"Don't blame Piper. Your mother got greedy, okay? She kept pestering Piper to help her 'invest'—she brought this on herself."
He tossed a blank check on the table like it meant nothing. The paper landed with a whisper that echoed like a slap.
"Write whatever number you want. But forget what you've heard. Let's pretend nothing happened for the meantime. The union ceremony's in five days. We'll go through with it—peacefully."
I stared at the man who once swore he'd love me for the rest of his life. Now, he felt like a stranger wearing a familiar face.
I wiped the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand.
If my wedding was doomed to become my mother's funeral, then five days from now… I'd return the favor—with interest.
……
I said nothing. He grew impatient, yanking off his silk tie and tossing it on the nightstand with barely concealed irritation.
"If you get it, then go to sleep."
But something snapped in me. The grief, the rage—it all poured out, raw and shaking, like blood from a wound that refused to close.
"Pretend? Are you fucking serious?!"