sm

link. Thanks to the master access credentials I'd quietly retained after helping design parts of Sterl

latform and the massive screen inside the headquarters, where their late-n

et, slick sex noises from

straight at me. Instead of panicking, a slow, incredibly smug s

tentionally shifting her weight to stay tangled with m

lor when he saw me standing in the doorway. He scrambled backward, nearly

wisted in my chest. Three years of love, sacr

feeling d

t not

shaking as he tried to cover his chest. "I swear, I... we were just...

t cry. My expression re

ou are fucking your stepsister right now? The same one you told me I was insecure about?"

with venom. "You've been a ghost in his life for three years. A penniless, boring drag. He deserves

ase," I murmured, e

perfect air conditioning. "Jasmine, please. Just put the p

ubt that." I glanced at my phone scr

Victoria yelled, finally realizing something was wrong as

the bed, reaching aggressively to snatch the phone

mlessly, completel

moving too fast to read, thousands of furious investors screaming for answers. News reports were already breaking. The headline at the

just plummeted by 8% in

e stocks kept falling, an

company. He froze, looking from his phone to me, his chest heaving w

nger, and let it drop. It hit the hardwood floor with a sharp click, rolling right t

icially asking

had drained from his face.

looked directly into the

erling name is a liabi

, turned on my hee

sonal clothes and a small box of sentimental items I'd kept from my life before this marr

as already wa

d up. Rain was pouring down in sheets. Standing under the grand porch was Jason's stepmoth

w the bags straight past me. They landed with a heavy, w

ic little stunt! How dare you! Look at you! You're leaving here with absolutely nothing, just like the day you dragged your penniless feet into this h

cheap bags soaking in the m

ne smile broke

am leaving with nothing

to glare down her nose at me. "Go on! Walk down the street in the rai

ed over the wet clothes, walk

'll get what's coming

e driveway, Eleanor's expression suddenly changed. Her ran

dark stre

h the heavy rain. One pair

y turne

orm. A flawless convoy of six sleek, armored black SUVs pulled up to the c

vehicle in fro

n. He didn't care about the water. He walked straight toward me, stopping e

ear and commanding. "The global board of directo

inside the dry, leather-scente

s standing frozen at the edge of the porch, the driving rain soaking her

since I'd known her

ion disappear

did my