Publishing House of the 'Voulez' Magazine, South Hampton
Horrified, Daniel stared at the pictures and the newspaper article that Margaux had just placed on the table.
"Can you explain this to me?" She had her arms crossed in front of her chest and looked at him furiously. "What do you think our readers will say about it when they read this? Not only that the article was published in a competition paper, no, they must also learn that you publicly cheated on your wife!"
"This is... completely taken out of context," he stammered miserably. "Sara and I just danced and had a little... fun together."
"Yes, I can see how much 'fun' you had together." Margaux rolled her eyes. "If you want to stray, then you should be a bit more discreet."
"I didn't stray!" With a trembling hand he ran through his hair, pacing back and forth. "You know how it is. The photographers always pick situations you can misconstrue."
"You think that someone could misconstrue the meaning of those pictures?" She tapped her finger on the picture, where they were at the beach. "I think they clearly speak for themselves."
"I turned her down," he said ruefully, knowing that a short time later they almost had had sex.
"You were seen when you came out of your room later," Margaux said dryly. "What did you do there? Playing Parcheesi?"
He felt his cheeks growing warm. "Have you spied on me?"
"Of course not." She shook her head. "But I have my sources, even if I can't be everywhere," she confessed. Hesitantly, she put a hand on his shoulder. "We are not only business partners, we are also friends, Daniel. You can be totally honest with me."
He wondered if he should confide in her about what had happened and decided spontaneously to tell her the truth. "I didn't plan that," he began. "Sara waited in my room as I went upstairs. She seduced me, not the other way round," he emphasized. "I didn't mean to do it. But one thing led to another..." He stopped and took a deep breath. "I don't know what would have happened if Charlotte hadn't knocked at the door."
"Dear Charlotte. Your white knight." Margaux smirked. "What happened then?" She asked.
"Nothing. I took Sara home."
"If you want nothing to do with her, you should make a counter statement. So you can win the readers over to your side by presenting yourself as a victim." She raised her eyebrows. "I can only advise you to go public in order to reestablish your good name. After all, you're just about a month apart from Emily. And even if your mother stated that Emily was to blame for the separation, the readers sympathy will be with her. Women always have better chances, especially when children are involved."
"My mother should make the counter statement. She was the one who invited the press to my party, after all. Without them there would be no compromising pictures or this article!"
"Did she force you to go to bed with your ex?" Margaux asked amused. "Certainly not. You decided this by yourself. And that is why it's your job to go public and rectify the rumor."
"I'll go to Sara and talk to her first," he promised.
Margaux nodded. "Do it soon. The longer this rumor exists, the more persistent it will become." She pointed again at one of the pictures. "What do you think Emily will say when she sees the pictures and reads the article?"
Emily! Shocked, he realized that he hadn't even thought of that. No matter where she was, there were certainly magazines that reported about the high society and celebrities.
"I get from your expression that you haven't thought about it until now," Margaux said. "Well, if I were in her spot I would probably file for a divorce. Not only had her mother-in-law publicly denounced her, she must also learn that her husband cheated on her."
"Oh God..." he muttered weakly and dropped on a chair. "If I knew where she was, I would fly to her and explain everything. But so far, the private investigator hasn't found her, yet."
"She's hiding well. Apparently, she has really erased you from her memory," she said. "But good for you. Because now you only have to wait for the divorce and then you can start to date other women."
"I don't want to date other women!" he shouted exasperated, jumping up from his chair. "I don't want a divorce either. I want Emily to come back to me!"
Surprised, she looked at him. "So you're not talking about your reputation, but really about your relationship with Emily? You want to reconcile with her?" She asked incredulously.
Daniel nodded. "I've only told my father and Charlotte, and now I'm telling you... I love her too much to let her go. I just realized how much she means to me. I don't know if she'll forgive me, but I have to try."
"I'm really impressed." Margaux nodded approvingly. "I've known you for a while, but it's the first time I've ever seen you really love someone genuinely." She looked at the clock. "It's already late. I have to go. I just want to remind you how important it is that you are doing the counter statement. Especially when you think about a reconciliation with Emily."
When Margaux had left, Daniel took the article from the Daily News and threw it into the trash can. He had to find Emily and tell her that everything was a big misunderstanding. With this thought, he reached for the phone and dialed the number of the private investigator to find out about the latest state of the investigations.
