The Man I Thought I Trusted - E. L. Todd Page 0,70
of life you’ll have to live, with someone who is guarded about their wealth, where their money is a liability more than an asset.”
“Exactly.”
“And you’ll always be an outsider because of it. I wonder if he passed away if you would get anything at all or if everything would go to Renee or your children. Are you always prohibited from gaining any of his assets? Those are really important questions to ask, and it’s unacceptable that this wasn’t a conversation prior to your being asked to sign the contracts.”
I’d really expected Charlie to try to talk me into going back to Dax, and it was a relief that he saw my point of view. As journalists, we had to deal with rich people all the time, write articles about their wealth and inheritances. We understood exactly how these things worked. I knew what I’d signed up for with Dax, but I didn’t expect him to go about it in such a disrespectful way. “Thanks.”
He sighed deeply and crossed his arms over his chest. “Want to watch a movie after work? We can order pizza or something.”
I smiled at the offer. “You don’t have to hang out with me, Charlie. I’m sure you’re eager to spend time with Denise since you just got together.”
“Bros before hoes, right?”
I chuckled. “There’re a lot of offensive things in that sentence.”
“Why do you think I said it?” He grabbed his mug and took another drink before he poured it out in the sink.
“Why don’t you invite her over too? I don’t mind hanging out with both of you.”
“You’re sure?”
“Of course. She’s my sister. Just don’t have obnoxiously loud sex after work.”
He gave me a thumbs-up. “You got it.”
I knocked on his open door before I stepped inside his office. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
Vince looked up from his phone and set it down on his desk. “What’s up?”
“My life plans have changed. Can I get the Simon Prescott article back?”
He turned slightly in his chair as he stared at me. “Everything alright?”
“My fiancé and I broke up. So, not really.” I fell into the armchair in front of his desk and kept a stoic expression, brushing off the news like it didn’t affect me as much as it really did. “But it will be alright…eventually.”
Vince stared at me through his glasses, taking his time before he found a response. “I’m sorry to hear that, Carson. You seemed happy.”
“Well, happiness is only temporary…just as sadness is.”
“Ordinarily, I would say no to your request, but Arthur just dropped the article, and I don’t have the time to bring someone else up to speed. It’s yours.”
My eyebrow cocked. “Why’d he drop the article?”
“His dad had a stroke back in Ohio. Needs to take medical leave.”
“Oh, that’s terrible.”
“Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “So, get back on it. And try to hustle. We’ve lost a lot of time switching hands so many times.”
Kat sat across from me in the bar, her finger on the straw that extended out of her fruity drink. “I’m sorry, girl.”
“I know.” I sat with my elbows on the table and my eyes on the surface, my hands digging into my hair. “I’m just happy that you’re here with me, that we’re talking about boys the way we used to.”
The corner of her mouth rose in a slight smile. “There’s the silver lining.”
“I got my article back.”
“The one Dax asked you to give up?”
I nodded. “I changed my career plans for him, and now that he’s gone, I’m going back to my old life. It’s ironic that he asked me to give up my dream, then served me a bunch of paperwork that required me to give up god knows what.”
“Yeah, it’s rough. But are you sure this is what you want?”
“What I want?” I asked in surprise. “No, I don’t want to lose Dax. I loved that man. I couldn’t sleep last night because he wasn’t there, and I’m used to him being there. But if a relationship isn’t right in the beginning, it’s not going to be right later. I should have just stayed away after he lied.”
“Maybe…”
Every relationship I had seemed to be a huge mistake. That was why I’d now decided to stay away from relationships altogether. The high wasn’t worth the fall—not by a long shot.
“Has he tried to talk to you?”
I shook my head. “He knows it’s over.” Even if he was innocent in the whole thing, he knew his world was so different from mine