Sawyer nodded once. “Good.” Then he straightened slightly, turning fully toward Alexander. “Anyway… I didn’t come to see Mia. I came to talk to you.”
Alexander raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Go on. Do you need help?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone without hesitation. “I can call Allen over immediately. Is this about business or home?”
Sawyer scoffed, bristling. “I don’t need any help. What do you take me for? I’m also very rich, you know.”
Alexander held back a laugh, a low chuckle escaping as he shook his head. “Alright,” he said easily. “Anyway, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask, brother-in-law. We’re family.”
Sawyer’s irritation eased slightly, though his eyes remained sharp. “Thanks for the offer,” he said. “And if you ever need help, don’t hesitate to call me either.”
“I won’t,” Alexander replied sincerely, nodding once.
Sawyer shifted, slipping his hands into his pockets. His posture looked casual, but his eyes darkened with intent. “You and Mia,” he said slowly, “you were living separately?”
Alexander stiffened almost imperceptibly. His shoulders straightened, lips pressing into a thin line.
“Not anymore,” he replied evenly. A flash of protectiveness burned in his eyes. “Did she say anything to you?”
“She didn’t say anything,” Sawyer said. “I found out on my own. When she came to live at my house, she didn’t look well. So I had to find out what happened between you two.” His gaze sharpened. “Then I realized she left because she didn’t like something you did.”
The air between them tightened.
Sawyer’s eyes narrowed. “Did you cheat on her?”
“Of course not!” Alexander snapped, the offense clear in his voice. “I love my wife!”
Sawyer let out a slow breath, tension easing slightly. “Good,” he muttered. “That means I don’t have to kill you yet.”
Then his gaze sharpened again. “Did you hit her?”
Alexander stepped closer, his eyes darkening dangerously. “I’m going to hityouif you keep talking,” he growled, every word edged with warning.
Sawyer leaned back, unbothered, his voice lowering. “I just needed to make sure.”
Alexander’s expression hardened, his jaw tightening as his gaze sharpened. “It’s between me and my wife,” he said firmly. “I have never done anything to hurt her, nor will I ever. I love her more than anything in this world. I will never cause her harm.”
Sawyer studied him for a long moment. Some of the tension eased from his shoulders, but the worry in his eyes didn’t fade completely.
“I had a feeling something bad happened between you and Mia,” he said slowly, choosing his words. “I didn’t know exactly what. I only know you two had a fight. I was worried about her.”
His eyes locked onto Alexander’s. “She doesn’t express things clearly. She keeps things inside. But whatever happens because of you…” he paused deliberately, “affects her too.”
Sawyer exhaled quietly. “When she stayed at my house for those few days, I could tell something was wrong. She acted normal, smiled, talked—but her mind was elsewhere. She was distracted. Pretending everything was fine, but it wasn’t.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of folded papers, slightly crumpled from having been discarded. “I found these under the pillow in her room.”
Alexander took them without a word.
The moment his fingers closed around the papers, recognition struck. His breath stalled. They were pages ripped from Mia’s album.
His eyes dropped to the first page as he unfolded it.
Mia’s handwriting filled the paper—messy, uneven, frantic, as though her thoughts had been racing faster than her hand could follow.
The page held his photograph.
Beneath it, her words were written and rewritten, crossed out and scribbled over:
‘Mr. Graves is not talking to me properly since the last two days. I think I did something wrong, but we never got into a fight… then why—’
