You can pay me when you need an electrician. Don't pay me when you need someone beside you. Celeste told him he knew she was not trying to buy him. Desmond answered quietly. Maybe not to you.
That was the wound underneath the envelope. The difference in their worlds, the fear that no matter how genuine Celeste felt, money would always be available to smooth every uncomfortable edge. Celeste told him not to let one badly handled gesture become something larger than it was. Desmond looked at the envelope again. Maybe with you it isn't large.
The statement hurt because Celeste understood immediately that the $900 meant very different things to them. It was money she could offer without changing her month. For Desmond, it could decide whether his truck got repaired. Celeste asked about Saturday. For a moment, he almost said he would still go.
Then he imagined the ballroom, the tailored suits, the questions about what he did, and the money sitting between them. I think you should go with somebody who fits that room. Celeste's expression changed. I never said you didn't. Desmond looked at her.
No, you didn't. The voice saying it had always been his. Then he walked away. The next morning, Desmond asked Victor to move him to another project after his remaining Easton work was complete. Celeste did not interfere.
She knew using company power to keep him near her would prove every concern he had. Saturday night, she attended the founders's dinner alone. Graham was gracious. He asked about Easton, congratulated her on the opening, and never behaved like the villain she almost wished he would become. During dinner, he talked about philanthropy, public-private partnerships, and the influence of families with similar priorities.
At one point, he said people in their position could accomplish more when they aligned their lives as carefully as they aligned their work. Celeste looked across the table and realized he genuinely believed it. There was nothing cruel in his expression. Yet she could suddenly see how easily an entire life could become a series of efficient decisions. The right family, the right reputation, the right partner.
After dinner, Lawrence joined her near the ballroom doors and remarked that Graham clearly liked her. Celeste looked at her uncle. You keep trying to find someone appropriate for my life as if I'm filling a position. Lawrence's face softened. He told her that was not what he meant.
Celeste said she knew he loved her, but she needed him to stop arranging her private life like something that belonged on a board agenda. Lawrence said he only wanted someone who understood her world. Celeste thought of Desmond walking away. Maybe understanding my world isn't the same as understanding me. Across town, Desmond sat at his kitchen table while Tessa worked on her robot.
The repair estimate lay beside his coffee. He had refused. $900 protected the line he believed mattered and walked away. By his own rules, he should have felt settled. He did not. Tessa looked up and asked why he was not at the dinner.