Evelyn at reception looks like a deer in the headlights as I step off the elevator into the PinkBook reception area.

“Uhm,” she says. “Mr. Lucas. Hello.”

“I need to see Ms. Bauer,” I say. “It’s urgent.”

“Yeah, uhm, she’s kind of busy—”

“Whatever it is, this is more important.”

A man in a grey suit and a severe haircut appears beside me.

“Mr. Lucas, PinkBook’s lawyers are asking that all guests reschedule their appointments today. This is an extraordinary circumstance.”

I bite back the comment that wants to come out and take a deep breath. He’s a lawyer, I tell myself. It’s what they do.

“I understand that,” I say. “But if I don’t get in to see Sarah Bauer, there may not be a PinkBook left after today.”

He must see something in my expression, because he picks up the reception phone and dials. A few moments later, he waves me towards her office.

“I’ll accompany you, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t care if you ride piggyback as long as I get to talk to her.”

Sarah’s office is chock-a-block with people, most of whom I don’t recognize, but they all have one thing in common: they’re staring daggers at me as I walk in.

“Get out of here!” Millie shouts, her eyes blazing. “I’m calling security!”

I rush to Sarah, but she pulls away and won’t make eye contact. Even though I was expecting it, I can’t believe how much it hurts to be spurned like that.

“I’ve been trying to get in touch—”

“I’d appreciate it if you spoke to me, Mr. Lucas.” A middle-aged woman in a brown suit stands and positions herself between me and Sarah. “I’m Leanne Addison, PinkBook’s chief counsel. I’ve been monitoring all incoming and outgoing communication for the past twenty-four hours.”

“Then if you check, you’ll see I’ve emailed and called numerous times,” I say. “I assume you’ve been monitoring the meltdown?”

“Of course.”

“I was behind the second stock sweep. And I kept on buying when the price started to rise.”

“Bullshit!” Millie barks. “You were behind both of them! You used two shell corporations to double your stock and stabilize the price! You bought at rock-bottom, then you manipulated the price to drive it back up! That’s a felony!”

“Millie, please,” Leanne urges, then turns back to me. “It’s a valid point, Mr. Lucas. How do you respond?”

Every instinct in me is telling me to take control of the situation, and intimidate these people into doing what I want. It’s been my modus operandi for years, and it’s made me wealthy beyond imagining. And yet my heart keeps telling me that these people are confused and scared, and one of them is the person I never, ever want to see that way ever again.

“I appreciate what you’ve all been through,” I say. “But you’re wrong about this. I believe that a shell corporation under Darryl Lawrence’s control was behind everything that happened at the start of day today, and that Lawrence himself was responsible for every leak that led to the destabilization in the first place. As soon as I figured out what was going on, I created a corporation of my own to counter him; unfortunately, I had to build it on a transatlantic flight with spotty internet service, so it didn’t get into the game until much later than I wanted. But the end result is that the stock finally rallied, and Lawrence didn’t get what he wanted.”

Sarah finally turns to me, and I immediately wish she hadn’t. The hurt in her eyes is almost too much to bear.

“You bought the shares?” she asks quietly. “You tried to steal our company away from us?”

“I tried to keep it from being stolen by Darryl! Don’t you see that?”

“Just one more lie!” says Millie. She takes a breath to continue her tirade, but I silence her with a raised finger and the coldest glare I can muster.

“Do not say that again,” I warn. “I won’t stand here and have someone accuse me of trying to ruin the woman I love. Do you hear me?”

Apparently they do, because the whole room goes silent. They’re all staring at me.

Then I realize what I just said.

Sarah’s eyes are saucers. “Justin, I—” She turns away again. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

“Believe that,” I say, my soul as naked as it’s ever been. “If you only believe one single thing I’ve ever told you, believe that I love you.”

“You need to get out of here,” Millie sneers.

Leanne puts a hand on my shoulder. “I’m afraid she’s right, Mr. Lucas. This isn’t the time or place for this. There’ll be an emergency shareholders meeting in two days to discuss the future of the company. As a shareholder, you’re welcome to be there and say your piece then. Until then, I think it’s in my clients’ best interests for you to leave. Please don’t make me summon security.”

My heart is in my shoes. I’ve lost boardroom battles before, but never with stakes like these. My entire future is on the line. Worse, the future of the person I care about most is hanging in the balance.

I turn and leave without another word. I can’t think of anything else to say.