Grayson Manor, Hamptons
Charlotte and Ava sat at the swimming-pool in the sun and exchanged news. Both had something that they wanted to tell the other, and accordingly the mood was tense.
"I've invited you here to tell you something important," Charlotte began, then took a deep breath. "Guess what, Nolan called me a couple of hours ago and told me he'll be back in a week."
Ava nodded, smiling. "That's nice. I'm glad to see him again. Surely he has a lot to tell."
"But that's not the important news I wanted to tell you," Charlotte continued excitedly. "Emily will come with him!"
"What?!" For a moment, Ava tried to digest the news before she burst into laughter.
"What's so funny about that?" Charlotte asked confused.
Ava took her purse, which she had placed on the table next to the pool, and took out the box with the engagement ring. "Do you remember that Jack was talking about a plan on how to get Emily back?"
Charlotte nodded. "Yes, I remember. Why?"
Ava opened the box and took out the ring. "That was his plan." She slipped the ring on her finger and held her hand out to Charlotte to look at.
"Is that an... engagement ring?" Charlotte stammered disbelievingly.
Ava nodded, smiling. "Last night, Jack proposed on the beach," she said. "I had no idea that he is such a romantic person. He prepared a candlelight dinner for us, and when he fell down to his knees before me and asked me to marry him, I said 'yes'."
"Oh Ava..." Charlotte jumped up from the couch and put her arms around her. "Congratulations! When is the wedding?"
"We haven't set a date yet, but Jack thought of October."
"You should get married when the weather is still warm and sunny. How about August?"
"This is quite short dated." Ava pondered briefly. "I'm celebrating my 24th birthday on August 22nd. Maybe we can combine my birthday with the wedding."
Charlotte clapped her hands excitedly. "Oh, that would be awesome!"
"I'll ask Jack what he thinks of the idea." She frowned skeptically. "I'm not sure, however, whether we can make all preparations in this short time."
Charlotte counted the weeks. "Until then, it's almost eight weeks," she said then. "We'll make it work."
"Would you be my bridesmaid?" Ava asked smiling.
"I'd love to. And you should ask Emily, too," Charlotte suggested. She dropped back to her couch. "Oh man, I can't believe it." She sighed. "There are so many grand events in the next few weeks to look forward to; Emily will return, you and Jack get married, and then I will become an aunt again."
"An event the father to be is still not aware of," Ava said, raising her eyebrows. "It's time he learns the truth."
"Until your wedding, I'm sure he knows." Charlotte nodded. "Oh, I remember, Emily asked Nolan to get some new furniture for the beach house. He passed it on to me. Everything should be ready when they arrive next weekend. Would you help me to pick out some piece of furniture?"
"With pleasure." Ava nodded excitedly. "Then maybe we should start looking for furniture online. The sooner we can decide for something, the faster it can be delivered and assembled."
"Agreed." Charlotte rose from her deck chair and reached for her towel. "Let's go and get dressed," she suggested.
Ava also got up, and together they went upstairs to Charlotte's room.
Grayson Manor, Hamptons
A few days later
At first Victoria didn't know what had disturbed her sleep, but when she heard voices and sounds coming from the beach house, she quickly jumped out of bed, put her negligee on and went to her balcony. Disbelieving, she stared down from her turret, not immediately understanding what was going on. A furniture van had parked right in front of the entrance, and some men carried various pieces of furniture into the beach house. Probably the whole house had already awakened from the noise, she thought annoyed, and went back to her room to dress quickly. Her first path led her straight to Daniel's room, the beach house owner, who was supposed to know what the whole thing meant. But when she knocked at his door and he opened, he was at a loss, too.
"What kind of furniture?" He asked, suppressing a yawn.
"I'm just asking you," she said impatiently. "Did you order the furniture?"
"No." He wiped his eyes. "I haven't decided yet what to do with the beach house."
"Well, someone already did." She rolled her eyes.
"Ask Charlotte." He was about to close the door again to return to his bed when Victoria put a foot in the door crack. "Wait! It's your house and your responsibility. I want to know what's going on there. You come with me!"
