Chapter 6 - LORRAINE REFUSES TO APOLOGIZE
Nathaniel agreed to meet Lorraine because Grace asked him to.
He would have preferred not to.
They met at Kingsley Capital’s Chicago office.
Lorraine arrived fifteen minutes early.
She wore navy instead of champagne.
No pearls.
Grace noticed the calculation.
Lorraine had dressed for seriousness.
Nathaniel entered exactly on time.
Grace sat to his right.
Lorraine smiled politely.
“Mr. Kingsley.”
“Nathaniel is fine.”
It clearly was not.
They sat.
Nathaniel said nothing.
Lorraine began.
“I appreciate the opportunity to clear up what happened.”
Grace already disliked the phrase.
Clear up.
Not apologize.
“I was under tremendous pressure.”
Nathaniel’s expression did not change.
“From?”
“Beatrice.”
“You hit Grace because Beatrice pressured you?”
Lorraine’s face tightened.
“That is not how I would describe it.”
Grace spoke.
“How would you?”
“I reacted.”
“You slapped me.”
Lorraine inhaled.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You were being provocative.”
Nathaniel looked at Grace.
She held up a hand slightly.
Let her continue.
Lorraine did.
“And I believed—incorrectly—that you did not understand what was at stake.”
Grace stared.
There.
Not regret.
Hierarchy.
“You thought I needed to be put in my place.”
Lorraine’s mouth tightened.
“That phrase has been exaggerated.”
“You said it.”
“I was angry.”
“So was I.”
Lorraine exhaled.
“Grace, I am trying to repair this.”
“No. You are trying to make it survivable.”
Nathaniel almost smiled.
Lorraine saw.
Her cheeks reddened.
She turned to him.
“Had I known who Grace was, none of this would have happened.”
Silence.
Grace felt something inside her go still.
Nathaniel looked at her.
Then Lorraine.
“Say that again.”
Lorraine realized the problem.
“I mean—if I had understood the broader context—”
Grace interrupted.
“That is exactly why I never told you.”
Lorraine looked at her.
Grace continued.
“You don’t regret humiliating a woman.”
“That is unfair.”
“You regret humiliating Nathaniel Kingsley’s daughter.”
“No.”
“Then answer one question.”
Lorraine swallowed.
“If my father were a retired high-school principal from Peoria, would you be sitting here?”
Lorraine said nothing.
Grace nodded.
“Thank you.”
Nathaniel finally spoke.
“Mrs. Arden.”
Lorraine looked at him.
“I have spent most of my life watching people behave better because they know my balance sheet.”
Lorraine’s face reddened.
“It is not admirable.”
“I’m not—”
He raised a hand.
“Grace learned to distrust that kind of respect.”
He leaned back.
“You have just proven her correct.”
Lorraine looked wounded.
“I love my son.”
Nathaniel’s voice remained calm.
“I believe you.”
“I have spent my life protecting that company.”
“I believe that too.”
“Then surely you understand why Beatrice’s threat—”
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
Lorraine stared.
Nathaniel continued.
“Business pressure does not explain striking someone at dinner.”
Lorraine looked down.
“And it certainly does not explain ordering a grown woman to kneel.”
“I was angry.”
Nathaniel nodded.
“Then perhaps we have finally reached the beginning of an honest sentence.”
Grace watched Lorraine.
For the first time, her mother-in-law’s composure cracked.
“I was furious.”
“Why?” Grace asked.
“Because you made me look weak in front of Beatrice.”
Grace blinked.
Lorraine continued before she could stop herself.
“You challenged her at my table. She controls contracts my son needs. You sat there as though consequences did not apply to you.”
Grace’s expression changed.
“There.”
Lorraine froze.
“That’s the truth.”
Grace leaned forward.
“You didn’t slap me for disrespecting Beatrice.”
Lorraine looked away.
“You slapped me because I refused to be afraid.”
The room became silent.
Nathaniel did not rescue Lorraine.
Grace did not soften.
Lorraine finally whispered:
“Yes.”
That one word was more honest than everything before it.
Grace sat back.
“I’m leaving.”
Lorraine looked up.
“Wait.”
Grace stood.
“I asked you here because I wanted to know whether there was anything underneath the excuses.”
“There is.”
Grace paused.
Lorraine’s eyes filled.
“I was wrong.”
Grace waited.
“I was wrong to hit you.”
A breath.
“Wrong to order you to kneel.”
Another.
“And wrong because you are a person, not because of who your father is.”
Grace’s expression softened a fraction.
Lorraine continued.
“But I’m still angry that you lied.”
There it was again.
Grace almost smiled.
Not a perfect apology.
A real one, perhaps.
But incomplete.
“That part is yours to work through.”
Grace left.
Nathaniel remained seated.
Lorraine looked at him.
“Are you going to destroy Arden?”
He studied her.
“No.”
She looked surprised.
“Why not?”
“Because Grace asked me not to.”
Relief crossed her face.
Nathaniel added:
“And because a company that collapses from one offended investor was poorly built.”
Lorraine stiffened.
“I’m not your enemy.”
Nathaniel stood.
“I hope not.”
He walked toward the door.
Lorraine called:
“What should Preston do?”
Nathaniel looked back.
“For the company?”
“Yes.”
“Become a better CEO.”
“And Grace?”
Nathaniel’s expression cooled.
“That is not a business problem.”
He left.
Lorraine remained alone.
May you like
For the first time in decades, money had failed to tell her what to do next.
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