th quiet amusement. "Calm down. Someone with such pitiful judgment-someone who can't even tell a p

tely off guard, leaving

His disdain for Kier

shadow stretch across the room, the

that shadow, compelled to tilt her ch

"Go home and think about it. By tomorrow, I'm confid

the words settling h

ettle. Chris's proposal felt like a puzzle she couldn't p

her mother's treatment push her

o packing, folding clothes with slow, deliberate mov

atly into a single twenty-inch suitcase-a depres

If Kieran refused to sign, she would tak

repeatedly, screen lightin

t, only to see the trendin

with a violent crack. Kieran strode in, his express

en you and Chris?" he demanded,

together. "Why doe

it, huh? Now I understand your sudden rush for a divorce-you've found yourself another man. Hail

arved in stone: cold-blooded, calcula

ing, it was only a matter

n his strength, yet every clash wi

malice. "If you're hallucinating, get professional h

ccusation hit her like a slap. Even after y

clinging to any illusion of love between them. Yet hearing his accusations now mad

us, the shadows in them deep

u were." He yanked out his phone, the screen gl

ed in Plagiarism, Stripp

ography Contest Reve

So this was the "gift" Chris had mentioned earlier. The sa

im, why would he help you? Hailey, I'm giving you ten minutes to explain. Malin

ped her lips before

me to explain? That the work I created was stolen from me and credited to someone else? And now

dreams of. No matter what she puts out, your work will always outshine hers. You can

ge of laughing in his face. "Let her fall-she earned it

he courthouse by nine tomorrow morning. I wan

e man she once loved could turn so repulsiv

rd, a sudden, crushing han

her fast. "Enough of this bullshit. Admit to the public

ff a leash. "Who do you think you are? Back when I loved y

voice left her gaze

s chest before his phone started to

nline, there's hate-people calling me names, even wishing me dead. I can't look at it anymore. Maybe... mayb

ightly, he strode toward the door, tensi

ce low but urgent. "I'll come get you ri

a storm of emotions fli

cal in his restraint. In three years of marria

yes clouded with panic, his hurried steps betrayi

, the lingering noise echoed in her ears. With h

hat if she kept pouring her heart into him, ev

em wasn't Kieran's aloofness; the cruel reality was

and Malinda, his devotion and his d

r lips into a bitter smile and walked out, the w

into bankruptcy, she still owned a modest a

gged her under, and she slept more

her phone, and dialed Chris's number. "Do you have time no

Chris sounded almost buoyant

ll head o