40. Ember

40

EMBER

I arrived at the Metropolitan an hour early, my hands shaking slightly as I arranged the documents in my folder. The evidence of Cole's plans to demolish the factories was damning enough. But what truly made me sick was knowing Orion had planned the same thing.

When Kora and I broke into Cole's files, we'd also discovered communications with his lawyers about the same legal loophole Orion had intended to exploit. The property transfer documents would have given either company control after Davenport's death. The only difference was that Orion had apparently thrown his away.

Roman had accidentally confirmed it yesterday when I cornered him, guilty conscience making him spill everything about the documents Orion had discarded. It helped that he thought I already knew, given how close Orion and I had become. It also helped somehow that Orion hadn’t even tried to defend himself. In a way, it was frustrating and stupid that he wouldn’t just tell me he changed his mind. But it was also oddly noble and something I couldn’t help grudgingly respecting.

He knew what he did was wrong and maybe even unforgivable, so he hadn’t even tried to seek my forgiveness. He was willing to bear the cost of his choices, no matter how severe.

"Miss Hartwell?"

I turned to find Daniel, Orion's assistant, hovering nervously. "He's here. In the lobby. He's asking to speak with you before?—"

"Thank you, Daniel." I straightened my emerald dress—the same one I'd worn the night Orion and I first kissed. I considered continuing to avoid him. I had managed it so far, ignoring every attempted phone call, text, and email. I hadn’t even let myself read them. I didn’t want anything to shake my confidence in what I was about to do.

But now? Now things were already in place, and there was no stopping this.

I also found my anger and disgust over what Orion wanted to do cooling rapidly ever since I found out he threw the documents away. He had changed. Yes, he made a mistake, but he changed. That had to mean something.

“Okay,” I said after a long pause. "Tell him I'll meet him by the east entrance."

I found Orion pacing near the ornate doorway, looking devastating in a perfectly tailored black suit. He stopped when he saw me, something raw and vulnerable crossing his face.

"Ember—"

I held up a hand. "Whatever you're planning to say, I already know. About the property transfer documents. About your original plans for the factories."

His jaw tightened. "How?"

"Does it matter? What matters is that you changed your mind. That you threw those documents away weeks ago, before I even confronted you with my own lies."

"I should have told you myself." He took a step closer.

"Yes, you should have,” I said plainly. “But maybe we both needed to face our mistakes separately before we could fix them together." I pulled something from my folder—a notecard with the Hate Notes logo. "I was planning to read this to you after everything was over, but since you’re here…”

Orion noticed the card with a mixture of anxiety and amusement. A ghost of a smile touched his lips as he watched me take a breath and prepare to read him one last hate note.

Dear Mr. Foster,

You're an idiot. But so am I. Maybe we deserve each other.

With complicated feelings, Ember

I lifted my eyes to him nervously, unsure of what to expect. Orion pulled a card from his own pocket, but this one looked like an ordinary notecard. He held it up so I couldn’t see what was written.

“Believe it or not,” he said. “I had my own hate note for you, as well.”

“You didn’t…” I breathed.

He cleared his throat and began to read.

Dear Miss Hartwell,

I planned to destroy something beautiful because I thought profit mattered more than people. You made me realize I was wrong. I'm sorry for what I planned to do, that I kept it from you, and that I made the mistake of letting you walk away from my mom’s apartment with those feelings of guilt. I’m especially sorry that you had to walk in the rain.

With regret (and other feelings I'm not equipped to express), Orion

I laughed, then realized I was crying a little too. “The rain part was really sad,” I said, sniffing.

Orion pulled me in tightly, running a hand down my hair. “I know. Remmy told me it cost me a lot of ‘points’. She said if it hadn’t rained, I wouldn’t have been in such deep trouble.”

“Your sister is wise,” I said, wiping at my eyes and trying not to get makeup on his nice suit.

I let him hold me for a long while until I knew I had to step back. I could hear voices from the ballroom, and I needed to get this thing going if it was going to happen.

As Orion stepped back, I caught sight of the notecard in his hand and snatched it from him with a crooked smile.

“Hey!” I said. “This is blank.”

“Yeah,” Orion admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “I learned that move from you. Remember?”

I ran my thumb over the card. “Somehow, it means even more knowing that you spoke all that in the moment and from your heart. I could believe you would be able to draft something like that, but…”

“I mean it all,” Orion said softly. “I am sorry. More sorry than I can properly express. You… are perhaps the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’ve known it for weeks, but I’ve been afraid to admit it because I was certain I couldn’t keep you. Admitting I needed you would be admitting the tragedy of losing you.”

“Same,” I said, voice thick with emotion as I failed to form words. “ Same, ” I said again, laughing as I let him hug me again. This time, he pulled back slightly to lift my chin and kiss me tenderly and softly.

For the first time, it felt like there wasn’t a shred of emotion held back in that kiss. It made me see stars. It made the room feel like it burst into clouds of glitter and fireworks.

When he pulled back, I had to hold onto him to keep from slumping to the ground in a smiling mess of happiness.

“Okay,” I said, letting out a heavy breath and bouncing on my toes. “I still need to do this.”

“What exactly is it you’re planning, Ember?” Orion asked, eyes searching mine.

“You’re going to have to trust my instincts. A lot. Can you do that?”

He studied me for a long moment, then nodded. "Yes."

"Even if it means letting me tell everyone the truth? About both of us?"

Another nod, slower this time. "Whatever it takes."