Silver Tears(27)

When she reached the living room, she smiled at the sight of the enormous emerald-green velvet sofa. The room had been painted in light, muted colors that made for a relaxing feeling.

She went over to the window and spent a while gazing across the rooftops of ?stermalm before slowly continuing her tour of the rooms in the apartment. It was going to be her home while she worked on the American expansion and saved Revenge. She now had two homes. One in Italy and one here. Both were important but in different ways. Half her heart was in Italy, where Julienne and her mother were. But half of her heart would always be here. She had made Stockholm her town from the very first moment she had arrived. Julienne had been born here, taken her first tentative steps here. Stockholm was her and Chris’s town. They had shared laughter, adventures, successes, misfortune, and deepest sorrow here.

This apartment was going to be her fortress, her stronghold.

She had come home.





Faye’s pulse quickened as she entered through the main street door on Birger Jarlsgatan. When she saw Revenge’s logo—the ornate R—she forced back a wave of emotion. On her way through the open-plan office, she smiled at the young women greeting her.

Her body was buzzing when she opened the door to her office—she loved this space where she had created magic and built an empire.

And it was from here that she had orchestrated Jack’s fall. Conquered him. Taken over Compare, the company he’d built using her ideas, the company she’d helped him set up, only for him to claim all the credit and cast her aside.

She placed her handbag on the desk and sat down in the chair, then opened her laptop. She glanced through the sheet of glass at the twenty employees at their desks. Ten or so new hires had arrived—she knew their names since she had been emailing with them, and she appreciated finally having the chance to see them in reality. They were women of all ages. Talented, multilingual, self-starters, and professional. Modern women, full of self-confidence.

Revenge’s revenues were going to set new records, and as she sat there gazing at her employees, she thought to herself that there wasn’t really any need to expand. Why risk all this? Wasn’t it better to focus everything on stopping the buyout?

Financially, Julienne’s future great-grandchildren’s prospects were secured. But she knew that Chris would have loved to see Faye fulfill her dream of taking on America. And the Skavlan interview had exceeded all expectations. Their inbox was full of financiers who wanted a slice when Revenge took the step across the Atlantic. They were so incredibly close to sealing the deal with their partners in the USA. Much closer than she had let on. But she wanted to have the right investors on board. People who would allow her free rein to operate as she saw fit—and even more important, people who did good in the world. People with a good center, as Chris used to say.



Sometimes she remembered Chris’s smile, heard her laugh, felt her firm hand in hers. If she closed her eyes right now, she could almost imagine that Chris was standing beside her. Her throat tightened and Faye brushed away tears. The melancholy was back.

What was the point of the money and success if she was forced to be apart from the people she loved? While she might like those female employees out there, they hadn’t been there for her when she was a nobody—before she became a billionaire. And if it all went to shit, they would pick up their designer bags and abandon her without so much as blinking. A company, just like a relationship, should be based on loyalty. But the fact was that she had given more of herself to Julienne—and prioritizing her personal life had caused her to loosen her hold on Revenge.

She glanced at the desk and jumped. She had ten missed calls from Kerstin—she must have set her mobile to silent. With butterflies in her stomach, she called back.

“I’ve found out who’s behind the purchases,” Kerstin said right away.

Faye swallowed.

“Yes?” she said as calmly as she could.

“Henrik Bergendahl.”

“But that can’t be…”

Faye closed her eyes and sagged against the backrest. Jack’s former business partner. Shouldn’t she have seen this coming? Even though Henrik was now more successful than ever, he had been in a bad place for a while. But she hadn’t given him a thought.

“And that’s not all,” Kerstin continued. “I’ve just found out that Irene Ahrnell has sold her holding to him.”





FJ?LLBACKA—THEN

I hurried home from school. Dad was going to Dingle to get the car repaired and wouldn’t be home until late. That meant a few rare hours of freedom.

Mom had promised me that we would sew. Grandma had told me that Mom had long dreamed of becoming a dressmaker. Even when she had been little she had made amazing fashion creations for her Barbie dolls. Now she only had time to sew household necessities, but she had begun to teach me.

I wasn’t really all that interested in learning to sew. But when we sat side by side in front of Mom’s Husqvarna sewing machine that Dad had let her buy after much pleading, it was as if we were in our own little bubble. I would watch in fascination as she threaded the machine with practiced and competent hands, showed me which buttons ensured straight stitching, which ones created zigzags, which seams to use where, and how to tie off the thread when you were done. I loved every minute of it.

Today, she had promised to help me make a pair of harem trousers. I had smuggled in some shiny purple fabric from the sewing shop, and I was picturing how beautiful they would be when they were done.