Chapter 8 - The Woman From LondonClare returned to Paris after ten days in Chicago.
Theo hated every second of watching her leave again.
But this time the separation felt different.
There were only six weeks remaining.
The acquisition scandal had settled.
Maison Beaumont confirmed Clare would remain creative lead regardless of ownership changes.
The project was progressing beautifully.
They had survived their first real crisis.
Theo allowed himself to believe the hardest part was behind them.
Then Victoria Hale returned from London.
She arrived at Ashford Industries on a rainy Monday afternoon wearing a white coat, impossible heels, and the kind of confident smile only people who had never been told no could possess.
Theo was halfway through reviewing quarterly projections when his assistant appeared.
“Mr. Ashford, Victoria Hale is here.”
His pen stopped.
“Victoria?”
“Yes.”
“Did she schedule a meeting?”
“No.”
Of course she had not.
Theo leaned back.
“Send her in.”
Victoria entered thirty seconds later.
She had not changed much.
Blonde hair.
Green eyes.
Expensive perfume.
The same effortless elegance that had made European society magazines obsessed with them years earlier.
“Theodore.”
“Victoria.”
She smiled.
“Still formal when surprised.”
“What are you doing in Chicago?”
“Business.”
She kissed his cheek before he could avoid it.
“And curiosity.”
Theo immediately stepped back.
“About?”
“Your famous girlfriend.”
He frowned.
Victoria walked toward the window.
“Clare Montgomery. Designer. Childhood sweetheart. Apparently the woman who finally domesticated Theodore Ashford.”
“Be careful.”
Victoria laughed.
“There he is.”
Theo remained expressionless.
“What do you want?”
“Ashford Industries is acquiring Beaumont. Hale Capital has minority holdings. I’ll be involved during integration.”
That made sense.
Victoria’s family managed one of Europe’s largest private investment groups.
She turned.
“So we’ll be seeing each other.”
“Professionally.”
“Obviously.”
The emphasis made Theo suspicious.
Victoria had been his longest relationship in London.
If one could call it a relationship.
They had dated for nearly eighteen months during a period when neither wanted commitment.
It ended without drama.
At least Theo believed it had.
Victoria approached his desk.
“Does Clare know about me?”
“Yes.”
Technically true.
Clare knew there had been women.
She did not know every name.
Victoria’s smile widened.
“Does she know we lived together?”
Theo’s jaw tightened.
“For three months while your apartment was being renovated.”
“Details.”
“Important details.”
“Relax.”
She picked up a framed photograph from Theo’s desk.
Clare laughing at the beach.
Victoria studied it.
“She’s pretty.”
Theo stood.
“Put that down.”
Victoria looked at him.
Then slowly returned the photograph.
Something changed in her expression.
“You really love her.”
“Yes.”
The answer came without thought.
Victoria looked genuinely surprised.
“Well.”
She smiled faintly.
“That is inconvenient.”
Theo stared.
“For who?”
“For everyone who thought you were incapable.”
“I have a meeting.”
“Dismissed already?”
“Yes.”
She laughed.
“I missed you too, Theodore.”
Theo did not tell Clare immediately.
Not because he wanted to hide Victoria.
Because there was nothing to tell.
At least that was what he told himself.
Three days later, a photograph appeared online.
Theo and Victoria leaving Ashford Industries.
The headline identified her as his “former London love.”
Theo saw it at the exact moment Clare did.
His phone rang.
He answered.
“Before you say anything—”
Clare was laughing.
Theo stopped.
“You find this funny?”
“Former London love?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“The article says you were practically engaged.”
“We were never engaged.”
“Did you live together?”
Theo closed his eyes.
“Technically.”
Clare stopped laughing.
“What does technically mean?”
“Her apartment flooded.”
“For how long?”
“Three months.”
“Oh.”
Theo stood from his chair.
“Clare.”
“I’m not angry.”
“You sound different.”
“I’m processing.”
“It ended years ago.”
“I know.”
“She’s involved with the Beaumont acquisition through her family’s investment firm.”
“Okay.”
“And I should have told you she came to Chicago.”
