The night my husband broke my arm, he leaned close and whispered, ‘You should’ve listened to me.’ At the hospital, he told everyone it was an accident—until the X-ray technician looked up and said my name in a voice I hadn’t heard in two years. ‘Elena?’ My blood ran cold. Because the man staring at my bruises was my brother… and in that moment, Garrett’s perfect lie began to collapse. – usnews
was a terrifying, hollow sound that echoed off the raw concrete walls. He threw his arms open, gesturing to the city skyline behind him.
“Kill you? Clara, you watch too many movies,” he mocked. “I am a businessman. I move capital. If some of that capital comes from men in cartel suits, so be it. The city runs on dirty money. And the insurance policy? It’s called asset protection. You are an asset, Clara. A very fragile one. And fragile things tend to break.”
He took another step closer. I backed up until my shoulders hit a raw concrete pillar. There was nowhere left to retreat.
“You think you can wear a cast, shed a few tears, and take down an empire?” Julian sneered, leaning in close. I could smell the expensive cologne on his neck. His eyes were devoid of humanity. “You are a pregnant, emotional housewife with zero
income. I own judges in this city. I will crush this investigation. I will take that baby the second she is born, and I will lock you away in a psychiatric facility so deep no one will ever hear your name again.”
He reached out, his fingers grazing the edge of my jaw. I flinched violently.
“I gave you the world, Clara,” he whispered, his breath hot against my cheek. “But you forgot your place in it. You were never meant to be a partner.”
He smiled, a dark, chilling stretch of his lips.
“You were always meant to be temporary.”
Ocean, I thought frantically. Ocean, ocean, ocean.
“Ocean,” I gasped out loud, my voice cracking in the cold wind.
Julian frowned, confused by the word. “What did you just—”
The heavy metal doors of the construction stairwells violently exploded open.
