LOGINDaniel's PovI found her sitting on the guest room bed when I got home, a folder open beside her, her face pale in a way that stopped me in the doorway."Rosa.""I know about Robbie." Her voice came out flat, exhausted. "The photos. The money Johansson paid her. All of it.""I suspected as much when the tabloids started.""You suspected." She looked up at me. "You suspected my own stepsister was selling information about me and you didn't tell me.""I didn't have proof until the security firm confirmed it." I crossed the room, sat carefully on the edge of the bed. "I was building the case before I brought it to you.""That's what you always do. Build the case privately before deciding what I'm allowed to know."I didn't argue that point, because after tonight's fight, I understood exactly h
Rosa's Pov"You took a criminal record for her," I said quietly. "To protect her family's political career. Because your father asked you to.""Yes.""That's insane, Daniel." My voice came out shaky. "You've been living under a lie for years, carrying blame that isn't even yours, and the one person who could clear your name has been using that same truth as a weapon against you instead.""That's exactly what she's been doing."I reached for his hand, threading my fingers through his despite everything we'd fought about hours earlier."I'm not angry at you," I said. "I need you to understand that. I'm furious at your father for asking this of you, and I'm furious at Johansson for turning your own innocence into a weapon. But I'm not angry at you.""You should be. I've been hiding this from you since the moment we met."
Daniel's PovI found her sitting on the guest room bed when I got home, a folder open beside her, her face pale in a way that stopped me in the doorway."Rosa.""I know about Robbie." Her voice came out flat, exhausted. "The photos. The money Johansson paid her. All of it.""I suspected as much when the tabloids started.""You suspected." She looked up at me. "You suspected my own stepsister was selling information about me and you didn't tell me.""I didn't have proof until the security firm confirmed it." I crossed the room, sat carefully on the edge of the bed. "I was building the case before I brought it to you.""That's what you always do. Build the case privately before deciding what I'm allowed to know."I didn't argue that point, because after tonight's fight, I understood exactly h
Rosa's PovThe first page was a summary, dated three weeks earlier, prepared by a private security firm whose letterhead I didn't recognize.Subject: Robbie Madison. Financial and communication analysis per client request.I kept reading.Financial records showed Robbie deeply in debt, credit cards maxed across four different accounts, a car repossessed two months ago that she'd apparently kept hidden from everyone in the family. Beneath the financial summary sat a series of timestamped communications, phone records showing calls between Robbie's number and a number the report identified as belonging to Johansson Theron.The calls started the week after my wedding to Marcus collapsed.My hands started shaking as I turned the pages.Text message transcripts followed, subpoenaed or hacked or however this firm had
Rosa's PovI watched him fire her through the glass conference room wall.No raised voice. No visible anger. Just a flat tone that carried more menace than shouting ever could, his words clipped and precise while Patricia sat across from him, her hands shaking in her lap."Security will escort you to collect personal items," he said. "Your access has already been revoked. HR will process final compensation according to standard severance, though given the nature of your breach, legal counsel may pursue additional action.""Mr Gosling, please.""That's all, Patricia."I stood at the glass a moment longer after she left, shattered, escorted out by security like she'd never spent five years bringing him coffee and organizing his entire professional life.This was the version of him Johansson had described. T
Daniel's PovI woke to find Rosa already at the desk in the corner of my bedroom, documents spread out, her focus absolute despite the early hour."You're up early," I said, sitting up."Couldn't sleep." She didn't look up from the page. "Figured I'd get ahead on the Tanaka counterproposal."Something about her tone felt slightly off, a careful flatness I hadn't heard from her since our fight on the couch."Rosa.""Hmm.""Everything okay?""Fine." She reached for her phone on the desk, and I caught the motion, quick and deliberate, sliding it face-down before I could see the screen.I noticed. I chose not to press, though something about the gesture sat uncomfortably in my chest for the rest of the morning."What time did you start?" I asked.