“Yes.”
Theo winced.
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
“That sentence historically does not go well for men.”
“I’m aware.”
Clare sighed.
“Do you still have feelings for her?”
“No.”
Immediate.
Absolute.
“Does she have feelings for you?”
Theo hesitated.
Wrong again.
Clare’s eyebrows lifted.
“Theodore.”
“I don’t know.”
“You hesitated.”
“She made one strange comment.”
“What comment?”
“That me loving you was inconvenient.”
Clare became very still.
“Interesting.”
“That does not sound like the reaction I was hoping for.”
“Should I fly home and challenge her to combat?”
“I would pay to see that.”
Clare laughed.
The tension eased.
“I trust you.”
Theo relaxed.
“Thank you.”
“But I don’t trust women who describe my existence as inconvenient.”
“Fair.”
Two weeks later, Clare had to return to Chicago unexpectedly for a Maison Beaumont–Ashford presentation.
Victoria attended.
Their first meeting happened in the Ashford Industries lobby.
Clare immediately knew who she was.
Victoria was beautiful in a way that belonged in magazines.
Tall.
Controlled.
Perfect.
Clare hated that she noticed.
Victoria approached.
“Clare Montgomery.”
“Victoria Hale.”
They shook hands.
“I’ve heard so much.”
Clare smiled.
“So have I.”
Something in Victoria’s eyes sharpened.
Good.
Theo appeared from the elevator.
The moment he saw Clare, his entire face changed.
Professional coldness disappeared.
He walked directly toward her.
“You’re early.”
“Flight landed ahead of schedule.”
He kissed her forehead.
Not for show.
Not performatively.
Naturally.
Victoria noticed.
Clare noticed Victoria noticing.
“Ready?” Theo asked.
“Yes.”
The meeting lasted two hours.
Clare presented design progress.
Theo asked professional questions.
Victoria asked harder ones.
At first, Clare assumed it was business.
Then she noticed a pattern.
Budget.
Timelines.
Contractor overruns.
Every question subtly suggested Clare’s project was too ambitious.
Clare answered each one.
Then Victoria said, “Perhaps a more experienced firm should oversee the final phase.”
The room went quiet.
Theo’s expression turned lethal.
Clare spoke first.
“Based on what?”
Victoria smiled.
“Scale.”
“We are currently two weeks ahead of revised schedule.”
“Budget.”
“Four percent under.”
“Risk.”
“The structural changes were approved last month.”
Victoria leaned back.
“You’ve prepared.”
“I’m leading the project. I generally know what’s happening.”
Several executives tried not to smile.
Victoria’s eyes cooled.
Theo looked almost proud.
After the meeting, Clare packed her documents.
Victoria approached.
“You’re impressive.”
“Thank you.”
“I understand why he likes you.”
Clare closed her bag.
“Loves.”
Victoria blinked.
Clare smiled.
“He loves me.”
Victoria’s own smile became thin.
“Confident.”
“Very.”
“Theodore has always become bored eventually.”
There it was.
The attack.
Clare felt the old insecurity rise instantly.
Models.
Socialites.
Years of women more glamorous than her.
She pushed it down.
“Did he become bored with you?”
Victoria’s expression changed.
Clare knew she had hit the truth.
“No,” Victoria said quietly. “I left him.”
Interesting.
“Then why are you here trying to convince me he’ll leave me?”
Victoria stared.
“You think you know him.”
“I do.”
“I knew him for years in London.”
“And?”
“He didn’t believe in marriage. Didn’t believe in forever. He barely believed in next month.”
Clare felt every word.
Because part of her knew that version of Theo had existed.
Victoria stepped closer.
“You’re experiencing the phase where Theodore wants something because he almost lost it.”
“That’s your interpretation.”
“It’s experience.”
Clare looked directly at her.
“Then maybe you knew a different Theodore.”
Victoria’s smile disappeared.
Clare continued.
“People grow.”
“Sometimes.”
“And sometimes they don’t.”
Victoria nodded.
“Exactly.”
Clare picked up her bag.
