She Was Never Just a Pretty Face novel Chapter 20

He slid a small piece of paper across the polished wood. It was the exact receipt Hilda had dropped in his SUV.

Hilda offered a quiet, understanding smile. She crossed the room and took the seat directly across from him.

Harrell wasn't a man who enjoyed small talk. He immediately pushed a sleek leather folder toward her, his voice perfectly even. "I've been looking to expand my portfolio into the fine arts, but I couldn't find the right talent to back. When I saw your painting at Colin Sutton's place, I knew exactly what I was looking for. If you're open to it, we can launch an agency together. You handle the creative, I handle the operations. After overhead, we'll do an eighty-twenty split. I take twenty, you take eighty. The exact legal parameters are all in there."

Hilda opened the file. Scanning the clauses, the terms were incredibly generous. It was the kind of offer no one in their right mind would walk away from.

Yet, she still hesitated.

Harrell knew exactly what was holding her back, and he addressed it directly.

"Don't overthink this."

"I am a businessman, first and foremost."

"In three years, your canvases will easily be moving for millions. I am getting in on the ground floor. When you inevitably blow up, I'll leverage your brand to take the agency public. We both get exactly what we want."

Hilda didn't hesitate any longer. She signed the preliminary term sheet right then and there.

Harrell had originally planned to invite her to dinner to discuss the finer details (he already had a mandatory corporate lunch to attend), but Hilda gently shook her head. "I have to accompany Luther to a social event tonight. Let's take a rain check, Mr. Judson."

Accompanying Luther? Harrell's brow furrowed ever so slightly.

After Hilda excused herself, Harrell sat in the empty suite, staring blankly at the door she had just walked through.

Was it truly just business? Was it really just mutual benefit?

Sitting in the passenger seat of Luther's car, she looked over at him, her eyes practically sparkling with triumph. "Harrell really respects you. Anyone else could have begged for weeks, and he wouldn't have given them the time of day."

Luther offered a faint, detached smile. "Whether you actually close the deal is entirely on you."

Jolie admired her perfect manicure, practically glowing with smug confidence. "You really shouldn't have invited Hilda tonight. What if she ruins the vibe? It's an incredibly exclusive circle. She's never been exposed to this level of society. I doubt Harrell even remembers who she is—they've what, met maybe once or twice? It's much better if I handle him since we're actually acquainted."

Every word dripping from her mouth was laced with utter contempt for his wife. But Luther wasn't even listening. His mind was entirely fixated on something else.

Just last night, he and Hilda had essentially been stripped bare together. In the past, an interaction like that would have left her completely flushed and desperate for his attention for days. But since she woke up this morning, she had been frighteningly serene. She acted like a corporate employee forced to attend a dinner with her boss. She hadn't even flinched when she saw Jolie throwing herself at him earlier.

When a woman stopped loving you, she stopped caring. It was painfully obvious.

And that realization was eating Luther alive.