It was my turn to laugh. “You weren’t getting to know me; you were stalking me.”

“Same thing,” he laughed along with me. “So, I went back to my family when the three weeks were up, and I told them I’d do it.”

“Just like that, without ever talking to me?”

“Yeah, I knew what I needed to know, and well, my judgment was a little clouded too. Remember, I had my heart trampled on in Helsinki not that long before. Kind of like your knee-jerk reaction to Carlos, I had a similar one to what happened to me.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t explain things though. Not really. You were a complete shitshow in the press even before I found out about the betrothal.”

“Well, things happened. Venla showed up. She told me that it wasn’t her who had begged my father for the position she received. He approached her. Then, after he gave her the job and the salary she hoped for, he came onto her, made it seem like he wouldn’t let her keep the job if she didn’t go along with it. She made me believe her. I was ready to turn my own father in for sexual harassment and worse.”

“What happened? Obviously, you didn’t turn him in.”

“My father showed up. He had recorded their trysts and neither of them seemed to be the instigator, it appeared more mutual. Still, Venla swore she was only trying to keep her job. My father had her sent away, and I was angry with him once more. It was like they ripped open these wounds that had only just started to heal. I almost believed her.” He hung his head and didn’t bother hiding the shame that was written all over his face. “I was about to throw you away and have her take your place. Even if the merger didn’t happen the way my family wanted it to, me being married and settled down would look good for the board, especially when they realized it was with a woman I had been pictured with so often.”

“But she cheated on you with your dad,” I insisted.

He shrugged. “The board wasn’t aware of that and I was stupidly willing to overlook it.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t think you deserved to have a man like me – one who would throw the chance to be with you away so quickly. You were such a beautiful person, I thought you deserved so much more than what I could give you when I was still half in love with the woman who cheated on me. I made a mess of my life in the headlines again after Venla was sent away. That was until my grandfather explained a few things to me. Prior to that, I didn’t realize that my father couldn’t inherit the company, the family wealth, and couldn’t sit at the head of the table of any of the Brighton companies. I never knew it could only pass to male, blood relatives unless the board were able to present a good case of no confidence.”