s. Pictures of her arranging flowers on the mantelpiece where my family photos used to be. Pictures of Chloe' s bright pi

doting mother. The narrative she spun was one of a woman who had stood by a man as he made a difficult but honorable choice. Some people bou

ject. My family' s company was the lead investor, and I was the lead architect. Liam' s star

e adversaries now, not just in life, but

sciously touched it, trying to pull his collar higher. It was a crude, possessive mark. A signal from Sarah. It was so transparent, so v

stick. The door swung open and Sarah walked in. She

nally. "He' s with me now. He never really loved you.

you?" I asked, meetin

said, her smile widening.

mense, but I held it back.

et, almost gentle. "Something about your last job, before you came to work for Lia

er face. Her smugness va

lie," she

e. The HR complaints. The settlement. The non-disclosure agreement. An NDA you are currently violating by b

am walked in. He had obviously se

manded, looking from Sarah'

shing to his side and grabbing his arm. "

ned. He looked at

. Get out of h

ly,"

turned back to look at him, holding Sarah,

oke with my father. The board had an emergency meeting this afternoon. The Sterling Co

ure terror, dawn on his face. This wasn

dded with a thin s