Page 46 of Suddenly Mine

“I do need to know,” said Margot, pushing herself to her feet. “It’s my job to know. I’m the only one who can save this company. I’ll find out the truth, and when I do, you can pack your things and leave because it will be me sitting at this desk, permanently.”

She gave him one of her death stares, and there was something in it that made him instantly suspicious. What had she just said?I’m the only one who can save this company.

It was no secret that he hated Margot, but was she really capable of sabotaging Carroll’s? Maybe she was trying to make things look bad so that she could fix them, proving to his dad that she had what it took to take over. Or maybe she was being paid off by another store to take out the competition. Carroll’s was a big fish — if it sank then it would make room in the pond for a lot of smaller fish to thrive.

“My dad trusts you,” said Christian. “I’m not sure he should. I know how ruthless you are, Margot.”

“Poor Christian,” she said, pouting. “I know deep down you’re still desperate for Daddy’s approval.”

She walked around the desk, standing in front of him and brushing some dust from his overalls.

“I’m not sure if you ever knew this,” she went on, “but it was your father who brought me in to toughen you up a bit. He thought I might rub off on you. In his words, you were ‘too soft’. All these idealistic notions of fair wages and ethical product lines — very noble and totally naive. Very bad for business.”

“What?” said Christian. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” she went on, smiling smugly. “He thought you were weak, that you weren’t strong enough to run a business like this. Your kindness, my determination. It would be a perfect match. But then I realised you were weak. All those trips overseas to check on the welfare of the factory workers, all those campaigns to pay workers more and treat them better. You cost the store money, and I realised you were a lost cause. You can’t teach someone how to have a backbone, Christian. You’ve either got it or you haven’t. Which is why I paid the suppliers in Rapu-Rapu to ask you to stay out there and help them. And they jumped at the chance. As did you.”

What?Christian felt sick. He thought he’d been brave getting away from the company, but all this time it had been Margot’s wish to get rid of him.

“And I’m glad you did,” he said, trying to hide his hurt. “I could never stand your greed. It made me sick. Not everything is about money.”

“Says the billionaire,” she said.

“It was never about the money for me. But I see you’re still obsessed with being rich, being powerful. Is that why you’re doing it?”

“Doing what?” she said.

“Paying people to leave,” he went on. “I think it’s you. I think you’re so desperate to take over the company when Dad leavesthat you’re deliberately sabotaging it. I think you want to march in and fix it, then you’ll be the next CEO of the Carroll empire.”

Margot chewed over his words for a moment, then she smiled. “Prove it.”

She walked away, opening the door and pausing for a moment. “I’ve worked too hard for this,” she said. “You don’t get to come back here after five years and take it away from me. I’m going to tell you something, so listen well.”

He met her eyes, refusing to let her scare him.

“If you come after me, Christian, I will ruin you,” she said. “Now, go grab your mop. The store’s a disgrace.”

Chapter 21

MERRY

By noon, Merry was broken.

Her shoes felt like they had pins in them from all the running around she had done, and her throat was sore from having to speak to customers all day. She’d said the same thing to almost everyone: “I’m so sorry, someone will be with you soon.” Except the only “someone” on the floor was her, literally nobody else had shown up that morning and the entire jewellery department was in her hands.

After a couple of hours of being shouted at, Merry had slipped away and walked around in search of somebody to help her. It wasn’t just her department that was understaffed, she saw, it waseverydepartment. Next door to her, in Lighting, one poor young guy called Ben was practically being swarmed by angry customers. It almost looked like something from a zombie movie, only with ‘I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus’ pouring from the sound system.

Five minutes later, Merry returned to her till with the awful knowledge that she and Ben were literally the only two people on the entire floor. Customers milled around, growing increasingly frustrated, most of them leaving with tuts and moans. She did her best, but it was like fighting a rising tide, and eventually she resigned herself to the fact that she was destined to fail.

By one thirty, she was so desperate for the toilet that she literally ran from a customer as they were speaking. She flew through the staff door and into the nearest restroom, squeaking with relief as she sat down. She didn’t hurry back, taking a moment to wash her hands and splash some water on her face. She gulped down a few sips, wondering if she’d even get a chance to have lunch today.

Think of the money, Merry, she told herself as she walked out of the restroom.

She was halfway down the corridor when she spotted somebody up ahead, standing alone by the staff door. They were holding something close to their face and when Merry got closer she saw that it was an envelope stuffed with some kind of paper.

“Diane?” she said.

Diane jumped, snapping the envelope closed and turning to Merry with a huge grin on her face. “Merry! Are you okay? You look like death.”