Investor dinner is in 5 days. Thursday.
I stare at the message.
Need confirmation she's coming.
Another buzz.
And do you have any photos of you two together? That would really add a lot to building trust.
Photos. He wants to package us up nice and pretty for the investors. Proof that Phoenix Crawford is stable, settled, the kind of man you trust with millions.
I text back:I’ll handle it.
I toss the phone on the bed.
Whatever's going on with Jade, I need to fix it. She's pulling away and I don't know why, and that's unacceptable. I've waited too long for her. Worked too hard to get her here.
I'm not losing her over some mood I don't understand.
I head across the lawn to the guest house. The sun is bright, the ocean sparkling, everything picture-perfect. The kind of day that should have us tangled up in each other.
I knock. "Jade?"
Nothing.
"Jade, open up."
Silence.
The key is in my pocket. I shouldn't use it. Should respect her space, give her time, all the things a good man would do.
But I’m not a good man.
I unlock the door and step inside.
She's not here. The room is empty—her sandals gone, her bag missing. Probably walking on the beach, putting more distance between us with every step.
Her laptop sits open on the desk.
I shouldn't look.
I know I shouldn't look. It's a violation. But I need to know what changed. I need to understand what's happening in her head so I can fix it.
I cross to the desk and look at the screen.
A magazine article. Old, by the look of it. Glossy photos of my parents on the terrace in Maui, the ocean behind them. The headline reads:"Paradise Found: The Crawford Love Story."
I've seen this photo before. It's hung in my parents' hallway my entire life.
But I've never read this article.
I lean closer, scanning the text.
"Nicholas Crawford first spotted Olive at a charity gala. 'I knew the moment I saw her,' he says. 'I had to have her.' Within weeks, he had tracked down the struggling artist and sent her an anonymous gift—enough money to pay off all her debts."
The words don't make sense.
I read them again.
