Page 73 of Designed for Disaster

“No, you really didn’t,” he snapped, cutting me off.

I straightened a little. I could understand him being upset, but we weren’t going to get anywhere if he wouldn’t let me explain myself.

“Why were you telling her anything about Dee or Jimmy or the goddamn company?” he said. “I thought I made my feelings clear when it came to my parents.”

I knew he didn’t get along with them, but how was I to know their relationship wasthisbad? I thought I was helping—that being a bridge between them would be good for himandLara. I’d had no idea she’d use the things I told her like this. I never would have imagined she’d be that kind of person…because he’d never told me. How did he expect me to know when he didn’t tell me these things? “Trent?—”

“Who areyouto be telling her anything?” he demanded, his voice carrying.

That question hit me hardest of all. Who wasI? I was his girlfriend…wasn’t I? Or had I gotten that wrong, too? The tears at the backs of my eyes grew heavier. I’d fucked up with Lara, yes. But there hadn’t been any malice behind the decisions I’d made. They’d been a mistake—that was all. I’d been dumb and naive, and he’d gotten hurt as a result, and I was so incredibly sorry about that. But was he really going to refuse to let me explain? Was I supposed to just stand there and let him rip me to shreds? I crossed my arms, trying to hold myself together.

“I didn’t know,” I started.

“Know what?” he sneered. “That my mother would out you? That she’d tell me exactly how you sold me out? Sorry to break it to you, sweetheart, but she’s a bitch like that. You shouldn’t have trusted her—just like I shouldn’t have trusted you.”

My heart lurched against my ribs. Bile gathered in my throat. This was so much worse than I could have ever imagined.

“You know,” Trent said, shaking his head. “I didn’t want to believe it at first. I tried to imagine the information coming from anyone else. The problem is, there is no one else. Because who the hell else would know that Dee was getting worse or that Jimmy was struggling with his classes or that the line had had supply chain issues? There’s only one person in my life who could package all of that up into a weapon for my mother to use against me.”

Horror washed through me. Heactuallythought I’d set out to help his mother oust him as CEO. I pinched the bridge of my nose. All I’d wanted was for Trent to make peace with his family.I thought I’d been speaking to a woman who cared about her son. I thought I’d been helping smooth things over, laying the groundwork for a family to come back together. I hadn’t realized I was laying the groundwork for myownrelationship with Trent to crumble like this.

“I just…After everything, I can’t believe you would sell me out like that,” Trent said, disgusted. “Was that all you were after this whole time—more money? Is that why you slept with me? Thought you’d worm your way into my wallet?”

“What?” I said, closing my eyes and shaking my head.Christ, what sort of bullshit had his mother fed him?

But even more than that, why was it so easy for him to believe? Did he really think I’d let Lara pay me off? I never took any money from her. I wasn’t that kind of person. I also wasn’t the kind of person to sleep with him because I was after a quick paycheck. I couldn’t believe he would even insinuate that. All it did was boil down all the time we’d spent together into meaningless sex. Was that all it was for him?

“You should have told me your loyalty had a price,” Trent hissed. “Then I could have just written you a check and been done with it.”

Anger surged through me, burning away the chill in my veins and the tears behind my eyes. Lara had screwed with us both. Obviously, she was a horrible human being, and it was my mistake to give her the benefit of the doubt. But Lara wasn’t forcing him to say all of this. She was responsible for the lies she’d told him, but it was all onhimthat he’d swallowed them whole without even hearing my side. He was the one choosing to believe the worst of me. It was like he didn’t know me at all! Like all those things I’d shared with him had meant nothing. He hadwalked in assuming I was guilty of…whatever the hell Lara had told him during the meeting. He wasn’t interested in untangling her lies or learning the truth. But I had to make him listen.

“Look,” I said, taking a deep breath to get a handle on my frustration. “You have to understand?—”

“Understand?” he snapped. “What the fuck do I have to understand?”

“Can you calm down for two seconds?” I gritted out between clenched teeth.

“Why should I be calm?”

“So I can explain whatreallyhappened.”

He let out a bitter, mocking laugh. “I’m pretty sure I’ve put the pieces together. All I’m missing are a few little details. Was this your plan all along, ever since I got you fired? When we met again at Dee’s and you saw your opening, is that when you dreamed up this whole revenge scheme? Fuck, you’ve been manipulating me all along, haven’t you? And I was just too stupid to see it.”

“Oh my god,” I said. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Did you or did you not talk to my mother?”

Geez, he was infuriating! “Yes, I did, but?—”

“That’s all I need to know,” Trent said, cutting me off again. “What else could you possibly have to say?”

“Well, nothing, the way you’re carrying on.”

“The wayI’mcarrying on?” he roared. “You have no idea what I just had to deal with up there, staring the board members in the face as my mother used the ammunitionyougave her to tear down my reputation!”

I’d had enough of this. Trent obviously wasn’t in the right headspace to have a rational conversation right now, and I wasn’t going to stand here and take his abuse. “You need to leave,” I said.

He scoffed.

---