Chapter 21

Amelia

Damian's impassioned outburst about what to do for the next step for MVM has me more rattled than it should have. He's right, though. I need to focus my attention on building us from the inside out and not adding lawsuits to it all. But that's fine to say in theory but almost impossible in practice. MVM have played such a huge role in sentimental moments throughout our existence, so why are we downplaying that?

It's one of the only days I'm allowed to be in the office for work, but I'm already recognizing that I can't keep up this pace anymore. I've just hit month eight. My feet hurt to stand, I can't find clothes that fit me properly, I get dizzy if I sit up for too long, and I have zero motivation to focus on my work.

I'm lying on my sofa with my legs up when Robyn walks in. I crack open my eyes as she holds her hands up in apology. "Sorry!" she whispers hoarsely. "I wanted to say that Damian's on line two for you."

I reach out my hand in the direction of my desk to remind Robyn that I'm not moving unless I absolutely have to. "Nope." I drop my hand and close my eyes again.

Robyn chuckles and brings me the phone, hanging it on the floor to make it reach.

"Hey," I say with a yawn. "You're interrupting a very important meeting."

"No, I'm at the very important meeting that you're not at." He chuckles as I jolt with alarm and look at my watch, making a squeak of surprise at the time.

"Don't stress, sweetheart. I have it under control. You go back to napping on your sofa, or just give up and go home. You should be on maternity leave anyway."

"Not happening, Damian," I growl. "You know why? You canceled the Blake Restaurant Group to go through MVM, so now I have to take on more of MVM work, so you're not trying to do both."

Damian sighs. "We've been through this, Amelia," he warns, using my full name to indicate he's not pleased. "I'm going back to the meeting now. I'll send you through the minutes. Be safe."

He hangs up before I can say anything.

I groan and let the phone fall onto the floor. "Robyn!" I call out.

She's there instantly, taking the phone back to my desk. "Are you going home yet, or do you still think you can work today?"

"I'm fine," I mumble out of habit more than anything now.

"Okay," Robyn says brightly. "Good, because Douglas Bright is here to see you."

I groan again. "Can he wait to talk to Damian?"

"Er… no. He specifically asked for you. He waited for today, knowing you'd be here."

I shoot her a look and make no effort to move positions. "Send him in then. He's going to have to get whatever this is because I'm not moving."

Robyn leaves with a chuckle, and a few moments later, Douglas Bright walks through, his eyebrows raised in amusement. "You're looking radiant this morning, Mrs. Garrett."

"The person you usually try and sweet talk to is out of the office today, and you have me. Save it."

Douglas chuckles and sits on the chair. "You're exactly the person I need to sweet talk, Amelia. I've got Damian under my thumb, and we all know it."

"Yes, well, so do most of my staff. It's causing problems. What can I help you with, Mr. Bright? We haven't made a decision on the land sale."

"Oh?" Douglas says with a smirk. "I've got paperwork to suggest you have made a decision."

I slowly twist my head to look at him. "Please repeat that slowly and carefully."

Douglas chuckles. "My office received a document early this morning that seemed to indicate that a sale of the land in contention was imminent to a closed buyer. AKA, me."

I feel a twinge in my jaw as I clench it. "And whose signature was at the bottom?"

Douglas gives a small smile and decides against answering the question. "It's a good business decision. Nothing else."

"It's undermining me."

"It'll generate a relationship between Bright Hotels and MVM Resorts with very little fallout, yes. It'll save us both time, money, and reputation, yes. Amelia, this is the best business decision MVM could make right now. You're on a precipice, and, boy, can you fall fast. You should listen to your employees for once. You'll realize Damian is right about this. I'm not saying he's right about everything, but he's right about this. You're about to have a baby, and you won't have the same grip on this as you used to. I would trust Damian with this."

"He went against my wishes," I growl.

A dark cloud crosses Douglas's features. "He's saving your ass. Give him a break. He's making sure you have a job. It doesn't affect him at all. He'd sit back and watch MVM burn to the ground if it was up to him, but he's trying to fight because your sentimental ass can't see past your heart-shaped glasses."

He stands up as I'm too taken aback to respond. "You want to play with the big boys, Amelia? Then fucking get in the ring. You're standing on the edge, waiting for your turn. If not, get the fuck out of the way and let Damian take over without his whiny brat of an annoyance begging for his attention."

The room settles after his outburst, and I let out an unsteady breath, slowly sitting up. "You have the nerve to come to my office and treat me like a child?" I stand up until I'm facing him, more difficult with my flat shoes and the twinges in my stomach that cause me to stoop.

