Cassandra’s POV Three days later, and I was packing for my yachting trip with Dillon. Stella and I had a good talk about Laura and the contract, and we both agreed that there were benefits to having Laura act as an objective opinion for us. Neither of us particularly liked how she’d gone about it, but we understood why she had.I still had my reservations, but I was willing to set them aside to do what was best for the company. Stella and I had so much on our plates. We both wanted the expansion to go well, with as few hiccups as possible. Truthfully, it felt a little nice knowing that Laura was willing and ready to help us if need be.I’d settled up everything at work and cleared my schedule for my trip with Dillon. Blaire Montgomery’s final dress design had been approved, and I planned on finishing the dress when I got back. She still hadn’t paid us, but I had my inheritance from Stanley to fall back on. I knew she’d settle up the bill when she was back from her African Safari, so
Cassandra’s POV Everyone was siding with Laura. She was persuasive and her position made sense. But I still wasn’t so sure. I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to this than Laura was letting on. She was telling us that she wouldn’t intervene unless we asked her to. But that didn’t negate the fact that she literally COULD call vote whenever she wanted. I’d come to the restaurant that night so sure that Laura would be exposed as a manipulative liar. I’d been confident that, by the end of the night, she’d be out of our friend group, shunned and exiled for her behaviour. Clearly though Stella, Jordyn, and even Dillon were taking her side. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Were her intentions sincere? Was she really just trying to look out for us and our company? There was no denying that Laura was a genius. And she did have the ability to see things from an objective point of view, an ability that both Stel
Cassandra’s POV That was NOT the reply I expected from Jordyn. Was he actually buying into this load of crap? Laura was just sitting there, nibbling on a stuffed mushroom, a pleasant smile on her face. There was no way in hell Jordyn actually believed her? I was dumbfounded. “You can’t be serious,” I said to Jordyn. “She’s lying. She wants control of our company, so she gave us an underhanded contract and basically forced us to sign it.” My blood was starting to boil. We were supposed to be a united front here. But now it felt like Jordyn was shifting sides. “I didn’t force you to do anything,” Laura said flippantly. “And I’d like to point out that it’s not uncommon for company owners to bring in consultants from time to time. Especially when they’re going through a major company shift, like you two are. Like I said, I’m worried you might make decisions that could actually harm your company. You need someone external, an obj
Cassandra’s POV Laura, Jordyn, and Stella were already at the restaurant when Dillon and I arrived. Stella was sitting across from Laura, a serious expression on her face. Stella and I had talked some more about the whole contract thing, and to say that Stella was angry was an understatement. She didn’t understand how Laura could do something so under-handed. “I made that bitch a bridesmaid in my wedding!” Stella had exclaimed. “She better have a REALLY good reason for doing what she did.” I found it hard to believe that, despite the evidence against Laura, both Jordyn and Stella seemed to be holding onto hope that Laura would just pull some sort of magical explanation out of her ass that would explain why she’d done what she did. Needless to say, I wasn’t holding onto the same hope. I failed to see how anything Laura said could skew this situation in her favor. Dillon and I took our seats beside each other. Laur
Cassandra’s POV “I honestly can’t believe you did this,” Dillon said, shaking his head. We were sitting at the dining room table. I was biting my lip as he read over the copy of the contract Laura had sent over to our office. “You of all people should know NEVER to sign a contract without reading it first. I’ve told you that a hundred times. Why didn’t you bring this to me before you signed it?” The last thing I needed right now was a goddamn lecture, especially a lecture from my contract lawyer boyfriend. Yes, I knew it was stupid. Both Stella and I realized that we’d made a mistake. We never should have signed the contract without fully knowing what we were signing. However, in our defense, Laura had been pretty smooth about the whole thing. She’d produced it during breakfast, right before the reading of the will, when we were all tired and distracted. Then she’d assured us that it was just a standard contract. We had
Cassandra’s POV “NO FUCKING WAY!” Stella said, suddenly standing up. “There’s no way we did that. She fooled us. Manipulated us. We’ll just fight the contract.” Stella was really worked up, and I didn’t blame her. I felt the same way, but she’d beat me to it. “Try to stay calm,” Jordy said. Stella’s face was flushed. “We need a lawyer to look it over. Do you think Dillon would do it?” “Of course he would,” I scoffed. “But finding a lawyer to look over the contract is the least of my concerns right now. I hate to say I told you so, but I tried to warn you both about Laura. Now look what she's done. She’s trying to take our company!” “Not exactly,” Jordyn interrupted. “There’s nothing about ownership of Hot House Flower in the contract. Well, that’s not true. If you default on a payment then she takes temporary ownership of the company, but only until the default payment it sorted out.” “Well isn’t that nice of her,” I sai