Driving back from the hospital, Aiden and I aren’t sure what we should do. He wants to go back to New York as soon as possible. He says that he has a lot of work to get back to. But I know that he also wants to get back home because things have become rather complicated here. I mean, we are staying at the home of the people whose future son-in-law I just accused of rape. Don’t get me wrong. I want to go back home, too. Nothing would make me happier. But then there’s Caroline. She’s going to be in the hospital until at least tomorrow and I just don’t feel right leaving her. She is far from home, in a state she has never been to. I called her parents while I was at the hospital, but they won’t be able to come up until tomorrow.

“I just don’t feel right leaving her,” I say to Aiden. “I guess you can go back to New York.”

“No, I’m not letting you stay at that house all alone.”

“Tom’s not there,” I say. The thought of staying at the house sends shivers through me. I don’t want to stay there myself. Too many bad memories. Besides, I’m not the biggest fan of Carrie Warrenhouse on a good day.

“But, no, I don’t really want to stay there,” I say after a moment.

“Let’s get a hotel,” Aiden says.

“What?”

“If you want to stay here to see Caroline more, that’s fine. I can do some work here. I just don’t want to stay at their house.”

I smile at him. That’s perfect. The last thing I want to do is go back to that cottage ever again, let alone stay there. But we do have to get our things, at the very least.

We arrive back the Warrenhouses’ estate half an hour later and head straight into our cottage. I pack up my bag, secretly thankful that I didn’t bring that much stuff. It takes Aiden less than a minute to get all of his. I do one last sweep of the place, including checking the bathroom and all the counters in case I forgot something. I already did a routine check of the outlets because I’m one to always forget a charger.

“So, what should we do now?” I ask after I put my bag next to Aiden’s near the front door. I know that we need to tell the Warrenhouses that we’re leaving, but I really don’t want to. I barely know them as it is and things are quite awkward with Carrie already. She was my boss not too long ago and I did quit without much of a warning. I know that I had good reasons. I suddenly had money and she had been annoying me for way too long. But still, what happened last night is the last thing in the world that I expected.

“We could leave and just call from the road or the hotel,” Aiden says. “But I think that would be a little rude.”

I nod. He’s right, of course.

“They did invite us to their party and they didn’t have anything to do with what happened to Caroline.”

I nod again. I know all of this. Still, it doesn’t make any of it any easier. A feeling of utter dread descends upon me as I come closer and closer to the eventuality of talking to them again.

“And Robert is very interested in investing in Owl,” Aiden adds. By the tone of his voice, I can tell that he’s doing his best in trying to convince himself to go talk to them as much as he’s trying to convince me.

“Yes, you can’t jeopardize that,” I say decidedly. As far as I can tell, Robert Warrenhouse is Aiden’s Hail Mary. He’s the only thing that can save Owl from falling apart. He’s also the only thing that can probably save Aiden from losing his job.

“C’mon, let’s just say good-bye and then we can get some rest,” I say as Aiden looks down at his feet to avoid eye contact with me.

He sighs deeply as we walk out to our car with our bags.

“You really don’t want to see them?” I ask, handing him my suitcase.

“No, it’s not that,” he says with a shrug. “I just hate feeling like this. So, useless. Impotent even.”

I nod.

“The thing is I’ve run this company since I started it. All of the decisions have always been mine. Everything we did was up to me. I didn’t really need anyone before. At least, I thought I didn’t. And then, Blake did that. Basically ruined my whole business. And now, I find myself in this completely weak and insecure position. I need to go around begging people for money just so I can go back to doing my job.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s just total shit, Ellie. I didn’t do anything wrong. I mean, maybe I trusted him too much. But I didn’t actually screw anyone over. And if the investors had just stayed put, they would have a lot more money in another year. We were on a trajectory to really blow away the competition. Like Facebook when they went public.”

I nod and put my arm around him. I wish there were something I could do. But just like him, I feel completely helpless. In addition to feeling helpless, I also feel like it’s all my fault.

“I’m just so sorry about everything that happened,” I say after a moment of silence. “I can’t help but feel like it’s all my fault.”

“Your fault?” Aiden looks up at me. “What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know. I shouldn’t have participated in that auction. I had a feeling that something was wrong.”

“No, I was the one who was wrong. I thought it would be fun. Sexy. And now, I just feel like such a fool. I had no idea he would do any of that. I had no idea what an asshole Blake really is. Agh, it makes me so angry,” Aiden says, clenching his fists. “I feel like I could just punch something.”

I put my hand on the small of his back and rub him a little.

“C’mon, let’s just be nice and say good-bye. Get this over with,” I say.