Ivan paused. He said, “Well, maybe if you were a man you wouldn’t bitch about so much of this small shit! And maybe that’s why you lost so many of your partners before. But all I’ve been trying to do is work with you.”

Those were hard, chauvinistic comments for him to state to her, but Ivan felt he needed to say what was on his mind whether she could handle it or not.

Lucina paused and stared at him. She took a breath and said, “You know, I look at you now, and I tell myself, Lucina, you’ve created a masterpiece.” She said, “But I don’t even think that I like it anymore.”

Immediately Ivan thought of defending himself by reminding her that his ideas were just as profitable and innovative as hers were, and even more so. He had generated more long-term money for them. But he quickly realized that the argument would have been frivolous. It didn’t matter. Lucina had been a major contributor to the entire mentality of his success. And without her, he had no idea how far he would have gotten in the first place. He could have been locked into throwing small black network parties for years.

So he allowed her to walk away without a response from him. In business, he could do just fine now without her. He knew plenty of pretty party girls of his own now. He had his own brand name, his own marketable ideas, a monster of a website, a hardworking staff, a business team, executive-level friendships, and access to plenty of personal capital as well as investor support. But on the social side, even though he had never touched Lucina intimately, he felt a great void in her absence.

She doesn’t even care about that part, he mused. I’m just a damn business partner. And now she’s made enough connections of her own to do her own thing, too.

The reality of Lucina moving on from him had hurt Ivan the most. And in the end, he felt he was only a prop for her. But how much, if any, of his thoughts could he expect to share with a relative stranger on a boat ride?

So Ivan answered his companion’s question on the yacht with simplicity. “I’m just thinking about how I still want to buy one of those houses up there one day.”

“Are any of them for sale?” she asked him.

Ivan nodded. “That’s a good point. I guess I need to find that out.”

I should just buy one now, he thought. I got enough to afford it now. However, he didn’t want to share that much information. He didn’t want to cloud the woman’s mind by having her naturally include herself in his future plans. Because there would be none between them. Ivan didn’t feel anything for her.