WORTH
Iclose the door to the small conference room off my office and face the board of three internal directors, two externals, and the two I actually trust: Henson at the far end, Griffin beside him, arms folded.
“I’ll be brief,” I say, palms flat on the table. “Mya is presenting Project Rebuild this morning. She’s my wife. You all know that. Here’s what else you should know.” I let my eyes cut across them. “She earned the slot. She ran the modeling. She built the partnerships. If her last name were anything else, I’d say the same thing I’m saying now.”
One of the external directors shifts uncomfortably.
“You will evaluate the deck, the plan, and the numbers. Not the ring on her hand. You will not rubber-stamp it because she shares my address.” I pause. “And you will not make her climb a steeper hill because of it either.”
I can almost hear them doing PR calculus in their heads.
“She gets the same treatment as any candidate. No gentler. No harsher. That’s the standard. We clear?”
Henson’s mouth twitches. Griffin nods once.
A director clears his throat. “Mr. Miller, to avoid any perception issues, I assume you’ll be recusing yourself?”
“I already signed the recusal,” I say, sliding copies toward them. “I won’t be in the room. The board coordinator will chair. You have what you need. You also have my expectations.”
I hold each of their gazes in turn, then straighten. “That’s all.”
Chairs scrape and they file out, except Henson and Griffin.
When the door clicks shut behind the last director, my brother drags a hand through his hair. “All right, Worth. You want to tell us what’s actually going on?”
“Nothing is ‘actually’ going on.”
Griffin gives me a look I’ve known since we were kids. “What happened?”
“And don’t give us the CEO version,” Henson adds.
I exhale through my nose, staring at the grain of the table. “Mya and I fought this morning.”
“About the board?” Griffin asks.
“About all of it.” My jaw tightens. “She said she’s worried the board will fund the project because she’s Mrs. Miller, not because she deserves it. She also said when our arrangement ends, I’ll still be me, and she’ll be the ex who people think slept her way to the top. That we could never work outside of this.”
Henson’s brows lift. “And what did you say?”
“I told her she’s wrong. I thought she sawmeand not just this stupid fucking deal we made.” I shake my head.
Henson and Griffin trade a look. Griff leans forward, forearms on his knees. “Be straight with us, Worth. Are you in love with her?”
The answer is so obvious, I barely have to think about it. “Yes.”
Henson lets out a slow breath, like he’d been waiting to hear it out loud. “Okay.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I add, before either of them can say anything else. I keep my voice even, because if I don’t, I might lose my composure. “She doesn’t feel the same. So I’m going todo what we agreed. I’m going to see this through, give her what we promised, and give her the out.”
Griffin’s mouth flattens. “You’re out of your damn mind.”
Henson nods, surprisingly fierce. “Mya cares about you. It’s written all over her, man. You’re the only one pretending not to see it.”
A humorless laugh scrapes out of my throat. “If that’s caring, she’s got a funny way of showing it.”
“She’s scared,” Henson says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
Griffin agrees. “The woman moves into your house, takes your kid seriously, then fights you because she wants her work respected, not your name to carry her. That isn’t indifference, Worth.”