Chapter 87 The Pieces Fall Into Place
Briar's POV
I pulled the conference room door open just enough to create a narrow gap, barely wide enough to see through, and held my breath as I pressed myself against the wall. The voices inside became clearer, and I could make out the shapes of people moving around, gathering their laptops and folders as the meeting wrapped up.
"Boss is actually in love," one of the employees said, their voice filled with disbelief and amusement. "I never thought I'd see the day."
Another voice chimed in, this one female and clearly excited by the gossip. "I wonder what the lucky one is like. Do you think they're as intense as he is?"
Someone else laughed, the sound warm and teasing. "He's like an iceberg most of the time. I can't picture him saying anything romantic. Do you think he even knows how to flirt?"
The employees started filing out, still chattering among themselves as they headed toward the elevators. I waited until the last of them had disappeared before I relaxed my grip on the door.
I was about to push the door open and retrieve the backup contract when I heard Kai's voice again, this time closer to the door.
"I'm heading to the third-floor cafeteria," he said, his tone casual. "What about you?"
There was a pause, and then his assistant's voice. "What would you like arranged for the Boss's lunch?"
Kai's response was immediate and dripping with sarcasm. "He's probably drowning in romance right now. I'm sure he can figure out his own lunch."
A low, magnetic voice cut through the air like a blade. "Someone sounds jealous."
The voice was rich and deep, with a slight rasp that made the words feel almost intimate, and it came from somewhere inside the conference room. I turned my head slightly, trying to see through the gap in the door, and caught a glimpse of a tall figure leaning against the glass wall near the window. He had his phone in his hand, his thumb moving across the screen as he typed out a message.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, the vibration startling me. I fumbled to pull it out and saw Lucian's name at the top of my notifications.
[Free tonight?]
I looked back through the gap in the door, my eyes locking onto the figure by the window, and felt my entire world tilt sideways. The afternoon sunlight was streaming through the glass, illuminating his profile in sharp relief. I could see the shape of his face, the strong line of his jaw, the broad set of his shoulders.
It was Lucian.
He straightened up and turned toward the door, and I jerked back from the gap just in time to avoid being seen. I heard footsteps approaching, and then Lucian and Kai walked past me toward the elevators, their voices fading as they moved down the hallway.
I waited until I couldn't hear them anymore before I let out the breath I had been holding, my entire body trembling with the force of the revelation. All this time, I had thought Lucian was just some guy who worked at a bar, someone who was scraping by just like I was. I had believed him when he said the bar was losing money, when he acted like helping me was some kind of financial burden.
But it had all been a lie.
I thought back to every interaction we'd had, every detail I had noticed and then dismissed. The Porsche he drove. The Patek Philippe watch on his wrist. The custom-tailored shirts. The bar that supposedly lost money but never seemed to actually struggle. And then there was the bidding meeting with Montgomery Medical Group, where Lucian had somehow ended up sitting next to Kai Stone like it was the most natural thing in the world.
I had been so stupid. So blind.
Ash's words echoed in my mind. "He's like a lottery winner, I guess. Just really lucky." I had taken that at face value, but now I realized Ash had been protecting his brother's secret.
I looked down at my phone, at the message Lucian had sent, and felt a cold, dangerous smile curve my lips.
I pushed open the conference room door and grabbed the backup contract from the table, shoving it into my bag. Lucian Kincaid wasn't just some guy who owned a struggling bar. He was the founder of Apex Bio-Solutions, and he had been lying to me from the very beginning.
The question was, why?
I left the conference building and headed back to Vance Botanicals. Lily was waiting for me when I walked in, a stack of folders in her arms and an odd expression on her face, like she wasn't sure whether to congratulate me or warn me about something.
"Boss," she said, setting the folders down on my desk. "Julian left for a business trip this morning. He'll be gone for a week."
I paused in the middle of hanging up my coat, my hand freezing on the hanger. "A week?"
I let out a slow breath and finished hanging up my coat, my mind already working through the implications. I had known that violating his command would send Julian into a rage, had anticipated the fallout the moment I decided to ignore his order to lose the bid.
The afternoon light cast shadows across my face, but for the first time in months, I was smiling. Really smiling.
I thought about the file Reginald had given me, the one that was still locked in my desk drawer, and felt a surge of grim satisfaction. By the time Julian came back, Vance Botanicals was going to be a very different company, and he was going to have a lot less control over it than he thought.
---
By eight o'clock that evening, the celebration party was in full swing. The company had rented out a small event hall, and the place was packed with employees, all of them laughing and drinking and celebrating our victory. I had changed into something more comfortable, a simple black dress, and let my hair down for the first time in weeks.
My phone buzzed with messages from the group chat Ash had created with his friends. They had planned to come to the party, but something had come up at school. The chat was full of celebratory emojis and apologies, and I sent back a quick message telling them not to worry about it.
The lights dimmed, and someone called my name. I walked up onto the small stage, the spotlight falling on me as I looked out at the sea of faces. Everyone was holding up their glasses, their expressions bright with excitement and pride.
I cleared my throat and waited for the noise to die down. "When I first took over this company, Eric asked me a question. He wanted to know what gave me the right to boss all of you around."
There was a ripple of laughter, and I saw Eric cover his face with his hands, groaning in embarrassment. Emily reached over and pried his hands away, grinning as she said loudly, "Listen to the boss!"
I smiled, shaking my head. "At the time, I told him it was because I was going to keep this company alive. And I meant it. But now I realize that wasn't the whole answer. Leading you to greater heights, helping you achieve things you never thought possible, that's the real answer."
I paused, looking around the room at all the people who had trusted me even when they had no reason to. "Thank you for believing in me, even when I was tied down by that contract. Thank you for giving me a chance to prove myself."
Emily cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "We'll keep trusting you! Lead us forward!"
The entire room erupted in cheers, everyone shouting and clapping and raising their glasses. I felt the sting of tears in my eyes and blinked them back. Julian had left scars on my psyche, deep wounds that I had thought would never heal, but standing here and looking at the faces of my team, I felt those scars start to soften.
It was like frozen earth meeting the spring sun, the ice melting away and leaving behind something new and fragile and full of potential.
I stepped down from the stage and made my way through the crowd, accepting congratulations and hugs. Emily threw her arms around me and squeezed hard, and I laughed despite myself, thinking that she was an adorable pain in the ass.
By the time the party wound down, it was past ten o'clock. I stood outside the event hall, arranging rideshares for the employees who had drunk too much to drive safely. My phone was buzzing in my purse, but I ignored it, too focused on making sure my team was taken care of.
When the last car pulled away, I finally pulled out my phone and saw the screen light up with notifications. Lucian had called me more than a dozen times while I had been busy arranging rides for everyone, and I had missed every single one of them.
He must have gotten worried when I didn't answer, because his last message was waiting for me at the top of my notifications, probably sent after he found out from Ash that I was celebrating with my team tonight.
[Let me know when you're done. I'll pick you up.]