Chapter 146

I must have misheard, because there was no way that Logan just told me I should quit my job. Maybe I did hit my head after all. Maybe this was all some kind of coma dream.

“Come again?” I asked.

“Quit your job,” he said. “I make enough that I can take care of you. It’s time you give up this pretense and become my wife.”

“I’m already your wife,” I said. “What you want is for me to be some kind of… of… what? Live-in servant?”

“A homemaker.” Logan’s brow pulled together in obvious confusion.

Some women were happy to be homemakers, and I had not ill will toward them. Taking care of a house and a family while supporting their partner was no easy job.

But I had my own career ambitions, my own dreams, and being a homemaker did not fit them.

Someday, I wanted to be a world-famous actress. I wanted to star in movies or Broadway plays, and be world-renowned for my ability and my dedication to the craft. I couldn’t achieve that by hiding myself away in some mansion, waiting for Logan to come home every night so my day could begin.

“No,” I said firmly, my anger rising. “And that fact that you would even suggest that to me makes me believe that you don’t know me at all.”

Logan seemed taken aback.

“I don’t give up when things get tough,” I continued. “I just work harder. I meet any problem head on. This was my fault. I should have been keeping better track of my eating.”

“I have enough money for us both, Hazel. I can take care of you, and nothing like this would ever happen again.” Logan seemed earnest, that was what made it hurt all the more.

“I don’t want to be taken care of,” I tried to explain. “I want our relationship to be a partnership. I refuse to be a burden on you. I want to be someone who can hold up my own end of everything.”

“You are being difficult on purpose,” Logan accused. He stood.

Following his lead, I forced myself to sit up. I wobbled a little at first, but rallied myself by promising myself a hearty meal after this confrontation. I refused to back down during it.

No way would I walk away from this letting Logan think he won something here.

“Hazel, you fainted right inside of my office doorway.” He gestured back to the spot. “Do you think I want to see you that way? That I want you to continue to place yourself in situations where this could happen? Better for you to quit, let me take care of you, and then I don’t have to worry.”

“You wouldn’t have to worry because I’d be tucked away like a princess in a tower.”

“It wouldn’t be like that. I’d never keep you prisoner.”

“Yet you’d take away my only current outlet of supporting myself? What about my apartment?”

“Your lease can be bought out. And you could still support yourself. We can negotiate some kind of allowance…”

“Allowance?!” I scoffed, well and truly insulted now.

“That’s what many high society men give to their wives,” Logan said, somehow confident that this argument made his point, when all it really did was send my fury into a fiery rage. “You’d be able to buy whatever you want, within reason –”

“Stop.”

“If there is something more expensive that you want, you can simply ask me, and –”

“Stop!” I shout.

Logan blinked, surprised by my outburst. I was a little surprised too. Technically, I was still on the clock and Logan was still my boss. I had no right to raise my voice like this, as Logan’s assistant. As his wife, though, I had every right to let him know how asinine I found his suggestion.

“I will not be dependent on anyone,” I told him. “Especially you!”

“Why especially me?” Dylan snapped back.

“You should be someone who believes in me and my talents and abilities. Haven’t I proven myself time and time again?”

“You passed out!”

“I just need something to eat!” I said, raising my voice to match his. Though technically, I supposed I started it. “It doesn’t make me incompetent!”

Furious, I hopped to my feet. Immediately, the world started spinning again.

In a flash, Logan switched from annoyed to concerned. He closed the distance between us, catching me under the arms.

At the same time, my own anger dimmed. In its place, I just felt tired.

“We wouldn’t have to worry about my health, if these new production standards weren’t so exhausting,” I said.

Logan’s gaze fell away from me, so I pushed harder.

“You have to talk to the board, Logan. Or your grandfather. Or both. You are the only one who can get them to reconsider this course of action.”

“We’re done talking about this,” he said firmly.

“We aren’t,” I replied. “Because it’s not just an in-house issue anymore. The unrest is creating gossip that extends beyond our company. The clients themselves are asking me about it.”

“Tell them the company line,” Logan said.

“I’ve tried. But these are people who have been with us for years. They know when they are being bullshitted. Logan, they said they are watching. Even if the health of your employees isn’t enough to convince you – which it should be, frankly. But since it isn’t, the company’s reputation and profits are in danger too.”

“Our reputation will hold,” Logan said. “And our profits will increase when we replace the employees who have walked out on us with people more capable.”

He couldn’t believe that. And with the way he had said the words to the carpet, not to my face, convinced me that these were not his own words, but something parroted.

“Is that what your grandfather said?” I asked.

His gaze snapped to mine now, the fire sparking in his eyes again. “It is the truth.”

Not a denial, then. Which meant that they were his grandfather’s words. At least that meant that Logan had tried to talk to him, even if it had ended in obvious failure.

“So money is more important to you than anything else?” I demanded. “Including the happiness of your own employees and the morale of the company.”

“Money makes the world go round, Hazel. How can’t you see that?”

“Do I have to tell you what I told your grandfather? Your employees are the backbone of this company. If you don’t show them some respect, you are going to lose them. And who is going to replace them? Who would actually want to work in a place that is so heartless, so soulless?”

It was silly having such an intense conversation when I was shaky on my feet, with Logan basically holding me upright.

We should have spoken of softer things, maybe, as close as we were.

Instead we traded barbs, both too stubborn for our own good.

But I wasn’t going to back down on this. Maria’s words struck me to my core. I had to stay true to myself, and that meant never forgetting that, even married to a member of high society, I belonged to the working class through and through.

Logan narrowed his eyes and he lifted his chin a little, defiantly.

I knew what he was going to say before he said it, and braced myself.

“You will quit this job for your health, and that’s final.”

I pushed him away. It wasn’t the most energetic shove, but he still moved, maybe surprised by my attempt to stand on my own. I was still shaky, but I held my own.

I couldn’t show weakness here, not with what I was about to say.

“Go fuck yourself,” I told him and stormed out of his office.