ther side of the door was hard, a final warning. It was the ton

ling the doorway, his expression a thundercloud of impatience. For a fleeting moment, the image of him sliding a wedding band onto her finger three ye

and went straight to the heart of the wound. "Hayden," she asked, her voice quie

n, of something lost and unfamiliar-but it was gone as q

he word sharp an

of a long, painful sentence. The last, desperate ember of hope she hadn't even

ing nothing. But inside, something shifted. The last chain that had tethered her to this man-to the memory of who she thought he was-s

rom his pocket, his attention immediately s

ned with concern. "Hello? Is everything alright?" he asked, hi

s the stark contrast. He listened, his

sation. "What did you do? Kinsey just had another cardiac episode. The

's pain. The accusation was so swift, so

pulled out her own phone, her fingers moving swiftly across the screen. She held it up, showing him a credit card receipt.

ember the promise he'd made to her, whispered in the dark after a nightmare had woken he

rough her stomach. She too

whelming. "It doesn't matter. Stay

, Mr. Clemons," she said, her tone turning sharp and businesslike. "How do you think your shareholders will react when TMZ gets a photo of your

mes with me," he warned, his voice a low growl. "Name you

tag on three years of my life? On every dinner I hosted for your investors, every scandal I buried, every night I slept alon

ck in her story. "The receipt is for three o'clock. Y

She had to g

phone off when I write. Would you like to review the synopsis, Mr. Clemons?" She used

n with the family for years, walked past the doorway carrying a tray

to Justina unwavering. "Mrs. Clemons was in the

looked at her, at the pale, drawn lines of her face, the dark circles under her eyes. The pain there was so rea

chimed again. A vid

, an oxygen tube resting beneath her nose. Justina could hear her weak, breathy voice. She watched as Hayden's

of a woman finally admitting to herself that she had been fighting a war that was over before it began. She hadn't lost to Kinse

idn't turn around. He was already lost in Kinsey's