“But if Theo hasn’t changed, that’s my mistake to discover. Not yours to prevent.”
She walked away.
She held herself together until she reached Theo’s office.
Then she shut the door.
Theo looked up.
“What happened?”
“Did you really never believe in marriage?”
He froze.
That was answer enough.
“Victoria.”
“She told me you thought forever was ridiculous.”
Theo stood.
“I did.”
Clare’s heart sank.
“Did?”
“Yes.”
He approached.
“Before you.”
“That sounds convenient.”
“It’s true.”
“She says you get bored.”
“Clare.”
“She says you wanted what you couldn’t have.”
Theo stopped directly in front of her.
“Look at me.”
She did reluctantly.
“I spent years avoiding commitment.”
“Yes.”
“I dated women casually.”
“Yes.”
“I was selfish.”
“Yes.”
He almost smiled.
“Glad we agree.”
“Not funny.”
“No.”
He took her hands.
“I never wanted forever because I never met anyone I could imagine forever with.”
Clare swallowed.
“And now?”
“You know the answer.”
“I want to hear it.”
Theo squeezed her fingers.
“Now forever doesn’t feel long enough.”
Her eyes immediately filled.
She hated him.
She loved him.
She hated that he could make her cry with one sentence.
“Theodore.”
“I’m not bored.”
“You say that now.”
“I will say it when we’re eighty.”
“You’ll be extremely annoying at eighty.”
“I intend to be.”
Clare laughed through tears.
He kissed her.
Later that evening, Victoria appeared at a reception hosted by Ashford Industries.
She watched Theo and Clare from across the room.
Theo did not notice.
Clare did.
For the first time, Clare did not feel threatened.
She saw something instead.
Regret.
Victoria had known a version of Theo that Clare never had.
But Clare knew the man he chose to become.
That mattered more.
Near the end of the night, Victoria approached Theo alone while Clare was speaking with a client.
“You were never like this with me.”
Theo frowned.
“Like what?”
“You look for her when she leaves the room.”
Theo glanced toward Clare automatically.
Victoria laughed sadly.
“Exactly.”
Theo understood.
“Victoria—”
“Don’t.”
She looked toward Clare too.
“I thought maybe seeing you again would remind you what we had.”
“We had something good.”
“Good.”
“Yes.”
“But not this.”
Theo said nothing.
Victoria nodded slowly.
“That hurts more than I expected.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
She took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.
“For what it’s worth, she’s better suited to you than I expected.”
Theo smiled.
“She’s better than I deserve.”
Victoria rolled her eyes.
“You really are hopeless.”
“Apparently.”
She raised her glass.
“Good luck, Theodore.”
“Victoria.”
She paused.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For letting go.”
Victoria looked at him for a moment.
Then she smiled.
This time sincerely.
“Don’t make me regret it.”
She walked away.
Clare approached seconds later.
“What was that?”
“A goodbye.”
Clare studied Victoria’s retreating figure.
“Should I be jealous?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Theo wrapped one arm around her waist.
“Should I be worried about Adrian?”
“Still?”
“I hold grudges.”
“He is engaged to Julien now.”
“That helps.”
Clare laughed.
Theo kissed her temple.
“When do you go back?”
“Tomorrow.”
His smile disappeared.
“Five weeks.”
“Thirty-four days.”
“You counted again?”
“Obviously.”
Clare leaned against him.
“Then stop looking miserable.”
“I hate Paris.”
“You loved Paris when we were there.”
“I liked Paris because you were in my hotel room.”
“Theodore.”
“What? Historically accurate.”
Clare elbowed him.
He laughed.
Neither noticed the photographer standing beyond the reception windows.
Neither knew the photograph taken that night would eventually become one of the most famous photographs associated with Theodore Ashford.
Not because of scandal.
Not because of money.
Because in the image, Theo stood surrounded by hundreds of powerful people.
Executives.
Investors.
Politicians.
Socialites.
Yet he was looking only at Clare.
Years later, magazines would call it the photograph that proved the billionaire had fallen first.
Clare would always disagree.
May you like
She had fallen first.
Theo simply fell harder.
