“You went to my home,” I say through gritted teeth.
“I need—”
“Shut the hell up,” I snap, stepping closer. “You went to my house. You tricked my daughter into letting you in. You stood in front of my wife and played the victim. What now? Some self-appointed executioner of your own trauma?”
I’m inches away, towering over her, my words dripping with disgust.
“How much of what you said to Ceci was a lie?”
Maya swallows hard. “None of it. Everything I told her was the purest truth. Philip had an affair with my mother. He practically lived with us for almost a year. I was eleven.”
I drag my hands through my hair and turn away, trying to process it, trying not to vomit on the thought alone.
“So you targeted me,” I say at last. “You targeted my family as revenge for what Philip did, because you think he owed you something?”
“I never planned for it to go that far,” she says quickly. “It wasn’t supposed to be more than a few times, but I fell for you, Colin.I love you. I couldn’t let you go.”
I stare at her, at the woman who ruined my life.
No... at the woman I helped ruin mine.
“You’re sick,” I hiss. “You infiltrated my company, played with innocent people’s lives, all because of something Philip did over a decade ago. And what about my children? They’re kids, Maya. Did you even think about them when you planned your twisted little revenge?”
She flinches, but I don't stop.
“It’s only a matter of time before the company’s legal team ties everything back to you. Any doubt that was left is gone. That article, the sources, the bullshit you fed the press. Every bit of it was you.”
I shake my head, revulsion creeping into every word.
“It’s pathetic how you painted yourself as some tragic heroine... when you’re the exact opposite.”
“I did it for us!” she cries. “For us and for our son. You’re not the first rich, powerful man to have an affair, Colin—and you won’t be the last to leave his wife for someone younger, prettier, better. People just need to know it was for love.”
That’s when I laugh.
Because it’s so fucking absurd.
“Someone prettier. Better. Love?” I repeat, shaking my head. “You couldn’t be a better version of Cecily if you were born again. You don’t even deserve to stand in the same room as her. She is everything you will never be. Grace. Strength. Decency.Absoluteperfection.”
I step closer, my voice low, cutting. “You could spend the rest of your life chasing what she already is without even trying, and you would never come close.”
Her hand flies up, but I catch her wrist before she can touch me.
“Hitting me won’t change the facts,” I mutter, my eyes hard. “You’ll still be exactly what you are. A resentful, delusional woman who uses her body to take what she could never earn.”
I let go and wipe my hand on my coat. The revulsion is physical now. I can feel it crawling over my skin.
“Don’t sit on your high horse pretending you didn’t loveeverysecond of it,” she spits. “The helpless girl act. Always begging for your approval. You fed on that.”
Her eyes lock onto mine, furious and desperate at the same time.
“I saw the way your eyes lit up whenever you talked about your college days. You missed being that guy. The one who took what he wanted.Igave him back to you.”
She steps closer. Her voice rises with each word, her fury barely held in check.
“The way you reactedeverysingle time I gave in to you. Me, completely at your mercy. Youthrivedon that. You love being in control, Colin. AndIgave you that. Freely.”
Her tone shifts. A bitter laugh slips out.
