I did it now.
The website loaded slowly. I clicked through to the leadership page.
And there he was.
Archie. But not Archie.
Archer Devlin, CEO. Professional photo in a suit, looking polished and confident. The bio detailed his father’s company, how he’d taken over ten years ago at twenty-six, how he’d expanded operations across three boroughs.
How he’d built his reputation on “successful” displacement projects.
I clicked back to the documents. Scrolled through authorization after authorization, all signed by him. Found the specific memo about my building—fifty-two units, minimal resistance expected, completion projected within sixty days.
My father had died forty-three days after the notice appeared on our door.
Archer Devlin had signed the authorization that killed him.
I sat in the dark of my apartment, laptop screen the only light, surrounded by evidence of everything he’d done. Everything he’d hidden. Everything he’d lied about.
Hudson River Development. He’d lied about the company name. Had looked me in the eye and lied.
While I fell for him.
While I slept with him this morning.
The man I’d made love with, the man who’d held me and told me I was beautiful and important, the man who’d looked at me like I was his entire world—he was the same person who’d destroyed my family ten years ago.
Who’d killed my father.
Who’d ruined my mother.
Who’d stolen seven years of my life.
And he’d known. This entire time, he’d known exactly who I was and said nothing.
I scrolled through every page, reading every word, letting the evidence burn into my brain until I could recite it from memory.
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. My chest felt too tight, like I couldn’t get enough air. The walls of my apartment seemedto be closing in, suffocating me with the weight of what I’d discovered.
I’d trusted him. I had opened up to him about my pain, my fears. Had let him into spaces I didn’t let anyone, had believed he understood because he’d seemed so genuine.
And the whole time he’d been lying.
I sat in the darkness surrounded by evidence of his betrayal, feeling everything I thought I had shatter like glass hitting concrete.
Shattered.
Irreparable.
Gone.
CHAPTER 16
Gianna
I stoodoutside Devlin Holdings for ten minutes before I could make myself go in.
The building was all glass and steel, expensive and imposing in a way that screamed money and power. The kind of place designed to make you feel small before you even stepped inside. People in expensive suits walked past me with purpose, everyone seeming to know exactly where they belonged.
