comes when you realize the truth mi

was ready

pened tha

-

eels heavier t

his eyes unreadable, fists clenched at his si

we bot

of contracts official, legal. Verdane Corporation. My eyes skim over lin

I do

the wor

rights... temporary transfer of control to Isabelle Mo

nd tr

ell is this

a moment. When he does, hi

me a short-term merger with Verdane Corp that would ensure a billion-dollar expa

up, s

reed to

any from going under. Verdane had patents we needed, tech that would've crushed

t to

me. Worse, he signed a contract agreeing to it

ght to tell me?" I

in that world of deals and blackmail and threats.

wrong,"

it. My entire body shakes rage, heartbreak

You could've let me in. But instead, you

o happen like that," he

was accidental. You chose money. You

o fix it. I tried to pull out of the dea

hy didn

he snaps, eyes blazing. "She knew your weaknesses, R

til

her?" I

funded her treatments. She told me if I didn't file

th goe

arly doubled, and then, like a miracle, her treat

it was f

was blo

n't know, does

. That's the one thing

nt, I can'

our marriage, about its en

just thr

crifi

, that hurt

me wishes he'd

ty is

d into obligati

more d

barely above a whisper. "I built

ws hard.

velope and look away, "I do

oser. "Then

mine, soft but el

r stopped loving you, Rita. Even

s mouth didn't five years

don't get to say that. Not

"Just a chance. One conversation. One hou

. My heart wan

my m

lows, empty beds, and unsigned lett

it," I say coldl

not that g

't be pla

-

eave, my phone

, it's no

Eli Ki

d. Verdane wasn't working a

ree

dane wasn't wo

e wasn't the only

o me might be the o