Before I can say another word, a million of them ready to fly out of my mouth, the door flings open, and Damian comes in, his mouth already in a grimace.

"Douglas!" he says with a nervous laugh. "What are you doing here?"

"Came to speak to Amelia," he says with a growl.

I scowl at the both of them and lean on my desk, the pain in my stomach getting worse.

"Mr. Bright, you came here saying you wanted to generate a relationship between Bright and MVM, right? That's what Mr. Forty-five Percent here has suggested with the sale of the land?"

Damian bristles as Douglas warily nods.

"Right, so what happened to the relationship between Bright and MVM when you just hired nine of the last ten employees MVM fired? Including the man currently suing us for unfair dismissal? What happened to the relationship between Bright and MVM when you used your personal accounts to fund Audrey Garrett's attempts at undermining me as president? What happened to the relationship between Bright and MVM when it wouldn't be hard at all to find who leaked the rumors of the burial site in the first place?"

I give them both a cold smile. "You don't think I knew? You think I'm stupid enough not to know that Rachel fucking Stein is lining her deep pockets with Bright-funded cash? The burial site is of British colonists, not Native Americans. MVM have known for years, but with a little creative license and a straight-up lie in the ear of Hotah Enapay, here we are with a lawsuit you're only too happy to take off our hands, right?"

That reminds me of Damian's involvement in the whole thing. I can't believe I was stupid enough to fall for it. I breathe out slowly as my stomach tightens even more. I try to lift it up to take the pressure off the nerves darting down my legs. I take a deep breath and walk into Damian's face.

"You," I hiss. "You had the fucking balls to go behind my back, thinking I don't know what the fuck I'm doing."

He gulps. "Why didn't you tell—"

"I don't have to," I screech.

Robyn walks in the room, already worried about me, but I ignore her and turn to Douglas.

"Get the fuck out of my office. You can guarantee any semblance of a relationship between Bright and MVM is definitely not a thing. I'll take that to my grave."

Douglas sets his jaw, and I turn to Damian before having to make it to the desk again. "And you," I manage. I can see the concern on his face, but I look away from it. "You're fired. You can join your mother in what you have access to which is fuck all."

Damian steps back in shock before he settles on disbelief. "But you can't. I still own—"

I hold up the piece of paper on my desk, put there this morning. "No, you don't. Tell Audrey congratulations. She just got her wish. All minor assets have been placed in your name in lieu of your inheritance from Victor Garrett. You're now in the ownership of my house and the land that you just gave away to Douglas Bright."

Damian looks somewhere between pale and bright red, which is an odd combination. "You can't just—"

"I can," I snarl. "And I did."

"But we have—"

"Don't get sentimental," I snap. "It's just business. Both of you, get out."

Even Robyn is standing there, stunned at the turn of events.

"Robyn, see them out, please. Neither of them are to set foot on a MVM property again. Same goes with Rachel Stein, Audrey Garrett, and anyone who might be connected. We'll add to the list accordingly."

I lean on the desk, breaking out into a sweat.

"Amelia," Damian whispers, but I hold my hand up to stop him.

"I knew," I say, gritting my teeth. "I knew. It was too good to be true." I suddenly grab a pen on my desk and throw it at his head. "You made me trust you."

He dodges the pen and throws his hands up in surrender. "Mila, listen. I didn't know all of that. I'm sorry. I didn't do it deliberately to hurt you. But can we just breathe and talk about this later? I think we're—"

I pick up the phone with shaky fingers. "Security? Yeah, my office, please."

"You can't do this, Mila," Damian says, his face twisting with panic and irritation. "You can't just cut me out because of this. I admit, I made a mistake! I didn't know about a lot of that, but I—"

I close my eyes and sink into my office chair as the pain in my stomach gets worse. Robyn runs to my side, but I wave her away. "I'm okay," I hiss. "Just leave me alone."

Even Douglas looks concerned, but the second security arrives at my door, he gives us all a weak smile and disappears.

Damian steps forward. "I think you need to—"

"Don't tell me what to do," I hiss. "I'm sick of it. Get out." I nod at James, my security guard, but Damian holds his hands up and goes with him willingly.

Robyn smiles nervously. "I know it was a lot, but is there anything I can—"

"Leave," I order. "Just go."

She nods slowly before heading out of the room.

I wilt onto my desk, grimacing through the pain ripping through my body.

The dizziness is worse, the pain overwhelming.

I try and figure out a way to get back to the sofa to lie down, but all I can manage is three steps before the pain takes over and everything goes black.