Page 47 of Suddenly Desired
Josh’s eyes looked like they were about to roll out of their sockets. Ellie took another breath. “You’re the one heading for the scrap heap, Josh. Because you have lost me. For ever.”
Josh’s mouth gaped like a landed fish. He clutched at his chest as if her words had actually pierced his heart. Then, just as she knew he would, he got angry. His face creased, his eyes growing dark. He sneered at her. “Well, thank goodness for that. You don’t know how relieved I am. All this time I’ve been hanging around you because I was worried that you were losing your mind. I was worried that you were going insane. And Ithink you are. But now I don’t have to worry anymore. I don’t have to look after you. I’m free.”
He folded his arms over his chest and made no sign of moving.
“Go on then,” said Ellie. “Go be free. Get out of here.”
“If I leave, I’m never coming back.”
It was a threat, but to Ellie it sounded like the most wonderful promise in the world. She didn’t reply, and she didn’t break eye contact. After a few more seconds he stamped his foot like a toddler, then wheeled around and strode towards the door.
“You’ll regret this,” he shouted over his shoulder. “And I won’t.”
Only when the door had slammed shut behind him did Ellie let herself smile. It spread over her face like sunshine, impossible to stop. Had she really done that? Had those words really just come out of her mouth? It felt like a dream. Ellie Mae Woodward just wasn’t capable of standing up for herself like that. But somehow she had done it — she had finally told Josh to leave her alone.
Notsomehow. It wasn’t luck, and it wasn’t anyone else. It was her.
Ellie had finally realised that she wasn’t someone to be pushed around. She was valuable and deserved to take up the space that she did, without apologising for it. And she was done letting Josh, or anyone else, make her feel otherwise.
Thank you, Ellie Mae, she thought. Then the smile vanished from her face as she remembered the niggling worry she had when she’d seen the image of Blake and his board on TV. The feature had finished, so she dashed back into the bedroom and opened the news app on her phone.
Three articles down was a post on Blake, and Ellie felt a rush of guilt as she noticed the photograph attached to the piece was him recoiling as the waitress poured the drink on his head.Thankfully, Ellie had been cropped out of it. She clicked the link, clicking her tongue impatiently as she waited for it to load.
Heartbook press conference imminent — Blake Fielding expected to address shareholders and users of the floundering social media giant.
She scanned the article, shaking her head. It was full of the posts that somebody had made on Blake’s account and laden with accusations against him. It was so unfair that even the press had decided on his guilt. Ellie rested a finger against another photograph of him, this one taken at an IT conference, and he was beaming with happiness. She couldn’t imagine how hard it would be for him to step out in front of a group of people who had already made up their minds about him.
And then, as she scrolled down, a live feed flickered into place: a video of the Heartbook board members arriving for the upcoming meeting, their names flashing on the screen as the camera panned around the familiar glass building. Figures stepped out of luxury cars, buttoning suit jackets and striding towards the entrance.
Ellie’s breath caught in her throat at the sight of two of them.
A man and a woman walking side by side.
Something tugged at the back of her mind, her fingers tightening around the phone. She knew them. Not from a newspaper or the internet. Not from anything to do with Blake. But from somewhere else — somewhere real.
Her head snapped up, heart pounding as the image clicked into place.
No. It couldn’t be. It didn’t make sense.
She swallowed hard, her hands suddenly clammy as her pulse thundered. A sick, twisting feeling settled deep in her stomach, one that sent her bolting for her coat and keys.
She had to get to Heartbook.
Blake needed to know.
Chapter 23
BLAKE
The board members filed into the room like it was a funeral procession, and Blake couldn’t help feeling like he was the guy in the coffin. He stood at the head of the table — a table that he himself had bought for the company when he’d made his first million — waiting for them to take their seats.
Agnes was first, dressed all in black. She sat opposite Blake, shuffling her papers into a pile and looking sad. Maurice groaned wearily as he descended into his chair, Mike dropping into his like he was completing a wrestling move. David came next, offering Blake a smile and a reassuring nod. For a moment it looked as if Michelle wasn’t coming, and Blake prayed that she’d had the sense to remove herself quietly from the situation rather than stay here and face him. Then she strolled past the window and through the door, smiling as if this was Christmas Day. She had the audacity to wink at Blake, and he had to look away to keep the rage from boiling over.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” said Agnes. “Thank you very much for coming. Blake, how are you?”
The question took Blake by surprise, and he cleared his throat. “Better now that I know who did this,” he said, glancing at Michelle.
If she was worried, she wasn’t showing any sign of it. She was perfectly calm, her features icy. She drummed her long nails on the desk as if she was bored.