"Fine. Just let me dress first." Irritated groaning, he went back to his room, quickly dressed, and then went with his mother to Charlotte's room.
"The furniture is already there?" She said, surprised, as the two had informed her. "That was fast."
"You know something about it?" Daniel looked at her, frowning.
Charlotte nodded. "I ordered them." She cleared her throat. "Actually, it should be a surprise, but since you already know..." She took a deep breath. "Emily is coming back," she said quickly.
Daniel felt his heart beating faster with the mention of her name, and his mouth became dry. All the time he had wondered what he would do if he saw her again. But now he was also afraid that she would turn him down. "Emily's coming back?" He repeated hoarsely.
Charlotte nodded. "That's a surprise, isn't it?" She grinned. "I could hardly believe it, but it's true. That's why I ordered the furniture that she can move into the beach house again when she's back."
"When... will she arrive?" He could feel the lump in his throat getting bigger and bigger. He still couldn't believe that he would see her again, and Julian, his little son.
"On the weekend."
"Then you tell your father that he can whistle back his private investigator," Victoria said dryly. She looked at Charlotte. "Did she say why she wants to come back?"
"She misses her friends and life here," Charlotte said.
"That's all?" Victoria frowned.
"Isn't that enough?" Charlotte looked at her mother reproachfully. "I know you don't like her, but please try to be nice to her and don't chase her away this time!" she begged.
"You read the letter. Can you blame me if I don't want her to drag the Grayson name through the dirt?" Victoria exclaimed indignantly. "She wanted to destroy our family, Charlotte! She lied and betrayed us. Not to mention that she pretended to be someone who she wasn't." She laughed sarcastically. "If she hadn't been shot, she would have gone through with her plan. She would have faked her death and had set me up for murder. I would have gone to jail. So excuse me if I'm not looking forward to her return!"
"She's been a different person ever since," Charlotte said to Emily's defense. "She's no longer looking for revenge. As she wrote in her letter, she wants to be a part of this family and live in peace with everyone."
"Until she reverts back to her old ways." Victoria sighed stagy. "Once a liar, always a liar." She looked at her son. "How do you feel about this, Daniel?"
Deep in his heart, he had to admit that he had the same feelings towards Emily when he had learned about her deceit. The words in her goodbye-letter had made him aware what she was capable of. He had been shocked by her cold-bloodedness. She had been willing to sacrifice people for her revenge. Even so, he believed her feelings towards him had been real. At least after her amnesia. He even had felt the change in her. Emily had indeed become a new person. And that's why she deserved a second chance.
"Daniel?" Victoria impatiently tapped her foot as she waited for a reply from him.
"Emily remains a Grayson!" he said in a firm voice. "I'm going to fight for my marriage and not like you, Mom, give up on it when it gets difficult."
"If you're referring to my relationship with David Clarke, I can only tell you that your father wasn't an innocent either. He already cheated on me with other women. And if it wasn't a woman, it was his work. He has never been interested in his family," she scoffed. "He was married to his work." She raised the eyebrows. "Who tells you that Emily wants you back? So far, I always hear that she wants to come back because she misses her friends. And besides, what about Sara?"
He jerked his head up. "I knew you were behind all that. But your plan to set me up with Sara again failed, Mom! I'm not interested in her."
"Suit yourself. It's your decision, Daniel. However, I must tell you, don't come to me and cry me a river when things with Emily don't go as planned! You don't have my support anymore."
"I do better without your 'support' and interference," he retorted.
"Hey, the two of you!" Charlotte interrupted. "Can you stop quarreling? Fact is, Emily is coming back. Just wait and see what the future will bring."
Daniel nodded. "You're right. We should just wait."
"How glad I am that I won't be here when she arrives." Victoria rolled her eyes. "Your father has asked me to accompany him to a charity event in Chicago. I really wanted to cancel on him, but now that I hear what the option is, I'll gladly fly with him." She turned to go. "And now excuse me. I'm going back to my room."
When Victoria had left, Daniel looked at Charlotte thoughtfully. "Because she's going to come back anyway, can you tell me where she was?"
Charlotte pondered over his question for a moment, then nodded. "Paris," she told him. When she saw his eyes widen in wonder, she went back to her room, smiling, and shut the door in his face.