"He thought pushing her down would make her look weak, but it made him look exactly like the man she warned them about."
CHAPTER 1
Emily Whitmore did not come back to the mansion to beg.
She came back to collect the last box of things Richard had not already thrown into the guesthouse garage.
The cream-and-gold living room looked exactly the way it had on the day she moved in three years earlier—crystal chandelier, marble floor, ornate carved sofa, gold coffee table, sunlight falling through tall windows like nothing cruel had ever happened there.
Richard stood in the middle of the room in his navy pinstripe suit, his gray tie loosened, his jaw tight.
Behind him stood Vanessa Hale in a burgundy satin dress, one hand resting lightly on the back of the sofa, looking like she had already chosen where Emily’s wedding photos would be removed from the walls.
Emily kept her chin lifted.
Her white blazer was pressed. Her hands were steady. Her heart was not.
Richard looked at the small folder tucked under her arm.
“You shouldn’t have brought anyone into this,” he said.
Emily swallowed. “I brought my lawyer.”
Richard smiled without warmth.
“You brought your brother.”
Emily’s voice stayed quiet. “Daniel is both.”
Vanessa gave a soft laugh from behind him.
May you like
Richard stepped closer.
“You should’ve stayed quiet.”
