Her throat bobbed and she pressed a hand to her forehead.“I wish you had been there with me, Nash.It was high pressure.It wasurgent.I needed to take action.It’s not fair that you’re holding this against me."
"What's not fair is three days of you walking around with this secret and not saying a word."I balled my fists, powerless to stop the hurt slashing through me."I thought we’d had a better understanding than that.I trusted you.Do you get what that means?I fucking trusted you.”
"You can still trust me,” she insisted, the tears streaming down her cheeks now.“We can work through this.”
"We?There is no 'we' Clara."The words came out cold, final.As much as they placated my head, my heart broke from hearing them escape my lips."Not after you lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie—”
“Clara, we both knew what this was.From the beginning.It was stupid for either of us to pretend otherwise."
Her chest hitched as she held in a sob, her hand clamped over her mouth.She shook her head, eyes glistening.“You’re being so outrageous right now.”
"Don't."I held up a hand, unable to hear those words."What was outrageous was us thinking that we had a shot at making this work.I'll make sure you have resources for the custody fight.I'm not going to abandon Mia.But that’s all I can give."
Tears streamed down her face.Her entire being was broken, cracked in two, and I’d been the cause.It hurt me just as much as it was hurting her, but I couldn’t let her know that.All I knew how to do was buck up, put on a façade, and get through it like the pain wasn’t killing me.
I thought the contract would have protected me from this.But I’d fallen for her too fast, too hard, too deep.The only way to stay safe now was to end things, irreparably.
"I thought you loved me," she whispered, her voice thick with tears.
I turned toward the door, my hand stopping at the knob.For a moment, I considered telling her the truth—that I loved her, and I was running, and I didn’t know how to stop running.That the only safe option was to end things, because I was so terrified of being left behind again.
But I said nothing.I walked out and closed the door, heading for the elevator.
I needed to get back to work.To get back tonormal.To remember what life felt like without this liability sitting on my chest.This heavy, painful weight that could suffocate me at any time.
Being in love with someone.
I didn’t allow myself to feel anything as I rode the elevator down.Instead, I checked my phone, which had been on silent during our chat.I found a new email in my thread with the Queens residents.
“I think they’re going to begin evicting people next month,”one of the tenants wrote.“The building sold and Mr.Cross said he expects us out by a certain date.If we don’t comply, the police will get involved.”
I stared at the words until they blurred together.I wanted to feel something, to sit up, to take action.But I couldn’t.Because where the fuck would I begin?
Everything was crumbling around me.
I'd lost the inheritance.
I'd lost the battle against Sebastian.
And I’d personally made sure I lost my anchor in the tumultuous sea.My grounding force.My beautiful, hazel-eyed woman that I loved.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CLARA
CLARA
The next few weeks were a whirlwind of life milestones, like the most painful and productive tornado I’d ever been swept up in.
I moved out of the first penthouse I’d ever lived in.
I separated from my fake-turned-real husband, because he fucking dumped me.
I was accepted into the green space master’s program due to my portfolio work, with classes beginning in two months.
And then I received full custody of Mia from the state of New York, including a promise of back child support for all those years Preston had wriggled out of his financial responsibilities to his daughter.
