Chapter 9 - GENEVIEVE WANTED SOMETHINGThe Rothwell-Ellington deal had been in negotiation for nine months.
A waterfront redevelopment spanning hotels, retail, residential towers, and a marina.
Rothwell brought hospitality operations.
Ellington brought land, financing relationships, and development management.
Billions over time.
Genevieve had spent years preparing to take a larger role in Rothwell Resorts.
Her father still saw her as social capital.
Beautiful.
Connected.
Useful at dinners.
She hated that.
She wanted a title.
Authority.
A board seat.
The Ellington deal was supposed to prove she could help close something enormous.
Then she poured wine on August Ellington’s daughter.
The development committee postponed the next meeting.
Genevieve called that revenge.
Her father called it risk management.
“August doesn’t need us.”
“We don’t need him.”
Harrison Rothwell stared at his daughter.
“Yes, we do.”
Genevieve paced.
“Julian will fix it.”
“Julian has stopped taking your calls.”
“He’ll come around.”
“Why?”
She said nothing.
Harrison’s eyes sharpened.
“You slept with him.”
Genevieve looked away.
Her father closed his eyes.
“Wonderful.”
“Don’t.”
“You mixed a personal relationship with a transaction.”
“So?”
“So you are thirty-four, not twenty.”
Genevieve’s jaw tightened.
“Julian cares about me.”
“Then why is he avoiding you?”
Because Maris returned.
Genevieve did not say it.
Maris changed the hierarchy.
Before the gala, Julian was the presumed successor.
Genevieve’s relationship with him placed her adjacent to the Ellington future.
Now August’s daughter was back.
With a child.
A direct bloodline.
Genevieve hated how quickly rooms changed.
People who ignored Maris before now wanted photographs with her.
Foundations called.
Magazines requested interviews.
Fashion editors praised her “restraint” after the wine incident.
Genevieve became the villain in a story she thought would last twenty seconds.
She needed another story.
Then her phone received a message from an unknown number.
I know Maris better than any of you do.
Genevieve stared.
Who is this?
Response:
Caleb Mercer.
She knew the name.
The ex-husband.
Another message:
May you like
If you want to understand why she really came back, we should talk.
Genevieve smiled for the first time that day.
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