***
Before long, we’re in the drawing room again. I skip over the Financial Times and the port this time. It’s too early to drink, anyway. I’ve felt confident up to this moment. Now my palms sweat, and my chest buzzes with something uncomfortable. I sit in the armchair and try to look poised. Isabella’s the same, fussing with the folds of her dress over and over as she sits on the couch.
“Are you nervous?” she whispers.
I pause. “A little. But we’ll be fine. Totally fine.”
“Yes,” she says. “Totally fine,” she repeats, like a mantra.
We share eye contact, and it’s like we’re giving each other strength on a loop, running from me to her, from her to me, from me to her.
Eddie strides in. “This is going to be great,” he says, then flops himself down on the couch next to Isabella. “What a wonderful day for you. You must be so happy.” He shoots me a mischievous look. Like a cat playing with a mouse. But I’m no mouse.
“Thank you for your best wishes,” I say, loosely and freely. He can’t rattle me, not one bit. “Your support is much appreciated.”
We all sit in silence until Mr. Fink is brought in by one of the staff.
“Hello, there,” he says. “Good morning to all.”
I stand up and shake his hand, as does Eddie.
“Pleasure to see you,” Eddie says, with far too much gusto.
Mr. Fink sits in the armchair and unpacks his briefcase. He lays the papers on the table. There’s a contract with two dotted lines. My whole future is at stake. Our whole future is at stake.
He looks up at me with those piercing gray eyes. “So, Gray. This is your final chance to convince me you’re a changed man.”
“I really am different, Mr. Fink.” I look at Isabella. “It’s like… I never even knew what life really was until Isabella came into mine.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Eddie says huffily. “Listen, Finky, let’s cut the shit here. This is exactly what’s going on here. Gray is doing all this wonderful pretending to get his hands on the money.”
I leap to my feet. “No!”
“Sit down,” Mr. Fink orders.
I sit. I could punch Eddie’s lights out. Hold onto control, Gray. Hold onto control.
“Continue, Edward,” Mr. Fink says.
“I was playing along at first.” He makes a big show of looking down at his fingers and looking uncomfortable. “Because Gray’s my cousin and we’re such good friends. But the truth is, I can’t any longer. He really is irresponsible. And because I care so much about my uncle’s legacy, I think it’s my duty to let you know the truth. The truth is that Isabella and I are in love.”
“What?” Isabella and I say in unison.
Mr. Fink holds his hands out. “Continue,” he says to Eddie.
“We had a plan, the three of us, to deceive you. Isabella and I were going to take a cut, and Gray was going to take the larger sum. But I can’t do this in good conscience. He’s going to fritter away our family legacy.”
Mr. Fink purses his lips. He’s silent for a long time. Then finally he says, “Well, first that article. Now this. This all seems completely out of hand.”
“It’s not,” I rush to say.
But he gives me a glare. “It is.” He begins to put the contract back in the briefcase. “I’m afraid with all this lying and concealment, this arrangement is going to have to—”
“No!” I get to my feet. “Eddie’s lying. Completely and utterly lying.”
“It’s his word against yours,” Mr. Fink says evenly. “And you are not exactly the most reliable person.”
“No, I haven’t been,” I admit. “But I’ve always been honest. I was never hiding what I was doing, even when I was totally ruining my own life. But Eddie? He’s the exact same as me. But he pretended to be the good boy, the innocent one, to my father, and now he’s doing the same to you.”
“I don’t believe a word that either of the two of you say.” Mr. Fink gets up from the chair and turns to leave. I feel the whole world is crashing down. All I can do is watch him walk away.
“Then maybe you’ll believe me,” Isabella says.
Mr. Fink turns. “Try me,” he says, but doesn’t move from the doorway.
Isabella stands. “Gray and I have a confession to make. Gray, tell him the truth. The full truth. Nothing but the truth.”
I swallow. What on earth is she doing? I can’t find my voice.
“Go on,” she urges.
I still don’t know where to start.
“Gray and I were deceiving you before, Mr. Fink. We were.” She takes the engagement ring off. “This is a cheap ring. It’s not real.”
“Isabella,” I whisper.
“We planned a fake engagement so you’d hand over the money. He was going to give me a cut to rescue my father’s business.”
“She’s lying. She’s in love with me!” Eddie says.
Mr. Fink turns on him impatiently. “Be quiet.”
“But—”
“Be quiet, or remove yourself. Don’t interrupt again.”
Eddie pushes himself back in the chair and crosses his arms like a sulking child.
“Continue, Miss Price,” Mr. Fink says.
“We were planning to fool you all this time,” she says. “But then something happened that neither of us expected.”
“She fell in love with me!” Eddie says.
Mr. Fink turns on him, his gray eyes like a storm. “Remove yourself this instant.”
Eddie pushes himself off the chair. “Don’t listen to these liars, Mr. Fink. When you want to hear the truth, call me.”
“Excuse the interruption,” Mr. Fink says to Isabella. “Please continue.”
“As I was saying, something happened that neither of us expected.” She takes my hand and looks at me with adoring eyes. I know she wants me to finish what she’s started.
“We… fell in love,” I say. It comes from the deepest part of me. I’ve never felt so much in the right place in the right time in my whole life.
Mr. Fink looks skeptical. “And what does that look like, Gray?”
I feel something stir in the depths of me. “Like… like I can be a better man. Like I’m not the horrible person I always thought I was. Like I’ve been shutting so much of life out. Chasing fun, fun, fun all the time. But that all feels hollow now. It’s not real. It’s just a distraction. But, this…” I look at Isabella, and the feeling in my chest is overwhelming. “This is real.”
I look at Mr. Fink, praying he’ll believe me. His face has softened. “Is this true?” he asks Isabella.
“Yes,” she says through a joyful breath. Her face spreads into the most beautiful smile. “Yes, it’s true.”
Mr. Fink watches us both closely for a moment. I’ve never felt like this before. Standing in the truth. The messy but beautiful truth. It’s almost as if I don’t care what the outcome is. Sure, the money would take our lives to the next level. But even if he turns us down, we’ll still have each other. We’ll have the truth. We’ll have love.
“You’ve convinced me,” Mr. Fink finally says.
Isabella squeezes my hand and lets out a little squeal. I’ve never seen her like that. I look down at her hand.
An idea floods my mind. “One second. Wait there. I’ll just be a moment.”
I sprint up the stairs to my room, find what I’m looking for, and come back down. Mr. Fink has the papers on the table. Isabella holds the pen in her hand, light in her eyes.
“Ready to sign, darling?” she asks.
“Not just yet.” I smile back. I feel the most like a man I’ve ever felt. I get down on one knee and fish my mother’s engagement ring out of my pocket. It’s been in the family for over a century. A beautiful cluster of diamonds in a gold band. “Isabella. The last time we did this was fake. Now this is real. Realer than anything I’ve known in my life. Isabella Price, will you be my wife?”
She grins. “Do you really have to ask? Of course!”