When the Flame of Love Fades (Sierra) novel Chapter 286

Chapter 286 The Stranger I Thought I Knew

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Finished

The truth was, Jonathan wasn’t really like this–except when it came to anything involving Susie. That’s when something in him always shifted, became more rigid, more extreme.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the office. Maddox and Mateo looked uneasy, unsure whether to stay

or go.

Then Sierra spoke.

“Sorry, can I talk to him alone?”

Maddox and Matco exchanged a glance, then stood and left without a word. As they stepped out, Mateo gave her a quiet warning.

“Sierra, talk it through.”

Sierra nodded. Once the door shut behind them, Jonathan finally spoke.

“You heard what we said? Did it bother you?”

“It did.” Sierra looked up at him. He was still the Jonathan she knew, the one she cared about. But what he said earlier… that felt like someone else entirely.

“Sierra, business is war. We’re not a shelter. This fight with the Zach Group–it’s costing us too. We can’t afford to carry their people on our backs.”

He was trying to explain.

“I know that,” Sierra said. She did. She had never expected Jonathan to take responsibility for every employee the Zach Group had laid off.

“Then why are you upset?” he asked, frowning.

Why?

Because he felt like a stranger.

Sierra took a moment to find the right words before speaking again.

“Because what you said back there didn’t sound like you.”

She hadn’t expected his willingness to help would only be for the sake of appearances–for political leverage, for policy, for image.

Jonathan seemed to understand what she was getting at. He let out a dry chuckle.

“Sierra, I’m a businessman.”

So he looked at everything from a business perspective.

“The man standing in front of you right now isn’t the Jonathan who lectures on campus. He’s the CEO. This company was built by the few of us from the ground up. I own the majority, yes, but they have shares too. There are other stakeholders. I have to answer to them.”

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Chapter 286 The Stranger Thought I Knew

But Sierra knew those were just excuses.

**Finished

If Jonathan really cared about shareholders, he wouldn’t have come after the Zach Group so aggressively in the first place–not like this.

But she couldn’t bring herself to say that out loud.