to push for the directors to vote Julian out of the company.
“He won't be able to walk again, Hayley.”
“He will.”
“Hayley, please stop being so irrational.”
“He’s my husband. I’m standing by him no matter what.”
“You can find someone else. With the current situation, old Nicholson couldn’t blame us for pushing his son out.”
Which was why Julian’s father was getting ready to make sure his puppet took over Julian’s place. But Hayley would never let that happen.
“Julian is my husband.” At least until he got back on his feet. “And I will do whatever I must to secure his position.”
“You’ve fallen in love with him, haven’t you? That’s why you won’t listen to reason.”
Fallen in love? She had loved Julian her whole life because she’d bought into the fantasy her mother sold her. But not anymore. She didn't love him anymore.
She couldn't. Her heart couldn't bear the ache of being in love with someone who despised her.
“Hayley, you can’t trust Julian. He was only nice to you because he had a motive. Now, it’s probably because he needs you. Once he gets what he wants, you’ll be out on the streets.”
Hayley laughed.
“You don’t believe me?”
She believed him, all right. She just found it funny that her father thought she’d fallen in love with Julian because he was nice to her. Her father would probably disown her on the spot if he knew she was doing this in spite of how Julian had treated her.
“You cannot trust him, Hayley.”
This wasn’t about trust. Julian had lost enough, and she didn't want him losing anything else. Being able to work was a good distraction for Julian. She couldn't give him the ability to walk again, but she could do this for him. “Julian’s good at his job, and he is my husband.”
Her father’s scrutinizing gaze pierced her, and Hayley was tempted to jut her chin out. But she didn't. She merely stared back at him. She’d meant what she said, and she wasn't going to back down.
Her father dropped his gaze eventually.
“Can I count on you to be on my side?” Would he support her? He was her father after all.
“After Amelia passed away, I didn’t want you to marry Julian.”
“Julian’s mother?”
“She was your mother’s best friend. Her only real friend.”
That would explain why the two families hung out so much.
“But your mother wanted to keep her word to Amelia.” Her father rubbed a hand over his mouth. “You can’t trust Nicholson men.”
Hayley arched a brow. “Why?”
“Do you know how Amelia died?”
She wanted to roll her eyes. How would she? Her parents had always refused to speak of the Nicholsons after the mysterious fallout. “How did she die?”
“She killed herself. She found out that Daniel had an affair.”
“With Julian’s stepmother?” That would explain the tension between her mother and Julian’s stepmother over the wedding preparations.
Her father nodded. “After a tumultuous year of private investigations and fights, with Daniel trying to destroy her reputation so he could have full custody of Julian, Amelia couldn’t take it anymore.”
Vague memories flooded her. She remembered bits and pieces of her parents’ hushed whispers. She remembered seeing how broken Julian’s mother had been.
Would that happen to her?
Hayley closed her eyes. No. Because she wasn’t in love with Julian anymore. She’d given up on this marriage before the car accident. There would be no fights in their divorce. They didn’t have any children, and she wasn’t interested in the company.
“Julian’s my husband,” she said and opened her eyes. “I’m standing by him no matter what.”
“Julian must have been good to you,” her father said after a moment. “I’ve never seen you like this.”
She cracked a smile. In a strange way, she supposed her father was right. The marriage, Charlene, and the car accident had all shown her one thing: she was strong. She wasn't a princess who needed her prince to rescue her.
She could go out and
save the day.
“I just hope he doesn’t destroy you like his father did to Amelia.”
Chapter Nine
“MISS HAYLEY.”
Hayley looked up from her laptop. She’d just finished planning Julian’s therapy sessions for the following week based on the feedback she’d received from everyone in the team.
“Mr. Wells is here, and you have a letter.”
She took the white envelope from Doreen, but didn’t open it. The weight and texture of the envelope immediately clued her in to what it was. She hadn’t thought about the card she’d received yesterday, but she sure was starting to wonder what this was about.
“Hey.” Colin put a black file down on the table, then shrugged off his suit jacket and draped it over the back of a chair.
“You’re early,” Hayley said to Colin as he sat. “Julian’s still with the masseuse.”
“It’s okay. I’ll wait.” He folded back his sleeves and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.
She blinked when she found herself staring at Colin. She’d never seen Julian this relaxed at home, and she wondered why. Because of you. Because you’re the stranger who’s crashed into his life and made him uncomfortable. “Is that the new acquisition?” she asked to distract herself.
Colin nodded. “It will be if Julian approves.” His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied her face. “Are you feeling okay? You look a little pale.”
She cupped a hand against her cheek. “I guess I should put on some makeup.”
“You look fine. I’m just worried.”
“Do you want coffee?” she asked Colin.
“Sure.”
She looked over at Doreen, who quickly nodded and headed off toward the kitchen. “Any new moves from my dear father-in-law?”
“Rumors came in that your father is supporting Julian. How did you get your father to agree to do that?”
“Being stubborn.” She leaned back in the dining chair and kneaded her neck. “Are you sure he’s on our side?” She still couldn’t quite trust that her father wasn’t pulling any tricks behind the scenes.
“It seems so. For now,” Colin said. “I wonder why the two old men got together to start the business, since they’re so distrustful of each other.”