He Promised Me Every Flight, Gave Her Every One Chapter 05

He Promised Me Every Flight, Gave Her Every One Chapter 05

Everyone in the room was waiting for me to back down.

Emily stood with her arms folded. Blake lounged on the couch, while the driver hovered awkwardly by the door.

Grant’s breathing sounded close through the phone.

Like countless times before, the moment his voice turned cold, I would apologize first.

But this time, I flattened the pages in my hand.

I walked to the coffee table and picked up the engagement ring.

Triumph flashed in Emily’s eyes.

I didn’t put it back on.

Instead, I slipped it into Grant’s passport wallet. “It’s yours. Keep it.”

Emily’s expression changed. “Eleanor!”

Grant’s voice dropped through the phone. “Think this through.”

“I have.”

I pushed the settlement agreement toward Emily.

“Give it to him. If he won’t sign, I’ll file suit over the financial disputes tied to our canceled engagement.”

Blake scoffed. “With what money? The Millers have nothing left.”

Sophie walked in and slapped a document envelope onto the coffee table.

“With this.”

Inside were bank records, payment receipts, and copies of contracts transferring the Miller storefronts to the Sterlings.

There were also years of emails documenting every matter I’d handled for the Sterling family.

The color drained from Emily’s face. “How did you get these?”

Sophie gave a cold laugh. “Did you forget? Eleanor handled all of it.”

“She wasn’t your maid. She was a party to every one of those transactions.”

The other end of the call went silent.

Someone knocked on Grant’s door.

Lydia spoke softly, “Grant, you have another flight tomorrow. Leave this for now.”

He didn’t answer her.

After a moment, his voice tightened with anger. “Eleanor, are you really dragging this into court and destroying everything we’ve had all these years?”

The question almost made me laugh.

Apparently, hiding my documents hadn’t destroyed us.

Neither had letting Lydia wear his shirt.

Neither had abandoning me at the airport.

But producing evidence had.

I gathered my photo albums. “There’s nothing left between us.”

A heavy breath came through the phone.

Grant’s voice turned icy. “Fine. Once you walk out that door, don’t come back begging me.”

I said nothing else.

There was almost nothing in the bedroom. A few clothes. A bottle of pills. A pilot’s manual.

I’d secretly bought the manual so I’d have something to discuss with him.

Its pages were packed with my notes.

Grant had once found it and laughed as he ruffled my hair. “You don’t need to learn any of this. Just wait for me to land.”

After that, every time I waited, another photo of him with Lydia appeared instead.

I returned the manual to the shelf.

I left it behind.

As I closed my suitcase, Emily stormed in and grabbed the handle.

“Eleanor, if you walk out today, I’ll make sure everyone knows how ungrateful you are on the wedding day!”

Sophie stepped between us. “Go ahead.”

“The wedding guests might instead see messages proving Captain Sterling hid his fiancée’s documents.”

“They’ll also see that he took another woman on a seven-day transatlantic trip.”

Emily’s hand trembled.

Lydia’s tearful voice suddenly came through the phone. “Ms. Miller, please don’t misunderstand. There’s nothing going on between Grant and me.”

“If this bothers you, I’ll book a flight home right now.”

Grant finally spoke, using the familiar protective tone he always reserved for her. “Don’t. Stay.”

Emily immediately glared at me with renewed confidence. “Did you hear that? Grant protects her because she knows how to behave.”

I pulled my suitcase toward the entryway.

A pair of men’s slippers still sat on the shoe cabinet.

The pink pair was mine. The blue pair was his.

One winter, Grant had searched three blocks for new slippers because I’d said the old pair hurt my feet.

He’d crouched by the door and changed my shoes for me.

His palm had felt warm.

Now, a white pair of women’s slippers sat beside the blue ones.

They were Lydia’s size.

I tossed my pink slippers into the trash bag.

Emily snapped, “What the hell are you doing?”

The door opened as cold air rushed in from the hallway.

Grant called my name through the phone. “Eleanor.”

His voice wasn’t as steady this time.

I didn’t look back.

As the elevator doors slowly closed, his low command came through the speaker.

“Don’t you dare hang up on me.”

Sophie reached over and tapped the red End Call button for me.