Beside me, Griffen quietly chuckled. Vanessa’s eyes flashed fire. It occurred to me that I’d just made an enemy. I’d deal with it. My soul felt clean. Maybe my apology should have been more abject. Maybe I should have said I was sorry for all of it. But I wouldn’t lie to him. Not again. The truth might not make me look good, but at least it was the truth.
“I don’t accept your apology,” Vanessa said with a thrust of her hip and another toss of her hair. I wondered what kind of serum she used to make it so shiny. Not that I would ask. I’d forgotten how annoying her constant hair tossing was. “Are you going to let her talk to me like that?” she demanded of Griffen.
Griffen raised his eyebrows as he stood, moving to my side and winding his arm around my waist, holding me close.
“Hope can talk to you however the hell she wants.”
Vanessa sucked in a breath, gearing up for another assault. She’d always reminded me of Snow White, with her black hair and red lips, but, despite her looks, she wasn’t the princess from the story. Vanessa was the apple. Shiny and lovely on the outside, her beauty masking the poison within. Who knew what venom she was getting ready to spew next? I decided to save her the time.
“Vanessa, you and I both know why you’re here. With Ford in prison and not working, he’s not drawing a salary, which means you’re not getting any alimony. I’m sorry if you didn’t put anything away for a rainy day, but that’s not Griffen’s problem. If you’re running low on funds, I’d suggest finding yourself another sucker. Griffen isn’t available and he’s too smart to fall for your act a second time.”
Griffen’s grin was a little wicked, his green eyes twinkling as they rested on my face. Eventually, he turned to look at Vanessa. “What she said. Whatever you were getting from Ford, it has nothing to do with the Sawyer estate. Maybe you should go down to the prison and have a chat with him. In the meantime, I’ll be alerting security that you aren’t welcome at Heartstone Manor.”
Vanessa drew in a deep breath and let it out in a shuddering sigh, sinking into one of the chairs facing Griffen’s desk. I let out a short sigh of my own.
Act Two, here we come.
Playing with the hem of her skirt, Vanessa let her hair fall forward to shield her face, and when she looked up her eyes swam with tears. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought she was miserable and defenseless. Poor, sad creature.
Unfortunately for Vanessa, I did know better, and so did Griffen. She went for it anyway.
“You don’t know what it’s like. Ford’s been so unkind, and now he’s gone and I don’t have any money. Everyone sided with him when we divorced. I’m going to lose my home, my car, and I don’t have anywhere to go. I’m a Sawyer—”
Griffen cut her off. “Let me save you some time, Vanessa. Number one, you aren’t a Sawyer. You manipulated my brother into marrying you and it sounds like you soaked him for a fortune. Not my fault if you didn’t bother to save any. If you’re having money troubles, I’ll give you the same advice I got when you married my brother and I was thrown out of town. Get a job.”
“You want me to work? Like—” she waved her hand in my direction again. “Like her? Like an office drone or waitress or something? I can’t work.”
“Then I’d take Hope’s advice and go find yourself another sucker. There’s got to be someone left in the Southeast who doesn’t know what a grasping bitch you are.”
Unable to stop myself I murmured, “Maybe she should try the West Coast. The Southeast isn’t as big as it seems.”
Fuming, Vanessa shot to her feet. “I see how it is. You say I should find another sucker, but I loved you and I loved Ford. Meanwhile, the woman you married ruined your life, Griffen. She’s the reason Prentice ended our engagement. She lied to you and got you kicked out of your home and now she’s won you over with her ‘poor little me’ act. You call me a grasping bitch, but I’m an amateur next to your wife.”
Vanessa strode out of the office, hips swaying, tossing her shining hair back over her shoulder. Her parting shot shouldn’t have struck home. I knew better. I did. I still felt sick to my stomach.
Apologizing to Griffen’s face and to Vanessa’s had felt good. Cleansing. Now, I just felt dirty again. It was half a lifetime ago, but she wasn’t wrong. I’d—
“Don’t let her get to you, Hope,” Griffen said.
I shook his arm off my shoulders. “I’m not. I’m not. It’s just Vanessa. She’s always been mean. I shouldn’t have been so rude. I rubbed her nose in it. I just—” I needed to get my head together. “I’m just going to make sure she actually leaves and then take a break. Unpack some things. You can keep working on the mail and save anything you need me for. I’ll, uh, be back later.”