Page 54 of The Mogul: Leonard

I don’t say a word because I’m so dumbfounded by Oliver’s outburst that I can barely think. I’m missing something, and I can’t put my finger on it. It seems like I’m doing that a lot lately and this realization is concerning enough.

“Are you convinced there’s something off about this situation? Oliver included?”

Her implication snaps me out of my dizziness. “Don’t even think about it. He’s my most trusted partner, the co-founder of this company, and I don’t want you spreading completely baseless rumors,” I bark out with more bitterness than I intended. I don’t want to be rude to her, but the turmoil rumbling in my chest makes it challenging to be levelheaded.

“Are you serious? He just freaked out because we’re digging our noses into the problem, and you don’t find it even slightly suspicious?” She presses the subject.

Anger and discomfort mix in my gut, making me boil. “No! I’ve known him forever. He’s under a lot of pressure because of a big step we’re taking with the company, and he just doesn’t have time for this.”

She scoffs. “Your relationship with the people around you blinds you. You haven’t even considered it’s one of them fucking you over, have you?”

It’s my turn to be offended. If there’s anything I’m proud of, it’s the fact that I can read people better than anyone else. I surrounded myself with the smartest and most loyal people I had ever met, and I would bet my life on their integrity. Especially Oliver, who is the most idealistic of the bunch. He would never stoop so low as to damage his own company for some petty reason I can’t even imagine.

“How many companies did you build from scratch? How many people do you work with? How many people can you count on? You know nothing about this kind of relationship because you’ve never experienced anything like this. You can’t understand what loyalty or integrity mean because your job is full of distrust, trying to hack other people’s systems. Trying to fuck other people’s lives,” I spit, and immediately regret my choice of words.

Her face hardens as she stands up and grabs her things.

“If there’s anything I’ve learned in my life, it’s that the people you love the most will make decisions that most fuck up your life, and you can’t do anything about it. They’ll do it because they have the most personal motivation. Until you understand that, I can’t help you,” she says with a coldness in her tone that chills my spine.

I don’t stop her as she turns around and walks out the door with a calm I should have.

I stare at the point where she left for a long time, mulling over what she said. It can’t be true. She had a rough life growing up, but that doesn’t mean ordinary people react like she does. She didn’t have a normal childhood, and what she experienced scarred her deep down to her bones. She’ll always be distrustful of everyone.

How the hell did this go so wrong so fast?

I grab my phone and call the only person I can talk to.

“Can you come to my office, please?”

After he agrees, I put my phone on the desk and stare at the door, leaning against the chair.

When Benjamin comes in, his face instantly becomes serious. His frown deepens the lines on his forehead. “What happened?” he asks, worry dripping from his words.

I take a deep breath and tell him everything. I need to get this off of my chest, it’s crushing me. He studies me with a concerned gaze and doesn’t breathe or move, as if either could worsen the situation. After I finish, he stares at me for a long moment, aggravating my already bad mood.

“It’s worse than I thought,” he murmurs as though to himself.

“That’s not exactly reassuring,” I point out.

He shakes his head and takes a deep breath, raising his gaze to the ceiling before lowering it back to my face. “He’s going to lose his mind between the acquisition and the divorce.”

“Divorce? What divorce?” I feel my stomach squeeze in a tight grip.

He stares at me, surprised. His frown deepens even more, fraying my already tense nerves.

“You don’t know? His wife asked for a divorce a year ago. I thought he told you about that.”

My heart drops. How did I miss something so crucial in the life of one of my oldest friends? The fact that he didn’t come to me for support like we always do for each other is concerning.

“He didn’t say a word,” I whisper, and Benjamin’s gaze softens.

“I’m sure it’s because he doesn’t want to add more stress to your life right now. He knows how much you’re caught up with everything going on here.” He tries to explain away something that is way simpler: Oliver didn’t want to tell me. For whatever reason, he’s lost faith that I could understand what he was going through. Maybe because I never had a wife or a relationship, but it doesn’t matter. He decided to keep me out of this part of his life. And it hurts.

“One year. He decided to keep it from me for one year, and I didn’t notice anything unusual. I mean, he was difficult to deal with, but I never stopped to understand why. What kind of a friend does that make me?” The words are like fire in my throat. How could I have missed something so massive?

Benjamin doesn’t add anything. It’s difficult even for him to find an explanation that doesn’t sound like an excuse. I’m a shitty friend, and I have to deal with it.

18

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