Abner Griffin. The most feared power broker in Grandview's elite circles, a man no one dared cross. He was also the only partner who'd stood beside me years ago when I built my venture capital empire on Wall Street.
For five years, he'd willingly stayed in the shadows, managing my tens of billions in overseas assets. Countless times he'd barely held back the obsessive love burning behind his eyes, begging me, voice raw, to leave Dominic. And every time, I'd stubbornly refused, clinging to the idea that I wanted the quiet, ordinary love of a normal life.
It took until today for the truth to finally hit me. Some trash didn't deserve real love.
The call connected.
"It's me."
"The game is over. Pull every domestic investment from Kessler Group. Cut off their entire funding pipeline."
"And one more thing."
I closed my eyes and let the rain pound against my face. When I opened them again, nothing remained but cold resolve.
"Abner, come get me. Tomorrow, I want Dominic Kessler and his Kessler Group erased from Grandview City."
A few seconds of silence on the other end. Then a man's voice came through, low and rough, laced with long-suppressed anguish and lethal intent: