The Bride He Took For Granted novel Chapter 42

Chapter 42

“I used to think getting a deal done would be easy. Turns out this shit is brutal.”

Chloe sighed.

“My dad said he’d give me two hundred grand if this deal goes through. I was hoping for two million.”

She grinned.

“Then I could buy you a Maserati Quattroporte, and you’d never have to take another cab again.”

She meant it.

Years ago, Chloe’s boyfriend had dumped her. She had gone to his school and begged him to take her back, then gotten so drunk that she passed out face-first in the snow and nearly froze to death.

Elise had searched for her in the middle of the night.

When she finally found Chloe, she wrapped her own scarf

around her neck and carried her more than a mile to the nearest clinic.

Chloe had never forgotten it. As far as she was concerned, she:59

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owed Elise her life.

Touched, Elise blew her a kiss through the screen.

“Let’s not start shopping for Maseratis yet,” she teased. “Neither of us is buying one anytime soon. We’ll call it a win if we can keep ourselves fed.”

Money never stayed in Chloe’s hands for long. Whatever she had, she spent.

That was why Elise had never considered asking her for help repaying the Carter family.

They chatted for a little while longer before ending the call.

Elise returned to the proposal.

After another round of revisions, she called Landon.

She needed to make him understand that unless they followed Harold’s requirements, the game’s release could be delayed indefinitely.

But when the call connected, Joan’s voice came through.

“Elise, Landon’s in the shower. Just tell me what you need, and I’ll pass it along-”

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Elise hung up before she could finish.

Joan let out a mocking laugh.

She placed Landon’s phone exactly where she had found it, then picked up her own and messaged Caleb.

[I heard about what happened today. Thanks to you and Lynn.]

Caleb replied almost immediately.

[We should be thanking you. Lynn loves the skincare set. We’ll be counting on you and Mr. Carter from now on.]

A pleased smile curved Joan’s lips.

Ever since she had gotten close to Landon, everyone around her seemed to have become remarkably kind and considerate.

That was something the other man had never been able to give

her.

At the thought of him, her expression shifted.

Before she realized it, she had opened their chat.

Just yesterday, he had sent her another twenty thousand

dollars.

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[Don’t make things hard on yourself. I’ll take care of your mom and brother. You don’t have to worry about them.]

Joan had accepted the money and used part of it to buy Lynn a luxury skincare set-one she wouldn’t even have bought for

herself.

Now she only hoped Caleb would return the favor by making Elise’s time at Firefly Glow a living hell.

*******

The next morning, Elise got her period right on schedule.

At the first sign of cramps, she took a painkiller. It took the edge off, but her lower back still ached.

She sighed.

If I ever run a company, I’m giving women paid period leave.

As soon as she reached her desk, she sent the revised proposal to

Landon.

He approved it.

Elise printed it out and took it to Kevin in the project department. Kevin was pleased with the revisions.

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Now all they had to do was wait for Harold to finish his meeting and give the proposal one final review.

If he approved it, Elise could finally leave Firefly Glow.

At least, that was what she thought.

The painkiller wore off six hours later. That afternoon, Elise went to the break room for some warm water and took another

one.

She had barely sat down at her desk when she screamed and

shot to her feet.

Someone had poured water on her chair.

The seat was black, so she hadn’t noticed. Now the back of her pants was soaked through. Even her underwear and pad were

wet.

The damp fabric clung to her body.

Caleb leaned back in his chair, his gaze lingering on her.

“What happened, Elise?” he said with a smirk. “Did you bleed through, or did you piss yourself?”

Another man laughed. “She had pads in her bag yesterday. She’s Brobably on her period.”

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Caleb’s smile widened.

“Did you bring extras? You shouldn’t have thrown out the one that got stepped on yesterday.”

He gave a careless shrug. “It was only going to get covered in your filthy period blood anyway.”

Several people covered their mouths, but their snickers still slipped out.

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