Chapter Fifteen

Grace’s POV

By the time lunch rolled around, I was ready to scream. I hadn’t been able to focus all morning. Hunter had been in and out of his office, and we had hardly spoken. I had timed dropping off his morning coffee well. He had been on a call with the Asia office.

Currently, my inbox was full, my schedule stacked, but nothing I did could slow my racing thoughts. Everything about this day felt off, like I was standing on the edge of something I didn’t understand, and the ground was already shifting beneath my feet. Was it just last night or was it everything?

I knew now I had made a mistake moving in with them. But seeing Helena with that man... her lover had thrown me off balance. My need to tell Hunter to show him that Helena didn’t deserve the pedestal he had put her on conflicted with my need to protect him.

My morning was focused not on work but on my problems and how the hell I was going to get myself out of the shit pile I had landed myself in.

So, when Quinn texted me that she was already at the café, I practically bolted after sending Hunter an email to say I was going to lunch. I hadn’t waited for a reply.

Quin was sitting on the patio area when I got there, sunglasses pushed up into her curls, long legs crossed, nursing an iced tea like she had all the time in the world. The moment she saw me, her expression softened…but not by much. I placed an order with the server.

“You look like hell,” she said, taking a sip. “That text you sent this morning. What is going on?”

I dropped into the chair across from her, not even trying to smile. “It’s been a long day... no, scratch that, it’s been a shit week.”

Quinn tilted her head. “I can’t believe you moved in with them. Don’t get me wrong Grace, I like Hunter, but your sister? Excuse my French, she is a prized bitch. On top of everything, you shouldn’t have moved in. I wish you had called me before saying yes. I would have set you straight.”

I swallowed. “Well, it’s too late now.”

She eyed me. “With your feelings for Hunter, this isn’t good for you. You should have called me.”

“You were in D.C. I didn’t want to bother you.”

She leaned forward, pulling off her sunglasses. Her eyes were sharp. “Grace. I love you, but that is bullshit. You always bother me. That’s part of our friendship. What happened?”

I exhaled, looking away. “They cornered me. Hunter and Helena. It wasn’t even a discussion. They made it sound like I’d be irresponsible if I didn’t. That the baby could be at risk if I didn’t move in before the second trimester. Blah blah blah.”

Quinn’s jaw tightened. “Let me guess. Helena led the conversation, and Hunter said very little. What is she up to?”

Quinn’s reaction did not surprise me. She really hated Helena, and I couldn’t figure out why. Helena wasn’t a bad person, just very self-absorbed.

Quinn sat back, folding her arms. “I should’ve been there.”

“You couldn’t have stopped them. I told them I would think about it but…”

“But? What happened Grace?”

I sighed. I told Quinn everything, but they were both friends with Maya, Hunter’s sister. I was really worried about her finding out about Helena. “On the day they tried to talk me into it, I found Helena…”

“You found Helena? What?”

“I found Helena coming out of a hotel with another man. It wasn’t platonic.”

Quinn’s mouth dropped open.

I almost felt like leaning across the table and picking up her jaw. But before I got the chance, Quinn recovered. “What the fuck. That dirty little whore.”

“I went back to tell Hunter what I had seen, but…” I was still so angry with Helena. She had the man I wanted, and she was messing around behind his back.

“You ended up agreeing to move in instead.”

I nodded, but it felt hollow. My head knew she was right, that this was a mistake. My body was still tense from this morning.

She must’ve seen something in my face, because her voice dropped.

“Tell me what’s going on? What happened this morning?”

I hesitated. She waited.

“It’s nothing,” I said, and even I didn’t believe myself. “I just... feel out of place there. And Hunter... he’s being weird.”

Her brows lifted.

“Not like that,” I said quickly. “He’s not…he hasn’t…he’s just... cold. Then apologetic. Then cold again. I can’t keep up. I feel like a tennis ball.”

She studied me. “Grace, is he making you uncomfortable? Because if he is…”

“No. Not like that. He’s not doing anything wrong. He’s just…” I stopped. Took a breath. “I’m doing this for them. And I’m trying really hard to be respectful. But I can’t seem to stop feeling like I’m in the way and I have to try really hard all the time to not call out Helena for her affair.”

Quinn didn’t answer right away. She let it sit, the silence between us thick, but not unkind.

“I still don’t like this arrangement,” she said finally. “Not just because I don’t trust Helena. Or your mother. But because I don’t trust what they’ve put on your shoulders. And you’re too polite to call it what it is.”

I didn’t argue. I couldn’t.

She reached across the table and squeezed my hand.

“You’re stronger than they think you are. But don’t let that strength turn into silence. If you need out, you tell me. And I’ll help you burn it all down.”

I gave a small smile. It was the first real one of the day.

Quinn’s POV

She looked tired. Not physically…Grace always looked polished. But emotionally? She was a mess. Her shoulders were tight, her posture too still. Her eyes gave her away.

I knew that look. I’d seen it on clients being pushed into contracts they never should’ve signed. Women trying to carry too much while pretending they were fine.

It’s why I had started working in the corporate world. There were fewer emotions. Working as Hunter’s in-house lawyer was perfect... safer. Because I might come across as cold, but emotional cases got to me and every time took a part of my soul. If I felt like I was on the wrong side.

I hated seeing my friend like this. And I hated that I hadn’t been there when her family dropped this entire mess in her lap. When Helena and Margo had convinced Grace to be a surrogate. I had been at our Asia office. By the time I got back, she was already locked in. Legally, everything was tight, but that didn’t make it right.

Even though I knew what they were doing was illegal. Grace shouldn’t be a surrogate. She hadn’t had a child of her own. I wonder how many palms had been greased. The doctors should lose their licences.

Helena was manipulative. She was the kind of woman who smiled while twisting the knife. And Margo, don’t even get me started. That woman could make a saint feel selfish. Between the two of them, Grace didn’t stand a chance.

And Hunter? I didn’t believe for a second that he pushed Grace into it. He was too straight, too clean. But I did believe he stood back and let it happen. And that was worse.

He should have protected her from the pressure. From their tactics. From their emotional blackmail. But instead, he let her be the one to carry it. Or had Helena kept him out of it? That wouldn’t surprise me. I hated not knowing.

Grace wasn’t fragile. But she needed support. And right now, she looked like a girl trying to drown quietly. Like if she could keep smiling, maybe no one would notice she was gasping for air.

She didn’t tell me everything. Not yet. But I know about her feelings for Hunter. We had talked about it before. Never with Maya around, but I knew nearly all of Grace’s secrets like she knew mine. If no one else was going to make sure she was okay, then I would.