The Affair That Cost Everything

from the bank for

pulling me from a quarterly marketing report. A call from t

mily. I'll

er, my pen still hover

s Chloe

tral Trust Bank. I'm calling to confirm a recent

stomach. "Large withdra

on dollars, ma'am. It cleared thi

ing against the polished mahogany of

teady, a professional mask I

k you for no

. A strange, chilling calm washed over me. I knew,

, her expression worried. "

ht smile. "Everything's fi

s lingered on my face for a mome

ted with nothing but our ambition. Every bonus, every commission, every dollar saved went into that joint account. It was our future. Our dr

I had

empty. And the money

ne who got away. The name that had been a gh

. I couldn't hear the words, but I saw the pain etched on his face, the same anguish he wore whenever Summer'

ghts a million miles away, with her. I had lain awake long after his breathing evened out, my

ep, or the way I scrubbed the countertops raw after he spent hours scrolling through her old pictures.

s a

e kitchen for water. I heard his hushed voice fro

k on your feet." A pause. "Of course, it's our money. Chloe's and mine. But she'll unders

k, as a bandage for his old flame's problems. He had asked me to sign some "investment papers" a f

s all a lie. A lie to get my

et. A wave of nausea washed over me. I felt pathetic. Ridiculous. Six ye

now felt tainted. I looked at the framed photo on our nightstand. It was from our wedding da

d it against the wall. The glass shattered, sc

was

t were truly mine before him. I left behind the life

mber I hadn't called in six years. It rang twice before a d

hl

ce, my brother' s vo

n voice breaking for the fi

t. His voice, when he spoke again, was thick with an emotion I couldn't quite

here. I'm

hot and cleansing. I was leaving Liam

rranged marriage my father had planned, all for Liam. I had chosen him over my legacy, over t

price for my youthful rebellion, trad

go back. Back t