lips. It was a broken sound, ful

at. "My life, our son's health... it was all jus

crossing his leg

ness arrangement. You provided capital. I

nd your son in a roach-infested apartment while you play

that explained everything. "And you had

is has been a touching reunion, but it's ov

able and picked up a single stack of hundred-dollar bills, toss

. Now get out. You're n

her entire life. He was discarding her, like a piece of t

empty space where the man she loved used to be. The sh

" she said, the wor

urvivor. You should hav

He and Scarlett started toward a door at the back of t

floor, her body finally giving out. The tears she had held back for four years came in a silent, wracking storm. She cried for the man she thought she had married, for the love s

with a shaking hand, expecting it to be one of t

the old woman's voice was tight with panic. "It's Leo. He'

her grief, a new, sharper

she said, scram

only thought to get to her son. She was halfway to the hospital in a ta

va

The calm, commanding

is tone all business. "Scarlett's not feelin

ust thrown her out, told her she had failed, and now he was calling to de

she

silence on t

Liam asked, a danger

ed with a strength she didn't know she posses

hone. "You don't get to say no to me, Ava. Y

breaking. "He's sick, Liam. He might be..."

t's health is the priority. Go to the clin

umanity left in him died. He would let his own son die to appea

that was a lie. The debt that was a lie. The love that

r

," she spat, and

cold, hard stone in her chest. The game

glass, his small chest struggling for every breath, machines beeping frantically a

d. Two large men in black suits were blocking the hallway. They were the

's t

st one said, cracking his knuckles.

ard her, their intention