Page 40 of It’s Me, but Different

I get up from the couch with a smile from ear to ear and leave the suite practically running toward Harper's office.

When I arrive, I hear voices and immediately recognize Sloane's laughter, that laughter that manages to make me feel butterflies in my stomach every time I hear it,as if I were a teenager. Great, so she'll be the first to know I'm staying.

“I have to admit it, Sloane,” I hear Harper say, “the plan worked perfectly.”

I stop dead. The plan?

“Yes, much better than I expected,” Sloane responds, and I hear her laughter again. “At first I thought she wouldn't accept, but from the first day...”

“Are you kidding?” her older sister interrupts. “From the first day, I knew it would be perfect. The way her eyes lit up when she saw the proposal... it was obvious she was going to bite.”

The world stops around me.

“And the best part is she hasn't even realized what's happening,” Harper continues. “She thinks all this arose naturally.”

Sloane laughs. That laughter that five minutes ago filled me with joy and now hurts as if someone were separating flesh from bone.

“River was right. Sometimes, the best plans are the ones that seem like perfect coincidences,” she adds.

I can't breathe.

I lean my back against the wall, and it feels too cold through my shirt, though not as cold as the sensation spreading through my chest. I tremble from head to toewhile the last fragments of the conversation keep filtering through the door.

“Do you think she'll sign the agreement?” Harper asks.

“I'm sure. You can see she's desperate,” Sloane leaves the sentence hanging, though I don't think I could even hear what follows.

After what happened last night. After opening my heart to her. When she told me she loved me. When I believed her feelings were real.

Tears roll down my cheeks before I can stop them. I cover my mouth with my hand to muffle a sob that threatens to escape.

Everything fits with painful clarity. The hotel offer, too good to be true. The “casual” encounter with Sloane as the only ski instructor available that morning. Harper's convenient job proposal just when I was considering staying.

Even the sex?

Was it all just a game? A trap to hire me for less salary? I don't understand anything. I just know everything was calculated. Everything was a lie.

I manage to reach the elevator before my legs fail completely, and the instant the doors close, I collapse against the wall, letting the tears I've been holding finally break free.

I'm an idiot. A complete idiot.

“You're a bitch, Sloane Merriweather,” I mutter through my teeth.

The elevator opens on my floor, and I walk to my suite like a zombie.

I have to get out of here. Now.

But first, I need to make a call.

I breathe deeply and slowly let out the air, trying to calm myself while trembling as I dial Margaret Wilson's number.

“Margaret, this is Esme Torres,” I announce as soon as she picks up on the first ring.

“And? What's your decision? I suppose you're calling for that, right?”

“I accept the offer,” the words come out of my mouth like poison. I don't want that job, I know it will be very hard on the kids, but I'll show the Merriweather sisters that they can't manipulate me, no matter how many millions they have in the bank. “Send me the documents to sign as soon as possible.”

Suddenly, there's silence on the other end of the line.