or. The man's words, Carlee's terror-it was a puzzle he cou

cold and trembling. "Carlee? What is

ok her head frantically, her eyes wide with a desperate, unconvi

It was low and mocking, full of a lazy co

of his leather jacket. He pulled out a sleek, modern smartphon

h practiced ease. Then, he turned the

rld st

was Carlee. She was wearing nothing but a champagne-colored silk robe, which had slipped off one shoulder. Her head was thrown bac

at the image. The look on Carlee's face was one of ungu

rieked, lunging

umsy attack with a dancer's grace, ho

hole album. You want to see the videos? She's very... expressive. You

the impact jarring his entire body. The sound echoed in the silent room. He looked at Carlee,

d thrown away thirteen years of loyalty for this. For a woman who cheated on

gest fool in W

to rage. She spun on Genevieve, h

id this! You set me up, you vicious, scheming bitch! You

calm. She tapped her temple with a though

levant. After all, it pertains to the future stability of my husband's next marriage. Given his trac

fties, with sharp eyes and a severe gray suit, rushed i

, taking in Carlee's hysteria, Jaycob's shell-shocked expression, the smirking stranger, and t

de. "Miss Roman, be quiet," she

expression all business. "Sir

of a question in his eyes. He was

was set. The audience was captiv

ly broken, his expensive suit suddenly loo

crisp and clear, devoid of an

focusing solely on the

ten thousand dollars. Living expenses, at two thousand a

en driving for the last six years, which is in my name, plu

, for five years. At market rate for Georgetown, that's a con

, Jaycob's face grew paler, u

alculator app. The modern, mundane action was som

l. "Like the PhD program I gave up to support us. Or the career I put on hold so you

d the screen toward him. The final num

e: your fiancée's little adventure becomes the front-pa

red to Carlee's

sever all ties. And I walk away with my guest,

t Carlee's tear-streaked, terrified face. He looked at Leo's smug, exp

m began