She Was Never Just the Billionaire’s Wife (Natasha and Chase) novel Chapter 212

(Natasha)

Mason's office at Stein has the blinds half down.

It's eleven in the morning and the blinds are half down and that tells me everything I need to know about how his day is going.

He's at his desk. Tie on, which is something.

Reading a deal memo, which is also something.

But the blinds.

"Knock knock."

"Don’t even start, they're open."

"They're half open. You did the depressed-man blinds."

"I did the it's-bright blinds."

"It's overcast, Mason."

He doesn't have an answer for that. He puts the memo down.

I come in and sit in the chair in front of his desk.

I’m worried about him.

The financial press is having a field day telling everyone he’s finished.

It’s not that long ago they said the same thing about me, so screw them, but still.

It’s out there and I know he hates it.

They’ve been running headlines on his untimely departure from Warren for a week straight.

Today’s most popular one was Stein's Costly Detour. The Man Who Lost Kessler.

One of them ran a photo from a gala two years ago where he's laughing, captioned in a way that made the laugh look stupid.

I want to find the person who chose that photo and have a little chat.

I’m pretty sure Julian would be able to find out who it was and give me a name.

I’m a rather spectacularly wealthy woman since Elias gifted me the shares in Warren.

So far I’m refusing to acknowledge it, but I’m willing to make an exception for Mason.

"How are you?" I ask.

"Fine."

"Mason."

"I'm at work. I'm in a tie. I'm reading a memo. What more do you want?"

"I want you to mean it."

He leans back in the chair. Rubs his face with both hands.

"They're saying I can't run a company."

"They're saying a lot of things. If you remember, they were calling me corrupt not all that long ago."

"The big difference here is that they're not wrong about the deal."

"They're wrong about you. The deal was a fluke of timing and a phone on silent. You've closed a hundred deals. They're choosing to forget ninety-nine of them because one bad headline sells better."

"Natasha. I love you, but you’re being way too lenient. You’re a major shareholder in a company that I just lost a fortune."

"Oh screw that. I don’t believe for a second that Kessler won’t be back. Nobody else can offer them what Warren can. They’re throwing a tantrum.”

“The stocks tanked!” Mason huffs at me.

“I'm not done. You built Stein from nothing. Nothing. You walked out of Warren Global with a laptop and a phone and you built this.”

He doesn’t look convinced.

“Warren Global was always going to be temporary. You went in to hold the line while Chase was out. You held it for months. One night went wrong and now you're acting like the whole thing was a failure."

"It was a failure."

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