Chapter: CHAPTER 9: THE INVESTIGATORI found Ryker in the study again, the same room that had started collecting our worst conversations like a museum I hadn't agreed to curate. The fire was already lit, low and orange, throwing long shadows across the same desk where I'd caught him with a bottle six months ago and lost something I still hadn't found words for."We need to talk," I said, closing the door behind me."If this is about this morning…""It's not about this morning." I set my phone on the desk between us, the screen still lit with Julian's message, my hand not quite steady when I pulled it back. "It's about Vivian's therapist."That got his attention. He set down his pen, slow, deliberate, the way a man moves when he's bracing for something he already suspects will hurt."What about her therapist?""Marcus met with someone from her office this morning."The silence that followed had weight to it, thick enough that I could feel it pressing against my ribs. Ryker's jaw worked once, twice, before he spoke again.
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-08-06
Chapter: CHAPTER 8: RETREATIt was only Marcus's car, tires screeching too fast out of the front gate, headlights swinging wild across the wet driveway before disappearing into the dark."He's running," I said."He's not running. He's regrouping." Ryker's voice had gone flat again, all business, the warmth from a moment ago sealed away somewhere I couldn't reach anymore, a door closing so quietly I almost missed the exact second it happened. "Lock your door tonight.""Ryker…""I mean it, Selene." He didn't look at me when he said it, already crossing to his desk, already pulling his phone out to make a call I wasn't invited to overhear. "This isn't a conversation. It's an instruction.""Ten minutes ago you were admitting things to me. Now I'm getting instructions.""Ten minutes ago was a mistake." He said it without looking up, and something about the flatness of it landed harder than if he'd shouted, a small precise wound instead of a large messy one. "I don't have the luxury of mistakes right now. Neither do y
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-08-06
Chapter: CHAPTER 7: HE DOESN'T LOSE GRACEFULLY"Family meeting?" Marcus said again, closing the door behind him with a click that sounded far too casual for the tension already thick in the room. "You could have invited me.""We were just discussing you," Ryker said, his voice flat, controlled in a way that made the hair on my arms rise. I'd seen him angry before. This was colder than angry."Flattering." Marcus's eyes flicked to the folder, then to me, assessing, recalculating. "Care to tell me what about?""Northgate Holdings." Ryker didn't blink. "Your signature's all over it."For half a second, something flickered behind Marcus's easy smile, gone so fast I almost doubted I'd seen it. Almost."That old thing." He laughed, short and light, crossing to the drink cart like he had all the time in the world. "I helped set that up years ago, cousin. Small investment vehicle for the family. I'm surprised it's still active.""It's moved almost two million dollars out of three subsidiary accounts in eight months.""Has it?" Marcus poure
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-08-05
Chapter: FAMILY MEETING"Who is this?"I typed the words again, my thumb hovering over send, my whole body still humming with the strange cold shock of a stranger knowing more about my marriage than I did.The reply came instantly, almost too fast, like they'd been waiting.Ask Ryker about Northgate Holdings. Ask him why his cousin's name keeps showing up on transfers nobody in that family has bothered to notice yet."Why should I trust you?" I typed back.You don't have to. You just have to look.Then nothing. The number went dead, no further replies, like whoever it was had said exactly what they needed to and vanished back into wherever they'd come from, leaving me alone on that terrace with a warning I had no idea what to do with yet."Selene." Elise's voice cut through my spiraling thoughts. "You've gone pale. What is it?"I hesitated, then handed her the phone.She read it twice, her expression unreadable in the low terrace light. "Northgate," she said slowly. "That name means something to me. I just c
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-08-03
Chapter: ASK HIM ABOUT THE ACCOUNTSBy noon, it was everywhere, spreading faster than anyone in that house could contain it.Kane Heir's Secret Affair. Bride's Sister Steps In While Fiancée Fights For Her Life.I sat on the edge of my bed scrolling through headline after headline, each one worse than the last, strangers deciding exactly what kind of woman I must be without knowing a single true thing about that night.My phone rang. Julian."Tell me you're okay.""I'm not okay, Julian. He thought I was her. The whole time.""Selene." A long breath on the other end. "I'm coming over.""Don't. His father called an emergency meeting. I have to go.""You don't owe them anything.""I owe my family a name that isn't destroyed. That's not the same thing.""You're already talking like you're going to say yes to whatever they ask you in that room.""I don't know what else to do.""Refuse. Walk away. Let the headlines burn out the way they always do.""It's not that simple, and you know it.""It never is with you." He sighed, tir
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-08-03
Chapter: THE WRONG NAME"Ryker, the lights.""They'll come back on." His voice was rough, closer than I expected in the dark. "Everything comes back eventually. Except her.""I should go find a candle. Or check the fuse box.""Stay."One word, quiet, and something about the way he said it made my whole body go still, the way an animal goes still when it senses the exact wrong moment to move, every instinct screaming at me to leave and my feet somehow refusing to obey."Ryker, I don't think…""You never think. That's the problem with you, Selene. You just stand there, quiet, careful, taking up exactly as little space as everyone's always wanted you to." His hand found my arm in the dark, his grip loose but certain, like he already knew I wasn't going to pull away, and some furious, tired part of me hated that he was right. "She would have laughed by now. Made a joke. Made this easier.""I'm not her.""I know." His voice cracked on the word, just slightly, grief bleeding through the whiskey. "I know you're not
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-08-03
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