Owned by the Ex

pped Silas Vane of his dignity. He sat on the edge of the narrow cot in the guest cottage, the springs groaning under his weight, and felt the silence of Oakhaven pr

hudding in his ears and the distant, rhythm

his life in Manhattan. Julian's messages were a barrage of corporate warfare. The board is restless, Silas. Globex is asking for a site visit by Friday. The rumors about your sabbatical are leaking. Where the hell are you? Silas watched th

f the porch light. She didn't look tired. She looked like a woman who had been awake for a decade, her jaw set in a line that brooked no argument.

he was the only man in the world. "Don't make my mother wait. She's already looking for a reason to thro

nsive socks. The main house felt like a museum of a life he had discarded. The kitchen was bright, illuminated by a harsh fluorescen

sion that felt violent. Silas sat at the scarred wooden table, the same table where he had once sat as a twenty year old boy, sketching dreams of softwar

e them lay grit heavy biscuits and a pile of salt cured bacon. She finally looked at him, her eyes pinning him to the chair with the wei

ilas said, his voice sounding

orchard. You aren't here for June. You're here for that piece of paper so you can go back to your castle made of glass. You left my daughter

te platitude to break the tension. She sat there like a statue of ice, letting her mother's words cut into h

nce of someone who belonged there. He was wearing a tan work vest over a thick sweater, his boots clicking rhythmically on the hardwoo

or on the way in. The fuel line is still leaking. I can patch it enough to get you th

lted. She gave him a soft, genuine smile. It was the kind of smile that used to be Silas's exclusive p

h that made Silas feel fragile in his designer shirt. "Big day for a city man, Silas. June tells me you're taki

ords came out sharper than he intended, his fingers tighteni

though his eyes sharpened. "It's the history that trips people up. See y

Silas used to be and the reality of the man who had replaced him in the heart of this house. June stood up, grabbing a canva

n is coming up, and the trees don't

and the air felt damp. June handed Silas a heavy pair of lopping shears. The steel was cold and pitted with rust. She pointed to a row of tre

raw skin stinging with every movement. His muscles screamed with a dull, throbbing ache he had never felt in a high end gym. His four hundred

with it. Her shears snapped through branches with a rhythmic click clack that felt like a mocking heartbeat.

cut," June said, appearing

ed, and vibrantly alive. For a fraction of a second, the anger between them evaporated, replaced by a terrifying, electric familiarity. The air vanished from Silas's lungs. He looke

hen, as quickly as it had appeared, she pulled her hands away as if his skin had burned her

with a decade of suppressed rage. "You liked the idea of a wife, Silas. You liked having someone to ch

scraping his throat. "I did what I had to do. I was bui

n around my ears so you could go live in a digital dream. Look around you, Silas. Look at this dirt. Look at

pocket, the screen smeared with dirt and sap. Julian's face stared back at him. Silas hesitated, hi

morning edition of the tabloids. You're trending, Silas. Someone snapped a photo of you at a greasy spoon in Oakhaven lookin

ace a mask of bitter satisfaction. She was watching his empire crum

Julian," Silas said, trying to find his CE

u're standing in a hole. Don't let the girl cost yo

ed at June. "The board wants me back in the city. They're going to vote to rem

, bloodied hands. She set them on the ground with a deliberate finality. She pointed toward th

e richest man in the cemetery. But if you walk toward that car right now, Silas, I go inside and I burn those patent papers. I will bankrupt your

twenty billion dollars that defined his life. Then he looked at the dirt u

ere," he said, the w

m a hand. She just picked up the shear

re rows to finish before the sun goes down, and Miller is coming back for