er tapped a glass for a toast. Once the pleasantries were over, Sarah took the fl

ng with confidence, "Liam has been such an incredibl

She said i

de." She handed him a sleek black folder. "That's the deed to a new house in the city, the keys

ssed her on the cheek, a theatrical gesture of thanks. I stood frozen, a ghost at the f

wasn't f

thicker document. "The future of my company is very i

gainst my ribs. I k

's shares into a trust for Luke and Ben, to be mana

wenty years, helping her build it from a small startup into a multi-billion dollar enterprise. My ideas, my late nights, my sacri

ulders, pulling her close. He didn't say a word. He just looked at me, h

e of scotch from the bar and drank straight from it, the burn i

It was Sarah. For a moment, a flicker of the woman I

from my hand. She sat next to me, took out a handkerchief, and wiped a tear from my che

held me after my father's funeral. For a split second, a desperate, pathetic hope flared

eached for her hand. "Please. Tell me t

mth vanished. Her body went rigid, her face a ma

hope died. It was

t my arm across the glass-topped patio table. Glasses, bottles, and an ice bucket crashed to the sto

away, leaving her there amidst t