Page 196 of The Contract

Calloway flips her phone over in his hand, his movements deliberate.

His sharp gaze lifts, pinning me in place.

And his next words land like a goddamn hammer to my ribs.

"She wasn’t wearing her engagement ring."

My stomach plummets.

I slide my hand into my pocket.

My fingers toying with the ring there.

The diamond I slipped on her finger to sell a lie?—

Somehow, it became real.

It became a dream I wanted.

And now it’s become a fucking nightmare.

I don’t say a word.

Because there’s nothing to say.

The weight of my own failure presses down on me like a collapsing building.

I don’t have to see my own reflection to know I look defeated.

Because I am.

Calloway exhales slowly, handing her phone over to me, before he says the only thing that matters.

"Now . . . what the hell are you gonna do to fix it?"

I don’t fucking know.

Three days of hell.

That’s how long it’s been since I walked out of Wolfe Industries.

Since I left Damien standing there, not even looking back.

Since I shattered into a million pieces and convinced myself I could just sweep them up and move on.

Three days of forcing myself to keep going.

Three days of crying myself to sleep, hating myself for still missing him.

For still loving him.

But today is the end of it.

This morning, I told Lucian I was done—done with The Ledger, done with Damien, done with all of it.

He didn’t argue, just told me my bonus was still being paid in full.

A part of me wanted to tell him to take that ten million dollars and shove it straight up Damien’s perfect, arrogant ass.

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