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a fool.
    Once again, Jules had reduced me to a foolish blabbering idiot. I didn’t need to guess who he had been referring to. It seems Ms. Emily had a thing with black lace. Jules, being a weak man, couldn’t forget her long enough to give me what I wanted from him.
    “Charlette.”
    I didn’t bother looking up at him. There was no point. He would never forget that woman. I would only be placing myself in the position to be humiliated. No more!
    “Get out, Jules! Out of my room. Out of my life,” I shrieked, as tears streamed down my face. “Just... leave me alone.”
    The last thing I heard before he collected his pants and strolled out of the room was, “Désolé.” Sorry .
    The closing of the door behind him was my undoing. I allowed the deep sorrow in my heart to take over. Jules would never be mine.

Chapter Four

    “What do you want Shane?”
    I was in no mood to deal with my little brother. When he called, stating that he needed to speak to me, I told him to come over the house. I wasn’t sure what the hell he wanted, but whatever it was, I knew it wasn’t good by the disturbed tone of his voice.
    “No sense of wasting time with hellos, I see,” he jested, as he walked through the door holding a manila folder in his hands.
    Dressed in a tailored blue suit and white shirt, I knew that he had been to the office, and I couldn’t help but feel annoyed.
    Motioning to the living room, he ambled over to the couch and had a seat, while I sat directly across from him. He didn’t look directly at me. Instead, his eyes roamed over the place as if he saw it for the first time.
    “What’s going on?” I asked, growing impatient. I had too much on my mind to deal with one of Shane’s crisis. His idea of a problem normally involved strippers and a trip to the closest abortion clinic.
    Shaking my head at the thought, I leaned back into the couch and waited for the inevitable.
    “How much do you trust that wife of yours?” Shane asked, in a low tone, too low, actually.
    I cocked my eyebrow, wondering what he was getting at. “What the hell are you talking about?”
    Shane rose to his feet and began pacing my living room, his hands firmly in his pocket and his face frowning in deep thought. I followed his pacing, watching him move from one side of the couch and back, until finally he stopped.
    “I discovered something while I was handling things at the office. Something I just couldn’t ignore. I wanted to bring it up to you before, but thought against it since you had so much on your plate at the time.”
    I nodded my head, remembering the fact that I had caused Emily to get into an accident, my heart breaking each time I looked at her still body at the hospital. It was, indeed, a rough time.
    “What is your discovery?”
    Shane released a heavy sigh and resumed his pacing. “Someone is releasing information to The Ivy, man. I just fucking know it. Some of the minutes I reviewed spoke about our overseas projects. I know you and our father well enough to know, that you both keep a tight lid on any project that hasn’t been solidified,” he began, before turning to face me. “I have the paperwork here, something about this isn’t right.” He finished before stretching the file toward me.
    Standing to my feet, I grabbed the file out of his hand, angry at the thought that someone at Belmont Industries could have possibly turned to the other side.
    After everything I had done to ensure that my employees were treated as partners , I thought to myself, shaking my head.
    I had devoted all my time and energy into making the company what it was today. The thought that a mole was in our midst made me angry.
    I slumped back into the couch, ready to see just what Shane had discovered, when a thought came to mind.
    This isn’t your problem, anymore. According to your dear father, you no longer worked at Belmont International.
    Grunting, I threw the file back at Shane, the papers scattering on the floor as I did.