ere's nothing left in there

state. I was clutching the handle of my battered suitcase so hard my knuckles were white. I could hear the wheels o

el driveway. I felt a sharp, panicked flutter in my throat. "

ason's security team is faster than his loyalty. If you go back to that door, they'll treat you like a bur

She didn't even acknowledge I was standing there. I was a ghost before I had even left the grounds. I felt a raw, messy wave of hurt.

er my heels as Julian led me toward a sleek, black sedan i

forcing me to look at him. "He sees a wife who didn't talk back. He sees a daughter with no inheritance. He's a

th a frustration that felt like it might choke me. "Stop talking in riddles. You say you've been watching m

n. He smelled of rain and something metallic. "You're standing on the sidew

ing it into the trunk like it weighed nothing. Then he

'irreconcilable differences' blast. If you're still here when they arrive, they'll take pictu

t to the stale, suffocating scent of lilies Jason always insisted on having in the house. As Julian

e blur past. This was my neighborhood, but I felt like an alien. I saw women I had gone t

asked. My hands were shaking,

, the other resting casually on the center console. "And where you can cry without it being

d, even as my eyes began to

n grief. But first, you need to realize exactly how much he stole from you. Not j

pain. "My father's trust was locked until the five-

que hotel. He killed the engine and turned to me, his face grim. "But Catherine could. Your mother isn't as

weight pressing on my sternum. My mother had died in a car accident when I was twel

pered. "I saw the funeral.

ve box and pulled out a manila envelope. He handed it to me. "Inside is a copy of a wire transfer from t

. I looked at the bottom of the page. The elegant, looped 'C' was unmistak

t for Jason. It was for the girl who had spent twenty years mourning

reaking through the numbness. "My father, my mother, Jason... I was

just held my arm, his grip grounding me. "And now the collateral has walked off the property. They're going to panic, Sarah. T

of my hand, leaving a smear of mascara. "I'm ju

me." Jul

it was a dangerous kind of beauty. He looked like a man who knew exactl

You keep saying I'm a debt. What do you actually want? You're a

mine. The intensity in his eyes was e

ust your trust fund; she stole my father's life to cover her tracks. I've been waiting for you to be free so

irror

night, you're going to go upstairs, you're going to take a hot shower, and you're going to

the reflection in the polished metal. I looked small, broken, and messy. But for the fir

rpet thick enough to swallow our footsteps. Julian stop

. "It's registered under a shell company. No one knows

window and looked out at the city. The lights were twinkling, a million people livin

aid without t

es

to see what happens w

d

tch. "Tomorrow, I want to find a way to let Jason know I'm still alive. I want to see

n care of that. I frozen his personal credit line five minutes ago. He's currently at dinner wit

ill of satisfaction. It wa

said, stepping back into the hal

edge of the oversized bed, the weight of the day finally crushin

daughter. I was a debt that