“We have carefully curated waiting lists. VIP preview events. We build up, show customers their watch being made, give them a timeline, make it an event. We make people feel special for being chosen to spend a lot of money on a watch.” Gabriel smiled with the satisfaction of someone who’d cracked the code. “Exclusivity isn’t just about the product: it’s about the entire experience.”
That afternoon,we sat on the terrace of our hotel, spreading papers across the table as the sun began its descent behind the mountains. Lake Geneva stretched before us, its surface broken only by elegant white sails and the occasional ferry churning across to France. The view was so beautiful and familiar, it made my chest tight with old grief and a fresh future.
I pulled out my laptop and tried to focus. “We could integrate some of this tech — not the satellite syncing, that’s overkill — but maybe smart features that connect to phones?”
“And the lifestyle marketing, which you’d already identified. He just made it come to life.” Eliza’s voice had an excited edge that made my stomach flutter. “We’re not selling watches, we’re selling lifestyle. Also, the story of the independent British woman who swooped in to save her family company, who values intricacy and quality in a throwaway world.”
“She sounds like a nerd.” But I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face.
“She’s the coolest nerd I know,” Eliza told me. “Also, she doesn’t know it, but she’s beautiful and brave. I don’t think I’ve told you that enough. Taking risks is vital for any business, but it takes guts.”
I nodded. I was thrilled that Eliza thought I was brave.
And beautiful.
She had said beautiful, right?
But it did take bravery. I knew what was at stake. My future. My nieces’ future. Then a familiar panic began to creep in, the same anxiety that had plagued me since childhood. “But what if I bugger it all up? What if we spend all this money, and we fail?”
Eliza gave me a small shrug and a smile. “At least you tried.”
Dread slithered through me.
“What if we’re too successful? What if we take orders we can’t fulfil? What if we scale too fast and everything collapses and all those people who believed in us are disappointed? I can’t take Margot’s ‘I told you so’ look.”
“Pops.” Eliza reached across the table and covered my hand with hers, her touch warm and grounding.
I didn’t correct her when she called me Pops this time. She’d earned the right.
“You are a brilliant businessperson. You get people. Your mum and gran,” she looked around, “who may or may not be here, they’d be so proud of you.”
Her observation made me sit up. “I hadn’t even thought they might be here. I figured we’d be safe in Switzerland. But I guess spirits don’t have to book plane tickets to travel to another country, do they?”
“Not if all the movies are to be believed.” Eliza looked me direct in the eye. “But if they are here, they’re protecting you. Nothing more.”
I furrowed my brow. “Do I need protecting?” I shook off her hand and sat back. All my old fears about trusting people, especially Eliza, roared back to the front of my mind.
“I don’t think so?” Now it was her turn to frown. “I just meant, they’re looking after you because that’s what family does. It’s what they’d do if they were here. It’s what Margot wants, even if she thinks that means selling the company.”
“Has she told you that?” Eliza sounded very sure when she said it.
From being bold and brave, I was now a spiralling mess. This conversation had turned quickly.
She shook her head. “It’s no secret that’s what she wanted at first. But I think you’re causing her to reconsider.”
I wished she sounded more convincing. “Has she said something to you?”
But Eliza shook her head some more. “No, nothing.”
I puffed out my cheeks and squeezed my hands together. Suddenly, the weight of everything landed on me. What we were doing. What was about to happen with Roka.
Plus, we werehere.
Switzerland was such a beautiful country. But for me, it would always carry so many emotions and memories. Love. Hate. Grief. Maybe Amina had been right to be worried.
I blinked back tears, my vision blurring as I looked out over the lake. I couldn’t meet Eliza’s gaze.
“Sorry, I’m being ridiculous. It’s just, sometimes, it all comes rushing back that they’re not here anymore. That I’m doing this alone.”
