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Chapter 5

Author: Helen
Alex rushed up to me and reached for my wrist out of habit. "Come back to New York with me."

As always, it wasn't a request. It was an order.

Before he could touch me, Daniel stood and placed himself squarely between us. "Sir, step back. She didn't say you could touch her."

Alex narrowed his eyes and looked him up and down, a sneer curling the corner of his mouth. "Who do you think you are, butting into our business?"

He turned to me, his eyes blazing with the fury of someone who felt betrayed.
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    Three years later, the Global Biomedical Summit was held in New York.I returned as an invited research specialist to the city where I had lived for ten years, bringing my team's latest findings. Daniel, now both my husband and my research partner, came with me for the whole trip.When the conference ended, autumn rain was falling over New York.We walked side by side through the glass doors of the venue. Daniel opened a long black umbrella and tilted most of it over me without a word."Tired?" he asked, glancing down. "Rest at the hotel first, or head straight to dinner?""Dinner first." I looped my arm through his. "All I had for lunch was a cup of coffee.""I figured." He shook his head with a rueful smile. "I already had the restaurant swap out everything on the menu you can't eat."As we headed down the steps, I caught a figure at the edge of my vision, just beyond the barricades.A man in a worn jacket, clutching a rain-soaked summit brochure.Alex.Three years, and he had aged s

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    Alex rushed up to me and reached for my wrist out of habit. "Come back to New York with me."As always, it wasn't a request. It was an order.Before he could touch me, Daniel stood and placed himself squarely between us. "Sir, step back. She didn't say you could touch her."Alex narrowed his eyes and looked him up and down, a sneer curling the corner of his mouth. "Who do you think you are, butting into our business?"He turned to me, his eyes blazing with the fury of someone who felt betrayed. "So this is the next one? You went through all this trouble to come to Boston just to be with him? You'd throw away ten years over one party?"Even now, he still thought I was jealous, still thought this was all a ploy to make him cave.I stepped out from behind Daniel and looked him straight in the eye. "Mr. Grant, we've already broken up."The unfamiliar formality landed hard. Alex's eyes narrowed sharply, and a muscle in his jaw jumped."Broken up?" He lowered his voice. "Did I agree to that?

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