The Price Of His Mistake Chapter 02
I looked up. I went with his script. My voice was flat. “Fine. I forgive her.”
The tightness in Andrew’s jaw finally eased. He led Emily back to his office.
After work, I walked straight to HR. I handed over a resignation letter.
Karen, the HR director, stared at it. “Catherine, what is this?”
“Process it.” My tone was calm.
“But you’re a Managing Partner. Even the shortest transition takes three days. And Andrew has to be notified first!”
“Andrew already knows. No need to tell him again. Someone will take over my position in three days.”
I turned and left.
This hedge fund was originally my sole proprietorship. If I said someone would take over in three days, someone would.
I left the office and drove upstate to the racetrack.
My chest felt tight, suffocating. I needed speed. The kind that burns everything else out.
I loved racing. Andrew had used the company’s name to invest heavily in this track. I was a diamond-tier member.
The moment I stepped into the lobby, the receptionist, Jessica, spotted me. Panic flickered across her face, fast and unmistakable.
She scrambled to block my path, stammering. “Ms. C-Catherine, I’m so sorry. The track is closed for maintenance today. We’re not open to the public.”
I caught the way her eyes slid away from mine. A suspicion formed.
I tested it. “Andrew’s inside, isn’t he?”
Jessica’s eyes went wide. She blurted out, “You… you know?”
Of course. I walked past her without another word and pushed through the inner doors.
The roar of an engine hit me.
A red Aston Martin sat on the starting line. The windows were down.
I stood at a distance and saw Andrew in the passenger seat.
He was leaning over. Way over. His hands were covering Emily’s, guiding her. Showing her how to work the clutch. How to hold the wheel. Where to place her feet.
They were close. Intimate. Completely unguarded.
The sight hit me like a needle to a nerve. Memory cut deep.
I’d been obsessed with racing once. Back then, Andrew was just a kid from Wharton. At every race, he’d be at the finish line, holding a bouquet of sunflowers.
I didn’t want to complicate his life. I turned him down. Again and again.
He wouldn’t stop. He was at nearly every race I ran.
Until one day, I crashed at Lime Rock Park. The car flipped. It caught fire.
I was pinned inside the crumpled cockpit. Andrew tore the door open with his bare hands.
When they pulled me out, I saw his hands. Blood. Blisters from the heat. Ruined.
We got together after that.
He gave me a reason to want a normal life. A reason to want money.
Even as the heir to the Blackwood family, I chose to build something on my own.
Back then, I sat in the passenger seat. I held his hands. I taught him to race, one move at a time.
And now, here he was. In the passenger seat. Teaching another woman the same way.
Ice water. Straight over my head. The desire to race just… died.
Andrew heard something. He turned. When he saw me, the panic in his eyes was instant and unmistakable.
Emily, sitting in the driver’s seat, didn’t bother to hide it. Triumph gleamed in her eyes.
I looked once. Then I turned and walked away.