Silver Tears(37)

“Revenge is well on the way to being bought out. It began secretly, but it’s now out in the open.”

“Bought out? But who—”

“Henrik Bergendahl.”

“Jack’s former partner?”

“Yes.”

Ylva nodded. Processing the information she had been given.

“He must hate you.”

“Yes, even more than he hates Alice.”

“Alice?”

Faye waved her hand dismissively.

“It’s a long story. They’re in the middle of a divorce, and a dirty one at that. Henrik fucked the au pair.”

“Who hasn’t Henrik fucked?” Ylva muttered.

The bell above the door rang but the person seemed to change their mind and left again.

“The problem is that Henrik has capital. Lots of capital. Enough to be able to afford a takeover. And I don’t think this is some sudden impulse—I think he’s been planning it for a long time.”

“Isn’t there something you can do? Have you checked all your agreements? Spoken to the shareholders? There’s nothing improper that’s happened that you can leverage?”

Faye smiled with satisfaction.

“That’s exactly why I’m here,” she said. “I need someone who can ask exactly those questions, think like this, and help me find answers. And then some.”

Ylva shook her head.

“I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that you’re offering me a job.”

The bell rang again. This time a young woman stepped in and headed for the counter. Ylva got up.



Faye also got to her feet, gathered her things, and handed over a business card.

“Get in touch if you’re interested. But there’s one condition you need to fulfill before the job’s yours. I need you to draft a plan to help me stop the people who want to take over my company. Consider it an admission exam.”

She picked up the napkin and pressed it into Ylva’s hand.

“This is fully valid. As soon as you sign, you’ll become Revenge’s finance director. Providing you can give me the information I need. And contact me if you hear from Jack. We both have to keep one eye looking over our shoulders. He’s dangerous.”

She raised her hand in a wave, turned on her heel, and left the café.





She knew deep down that she was dreaming, yet Faye was unable to extricate herself from the dream. It had been happening a lot of late. Not always the same dream. But the feeling was always the same. And it was always unpleasantly realistic.

She’d come home from the maternity ward with Julienne. Still in her bubble. Still completely absorbed by the little being who had completely possessed her from the moment she opened her eyes for the first time.

She was worn out, tender, exhausted. Since they had come home, she had done the nights with Julienne alone, and she hadn’t slept more than an hour or two at a time.

Nevertheless, Jack thought it was a good idea to ask her to host a big business dinner for key investors. As always, she did what Jack wanted.

She prepared for the dinner for days while trying to meet Julienne’s needs at the same time. She wanted to be beautiful at the dinner, but nothing in her wardrobe fit her new-mom body. Her tummy was soft and bulging, her boobs were huge and filled with milk. Eventually, sweating, she managed to squeeze into a kaftanesque garment she had bought for one of their trips to the sun. Underneath the kaftan, she was wearing pregnancy leggings with elastic at the waist and a pregnancy bra with inserts to soak up leaking milk.

When Jack caught sight of her, he inspected her from head to toe with a look of disgust.



The guests arrived and Faye and Jack received them in the hall. The men had small, half-starved women with them. Size 0 clothing and cheek fillers to make sure they didn’t look hollow-faced and haggard. Jack’s gaze moved from them to her, and she could tell she wasn’t living up to the ideal he wanted to present.

Halfway through the starter, Julienne woke up. Faye got up to go and see to her, but Jack’s hand on her arm made her sit back down again. She looked at him, pleading, but his gaze was stern.

Faye smiled stiffly at their guests while her daughter screamed in the nursery. Some of the women looked at her sympathetically, while the men chuckled and made comments like: “It’s good to let them air their lungs a bit.”

Eventually, Jack gave in to Julienne. He brought her out in his arms. Her face was swollen from sobbing and her pajamas were wet with tears. Jack’s face was stiff with anger, as if Faye had made Julienne cry. Without saying a word, he passed her over to Faye, and she gratefully pressed Julienne’s little body to hers. Jack’s fury vibrated against her. The men’s laughter echoed between the walls of their beautiful dining room, unaffected. But the women’s apologetic, sympathetic gazes were burned indelibly onto her soul.

What had she done? How had she ended up here?

Faye sat up in bed, gasping. It was just a dream. But Jack’s gaze was still burning within her. She slowly lay back down, her pulse pounding in her ears. Jack was always there. She would never get him out of her dreams. He was always present. A part of her life for eternity.



* * *



—

Faye put her mobile back in her bag and looked at the range of wristwatches the fawning salesman was showing off. The police had just called for the daily check that everything was all right with her.