hael

losed door long af

ey J

et somehow, I had not expected her to leave me like

k in on me, cry fo

t on me, not after

torn check fragments on the ground. She really did it

tter than to wa

atched her disappear into the crowd below. Head high, back st

rtlessly

es me wasn't

fused to bend, even in her most

ow what made he

**

ice, flipping through a file my i

ey J

e:

g assistant at W

ed two

n: Uns

er boyfriend, Eric Marshall, makin

k in my chair. A low w

what broke he

s, but my mind had already jumped ahead. Sh

box apartment of hers, tryin

piece on my chessboard, and she do

fate, but this? Thi

fferent here, no fire, just a quiet kind of strength behin

phone, dialed my

at Northbridge Avenue, top floor unit. S

t away

hun

nted to walk

ull of locked doors

**

Days

new ownership. She would be informed of the "upcoming renovat

culated, and exact

d her a contract...She woul

ne, and this time, I would

writing the

THE EVEN

the city lights blinked beneath my penthouse window. Her name, Riley Jordan

dared to walk

y check like i

ed in me the moment she looked

p my phone

ract. One year." My vo

corporate, sir

d lawyer, and ne

, Extremel

ief pause. "Def

grip tightening. "She will live in my building, fully f

ot

a position that fits her résumé, some

ders

, gala, and business event. She will act like my

hroat. "Do you want

ies stay exclusive, overnight guests aren

compen

wance, shopping account,

ng she needs wit

what's

n't get to

ink, the ice crackli

"If she breaks the contract early, she p

"Michael... this sounds more l

it that way, make it airtight. If I

ll have the draft

to the glass in my hand, watching

morning, but Riley Jordan had no

n this

ever