Se connecter•ISOLDE•I sat in my car for almost ten minutes before I finally started it.The rain was pouring hard outside. I looked at my house while water hit the windshield, and my chest felt empty, like something inside me had broken.I thought about what Caleb said to Talia over the phone. He told her they wouldn't hide anymore once they were done with me. That meant they planned to strip me of everything I had worked hard for. I couldn't believe that I stupidly believed Caleb again and almost risked my life. This meant that he had never broken up with her. And it meant that Talia had never seduced him. He slept with her because even though I thought I would change things and keep him as my husband, he was still going to fall in love with her. He loved her, and there was nothing that I could do to change that. I already knew Caleb was cheating. Deep down, I had always known. But hearing him say it out loud in my house hurt more than I expected.I backed out of the driveway and started d
•ISOLDE•I had been thinking about the authorization form since the moment I signed it. Not because I regretted it, but because something about Kaelen's request had made me restless.I didn't understand why it was so urgent that he couldn't wait until his brother got home. Or take whatever gifts he had for him to the prison.I was certain that inmates could receive gifts if they were harmless and approved by the correctional officers.My office door opened without a knock. Kate walked in carrying a thick brown folder and a tablet in her hand. "I got everything you asked for."I straightened in my chair. "That fast?""You sounded paranoid over the phone," she replied as she dropped the folder onto my desk. "Which usually means I should hurry."I ignored the sarcasm and opened the folder immediately. The pages of inmate records filled the file. Names, charges, and sentencing dates. Transfer requests and visitation logs.Hartfield Correctional had more high-profile inmates than I expecte
•ISOLDE•I was still thinking about the phone call when Caleb arrived at seven.He brought wine and kissed my cheek and was everything he always was when he wanted something.I smiled and poured the wine and sat beside him on the couch, and said nothing about what was turning over in my mind.The prenuptial agreement conversation had lasted less than two minutes on the phone. But I just couldn't stop thinking about what he was planning to do.In my previous life, that sentence alone would have been enough. I would have nodded and smiled and told him that of course I trusted him, that we didn't need lawyers between us, that love didn't require paperwork.I had said almost exactly those words two years into our marriage when he suggested consolidating the share transfer documents.I signed everything without reading past the first page.I remembered sitting at the kitchen table with a pen in my hand while Caleb stood behind me with his hands on my shoulders, telling me it was just admin
•CALEB•"Well, things are going well on my side," Talia answered on the phone as I pulled up outside a law firm building. "Isolde is still ignoring all my texts." "Don't worry, babe," I answered. "Isolde won't bother us for a long time. Soon, she won't be a problem anymore. You won't need to apologize to her for something you didn't do." "Are you sure?" "Of course, you need to trust me. I have a plan and if things don't backfire, you and I will be set for life and Isolde will have nothing." "Are you sure that's going to work?" she asked. "Your father likes her, and you heard the way he talked about how she had saved your family." "Don't worry about that." I got out of the car and locked it. "My father doesn't have a say in whatever that I do." "Wait, where are you?""I will call you later, babe. Alright? I love you." I hung up the call before she could ask any more questions. I walked to the firm building and asked for Richard Holt. I chose Richard Holt because he had never don
•KAELEN•"Isolde has signed the authorization forms to use her transport," I told Marcus in the morning when he called. "I think we are set to go ahead with our plans and bring my brother home."Marcus didn't respond immediately, which meant he was already thinking three steps ahead, causing us unnecessary pressure. "That's good news," he finally replied. "But the transport window alone isn't enough."I leaned against my desk and looked out the window. "Oh, fuck," I groaned. "Can you explain that for me?""Getting Luke out cleanly during a delivery requires people on the inside who are willing to look the other way," he answered. "At minimum, two guards. One at the delivery checkpoint and one on Luke's wing. Both need to be in position at the same time and both need to stay quiet afterward.""How much?""That depends on who they are and how much they value their jobs." He paused. "The checkpoint guard is a man named Soren. He's been at Hartfield for eleven years, and he has a gamblin
•ISOLDE•Kate had already left for the day, so I sat alone in my office and looked at the copy of the transport authorization I had signed.I didn't know why I had kept the copy. I usually filed everything immediately and moved on. But something about it made me pause before I could put it away.I set it flat on the desk and read through it again.The request was straightforward on paper. Donation packages for an inmate at Hartfield Correctional. Clothing, books, hygiene products. His brother's details.I tapped my finger against the edge of the document.The urgency was what bothered me.Kaelen Brightmoor did not strike me as a sentimental man. He was calculating and precise, and the few times I had been in the same room with him long enough to watch him work, every move he made had a reason behind it.He wanted a delivery to a prison facility within the week. He chose to come directly to me rather than go through official channels, knowing full well that those channels existed and t







