Stuck With You: A Sweet Romantic Comedy

Part 28

Bianca

There was no chance Chad was telling the truth. There was no way Rebecca had pulled a scheme like that on her own.

A tiny little piece of me had still been holding out hope that Chad was basically a decent human. Before we'd gotten together, I'd known Chad was deeply flawed, and we'd inevitably break up someday, but I'd never imagined he was this much of a crook and a coward.

A little bit of me had been counting on Chad coming up with some believable sob story about needing the money for cancer treatment for his grandmother, or that he'd been "borrowing" it because he'd overleveraged his house and was on the brink of foreclosure.

I had also expected something approximating an apology, possibly insincere, but at least an expressed intention of returning the money he'd stolen just as soon as he was able.

Such scenarios would still have been ethically and legally problematic, but at least I would have been able to conjure up a shred of pity for Chad. Instead, it seemed, he was trying to throw his accomplice (and possibly lover) under the bus.

Chad's complete failure to acknowledge any responsibility shouldn't have shocked me, but it did.

"We all know Rebecca didn't pull this off on her own," said Rob. He appeared completely in control of his emotions now. "And I think it's only fair to inform you that Bianca has a team of lawyers building a watertight case to prosecute both of you for your crimes, should you decide not to take the very generous deal she's offering you."

"If you only found out a few days ago that Pure Threads had been hemorrhaging money for the last year," I demanded. "Why have you been planning on selling out and skipping off to Costa Rica for weeks now."

"I haven't," said Chad.

"You've been in contact with Timo for weeks," I pointed out. "You solicited an unscrupulous buyer for your half of the company weeks ago."

"He was trying to cheat me," Chad said, wagging his finger at Timo as if Timo was the problem in this picture.

Timo was completely stoic. I might have been shocked by Chad's reaction, but he didn't appear to be.

"Chad, the only cheater in this whole sad little scenario is you," I said. "Are you going to take the deal now or wait 'til you get hauled away in handcuffs."

I knew that wouldn't happen. Chad wasn't going to let himself get hauled off in handcuffs. By offering him a way out, I'd also offered him a warning. Chad wouldn't wait around to get arrested.

"Fine," Chad said. He picked up the chair he'd knocked over and sat back down. "Show me the cash and where to sign."

Chad insisted on counting the cash, which would have looked super shady to the barista, had he not been so engrossed with his phone.

It was late afternoon, and we were the only ones in the café. That was a good thing because I'm pretty sure it looked like a deal going down between two rival gangs whose colors consisted of variations on business-casual (Chad representing The Khakis and my crew being The Button-Down Blues).

"I hope you're happy for ruining my life!" Chad said as he viciously inked his name on the dotted line. Then he stood up and stormed out, taking his briefcase of cash with him.

As soon as Chad left, the reality of what had just happened finally hit me. I'd felt anxious during the whole proceeding, obviously, but now I felt like my legs would buckle under me if I didn't sit down.

"I can't believe that just happened," I said, letting myself down into a chair.

"I'll get you something to drink," said Timo.