Semua Bab THE DIVORCE AND HIS BETRAYAL, MY REVENGE: Bab 81 - Bab 90

The night after we agreed to the forced alliance, I couldn't sleep, couldn't close my eyes without seeing Merald's face the way it used to be, before the lies and the secrets and the betrayal. I lay in bed with my hand on my stomach and my eyes on the ceiling, and I let myself remember, let myself go back to a time when things were simpler, when I believed in love, when I trusted the man lying next to me.Our wedding day had been perfect, or so I thought at the time. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, and Merald looked at me like I was the only person in the room, like nothing else existed except the two of us. I remembered the way his hands trembled when he put the ring on my finger, the way his voice cracked when he said his vows, the way he kissed me like he was afraid I might disappear."I can't believe this is happening," I had whispered, standing on the balcony of our hotel room, looking out at the city below."Believe it," he had said, wrapping his arms around m

The peace I had felt after our walk didn't last, couldn't last, not in a world where trust was a currency I could no longer afford and lies were the only thing anyone seemed to know how to give. I woke up the next morning with a strange feeling in my chest, a sense that something was wrong, that something had been hidden from me, that the walls I had let start to crumble were about to come crashing down around me.Merald was already awake, standing by the window with his back to me, his shoulders tense and his hands shoved deep in his pockets. He didn't turn when I sat up, didn't acknowledge me, and I knew, in that moment, that something had changed."You're up early," I said, my voice careful."Couldn't sleep.""Neither could I. Too much on my mind."He turned to face me, his face pale, his eyes red, and I saw the guilt there, the same guilt I had seen every time he looked at me since the truth came out. "Debbie, there's something I need to tell you.""What?"He walked toward me, h

The days after I cut Merald off were strange and hollow, the kind of hollow that comes when you've finally let go of something you've been holding onto for too long, something that was never really yours to hold in the first place.I spent most of them preparing for the annual Chamber of Commerce gala, an event I had been dreading for weeks because I knew what it would mean to walk back into that room. It was the same event where I had confronted Merald and his fiancée months ago, the same event where I had first started to see through the lies and the deceptionThe same event where I had realized that nothing in my life was what it seemed. I would now be returning as a different woman, harder and colder and more dangerous than before, a woman who had been forged in fire and blood and betrayal."You don't have to go," Sarah said, watching me get ready, her eyes filled with concern as I stared at my reflection in the mirror."Yes, I do. Pierce will be there, or one of his people, or

The days after Shelie’s visit were tense and anxious, the kind of tense that comes when you know something is coming but you don’t know what. I spent most of them in the safe house with James and Sarah, going over the information she had given us and planning our next move. Merald kept his distance, working on the other side of the room, speaking only when spoken to. I pretended not to notice the way he looked at me, the way his eyes followed me, the way he seemed to be waiting for me to change my mind about us.The baby was kicking more often now, stronger and more insistent, a reminder that I wasn’t just fighting for myself anymore, and I pressed my hand against my stomach whenever I felt the movement, trying to calm myself, trying to focus on the mission instead of the fear that was building inside me.“You need to rest,” Sarah said, watching me pace the room.“I can’t rest. Not while he’s out there.”“You won’t do the baby any good if you collapse.”“The baby is the reason I

The days after Merald's sacrifice were strange and tender, the kind of tender that comes when you've seen someone give up everything for you. You don't know how to respond, and I spent most of them in the safe house with him beside me, going over the information Shelie had given us and planning our next move against Pierce. He was different now, quieter, more careful, like he was afraid of saying the wrong thing, like he was walking on eggshells around me. I watched him from across the room, trying to reconcile the man who had given up his empire with the man who had lied to me for years, trying to figure out which version of him was real."You're staring again," he said, catching my eye from across the table where he was reviewing security footage."I'm trying to figure you out. I've been trying for months, and I still don't know who you are.""Good luck. I've been trying to figure myself out for years, and I still haven't gotten there."I stood up and walked toward him, my h