His Secret Life, My Broken Trust

dra Sm

r, the phone clutched in my hand, the words on the screen burning into my retinas. Hate, re

, the man I loved, had conspired to

g the air from my lungs. But beneath the suffocating grief, something else wa

I would not break. I would not be discarded. I would make them pa

le morgue, was a torment beyond words. Every shared laugh, every tender touch, every whispere

. A blind, t

injured, and trapped in enemy terr

d to the one contact I had sworn

warned me about Edward, subtly at first, then more directly. He' d seen the

important than pride.

hoing the frantic beat of my

older than I remembered,

a painful admission of my own fail

iting for this call for three years," he said, his voice devoid of

ng. My shares in Smith Innovations, board seats, anyth

, my dear," he said softly. "You ju

a deep, shuddering breath. "And I need you to find out something for me. Edward always believed my

warned, his voice grave. "The Cardenas family... their roots run deeper and dark

spine, but my course was set.

ver of strength return. I had

old and steady. "Draw up the papers. I want everything. His shares in Cardenas

couch, a clear and calculated distance between us. The man who had feigned devastation j

d at the door. He turned and gave me a long, unreadable look, then

elf, Alex," he murm

caped my lips. I wondered what it felt like for him, this constant performanc

im straight in the eye. "Edward," I asked, my voic

pression blank, before turning and walking out the door, leav

atching the city lights blur through my unshed te

home to pack my things. As I walked

lace. She was wearing one of my robes. Her perfectly manicured hand r

pproval on her face, was Edward's mother, Di

e cat dragged in." She took a step towards me, her eyes filled wit

ce of it snapped my head back, the sharp stin