This chapter is set immediately in succession of Bill's receipt of Liam's response letter. I just want to iterate for the reader that this entire fic does not follow to the letter the events on the show. In this telling, it was Bill, not Steffy, who ended their 'arrangement,' because he decided to prioritize his relationship with Liam over his love for Steffy.

Justin breezed into the boss man's office, whistling and grinning. His grinned vanished at the sight that beheld him: Boss Man slumped in his chair, staring at a document, looking as if the paper held the news that the world was to end tomorrow.

"Dollar Bill!" Justin cried out, hoping his light tone would shake his friend out of his depressing mood.

Bill looked up, surprised, but unfazed. "Oh, Justin." Bill put the paper on the desk. He sat up a little straighter and seemed to be trying to feign attention to Justin. "What's up?"

Justin looked at him knowingly. "Bill, what's going on? This is a great day for Spencer Publications."

Bill forced himself to chuckle. "I know, I know. Eye on Fashion has reached the highest circulation in the fashion press in the entire world."

"Right," said Justin, slowly as if confirming the words of a toddler. "Which is why we need to be out celebrating, not sitting in here, alone, looking like death worn over."

Bill stood up, smiling, and moved to the bar cart. "Let's have a drink." As he handed Justin a drink, took a sip of his drink and then lifted it as for a toast. "To Eye on Fashion. Watch out, Conde Nast. There's a new sheriff in town!"

Justin laughed. "There he is. There's the Dollar Bill I know and love."

Seated again, Justin addressed Bill seriously.

"Now, Bill come on, talk to me. I know you gotta be trippin' over ending it with Steffy, but, dude, in my humble opinion, you did the right thing. For your son and granddaughter. You've got to repair your relationship with your son. Forget Steffy."

Bill shot Justin a disbelieving look. "Forget a woman like Steffy? That's impossible."

Justin rolled his eyes. "Of all the women in the world willing to throw themselves at the feet of someone like you-rich as Midas, good looking… well, not horrible looking…." He trailed off, chuckling at his friendly jibe at Bill's expense. "No, even with all those options, you choose to obsess over your son's wife… or ex-wife… or fiance, or whatever their current relationship status."

"Ex-wife," informed Bill. "Steffy wants to focus on herself."

Justin looked impressed. "That's a good idea. Good job, Steffy. What about you, Dollar Bill? You gonna focus on yourself? Do some meditation? Read some self-help books? Get that bull head of yours screwed back on nice and tight? What was that document you were staring at when I came in? Notice of impending nuclear disaster, if the look on your face was anything to go by."

Bill smiled. He liked having Justin around to tease him in a way that no one else dared. Justin always gave it to him straight. Sometimes Bill was annoyed by it, because Justin often sensed the truths that Bill did not even want to admit to himself, but on balance, he had to admit he'd rather have a Justin than not.

"Liam's letter," Bill said in answer to Justin's query. "I've been rereading it obsessively."

"May I?"

"Sure." Bill handed him the letter and watched Justin read it. He couldn't help smiling everytime Justin raised his eyebrows and whistled in amazement over Liam's words.

Finally, Justin finished reading it and handed it back to the boss man. "That boy of yours is tough. He's right though."

Bill grimaced. "Yeah."

"You gonna write another letter?"

Bill shook his head. "No. I've been trying but…. I can't say everything I need to say in another letter."

"Hash it out face to face?"

Bill nodded. "I think it's the best way." Bill leaned back in his chair. "I hate this, Justin."

"What's that?"

Bill exhaled. "All of it. What I've become. What I've done. How I hurt my son. And for what? It hasn't gotten me anything that I wanted."

Justin considered these words carefully. "Well, to be fair, you did walk away from Steffy, not the other way around. She was going to marry you, in exchange for your Forrester stock. I can only assume you came back to your senses when you called it off."

Bill nodded. "I don't know if I made the sensible decision. Steffy is my soulmate. She's my equal. She is the female Dollar Bill."

Justin laughed hard at this. "The female Dollar Bill? Even more than Katie or, better yet, Brooke?"

Bill shook his head. "Katie and Brooke are exceptional women, but neither can hold a candle to Steffy's tenaciousness and potential."

Justin shot his friend a looking of warning. "Don't do it, Dollar Bill. Don't go there. You made the right decision in turning your back on that cockamame arrangement. Not only does it mean you keep your rightfully owned shares in Forrester Creations, it means you have a fighting chance to regain the love of your son!"

"I know," Bill sighed, leaning his head against the back of his chair. "Yeah, I know, Justin. I mean, I don't give a shit about the Forrester shares. I'd give those to Steffy no strings attached, in a heartbeat."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, why not? It's her family's company. I have enough so that I can give that to her. Besides, there's no one better to own control of Forrester than Stephanie Forrester's granddaughter and namesake, and someday, those shares will pass into the hands of my grandchild."

"Except you haven't given away those shares. Right, Bill? Tell me you didn't…"

Bill smiled at his friend's concern for his financial wellbeing. "No, Justin, I didn't. I still own my shares of Forrester." He had to chuckle at the sign of relief from Justin! "I'm just saying that…. Giving those shares to Steffy…. There are worse things. That's all I'm saying."

"But, Bill…. Come on. Let it go, man. Let Steffy be. Focus on your family. Your sons. Your granddaughter. And the legacy you've built for their sakes."

Bill threw up his hands. "All right, all right! I get it."

Something suddenly occurred to Justin. He looked at Bill skeptically. "This is too easy."

Bill arched his brow. "What?"

Justin frowned. "Now that I don't agree, but you're giving up on Steffy way too easily, Dollar. You've been strung out for months, gazing out of the window, not hearing me when I'm talking to you about business, your mind obviously on things more appropriate for a bedroom than an office. And yet, all of a sudden, when Steffy is coming to you in desperation, you just… what? Give up? Throw in the towel?"

Bill took a long, deep sigh as he swung himself in his chair to face the window. "I saw the look in Liam's eyes. It was horrible. I knew that I was the cause of that pain inside him and I had to try my best to make it ok. Not that I can make it ok but…. I just couldn't keep going with something that I knew was causing my son pain."

"I'm impressed, Dollar. I'm also proud of you."

Bill's iPhone lit up and played Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries. He was pleasantly surprised to see Liam's name. "It's Liam. I don't remember the last time he's actually called me."