Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 64979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
“There’s no getting through to you, is there?”
He shook his head.
There was nothing else I could say that would make this right for me.
Nothing else I could do to make this hurt less.
Nothing.
Not. One. Damn. Thing.
Instead, I bargained, “If I agree to go, then you have to give me something, Mr. Montgomery.”
He narrowed his stare at me.
“You need to give Belle a chance at running your company.”
He jerked back. “Belle?” He chuckled. “She has no interest in—”
“How do you know? You ever talk to her about anything other than what’s expected of her? She obeys your rules, follows your every command. You have no idea who Belle is. She’s so much more than just your granddaughter. She’s smart, witty, and she loves with all her heart. Anything she puts her mind to, she’ll accomplish. I know that because I know her. I know her more than I know myself, Mr. Montgomery. With all due respect, you’d be a fool not to let her prove to you that she can excel in running your empire. I’ll leave if you agree to give her that chance.”
He leaned back in his chair, taking me in for a second.
The silence was deafening. The tension so thick that you could choke on it.
“If you agree, I want it written on paper with your signature.”
He cocked his head to the side, eyeing me up and down. “Quite the businessman you are. I don’t normally negotiate with anyone, but in this case, I’ll oblige.” With that, he wrote out our agreement and then signed it before handing it over to me. “I can assume you know your way to the front door?”
I nodded, suddenly feeling sick to my fucking stomach. I needed to get the hell out of there. I could feel my temper taking over, and I knew I had to leave before it did.
On my way out of the office, my grandfather expressed, “I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m trying to save you.”
Staring back at him, I uttered, “Belle already saved me from myself.” I turned and left.
My feet moved on their own as I walked out of their home. For some reason, I peered up at her window, surprised to find her there.
My heart dropped, shattering to the ground below me. My whole world seemed to come crashing down in a matter of seconds. Everything I thought I had under control, everything I wanted to believe, all of it…
Gone.
She was sitting on her bed with her arms wrapped around her knees, hiding her face. Her gown consumed her, reminding me of a beautiful portrait. It was a memory I’d take to my grave. What happened tonight would be my own personal hell. I would now close my eyes and forever see her falling apart in front of me.
Because of me.
I found it hard to breathe.
Hard to move.
My feet were cemented to the ground as she continued to cry. I accepted it all, and each tear that fell from her face became pieces of me. Coursing through my veins, it flowed endlessly.
A river of her sadness and sorrow and all of my broken promises flooded the hole in my heart where she used to be.
They say you have that one moment in your life that could change the course the direction you could have taken. That one moment that could forever alter your future and everything you wanted to believe in.
I’d forever remember this moment for the rest of my life.
I should have apologized.
I should have begged for her forgiveness.
I should have stayed.
But I didn’t.
I spun around and walked away from the love of my life.
Fully aware, I just made her life better…
By leaving her behind.
Chapter 28
—Belle—
Now
“Tristian…” I wept with tears falling down my face. “That’s why you left?”
He nodded.
“I don’t even know what to say. I can’t believe our grandfathers. How could they do this to us?”
“I imagine they think they’re making it up to us now.”
“Oh wow… This makes so much sense now. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why the change of heart? After all these years, why would they want to join forces? I can’t believe they would do that to us. I hated you for so long. I never thought… I guess, I just… I needed time to cool off, and once I did, you weren’t at school anymore.
“At first, I tried to pretend like it didn’t bother me, but then people started talking, saying you had left town. I couldn’t ask anyone about it. Where you were? If you were coming back? I spent years thinking you’d come back for me.”
“I’m sorry, kitten. I just wanted you to make a life for yourself. A life that you wanted. I learned that you were working for your grandfather after you’d graduated college, I didn’t want to fuck up your future. I figured if I came back into your life, it would end your career. If they didn’t allow us to be together in the past, why would they allow it in the future? I couldn’t do that to you. Not when I know you worked so hard to get there.”