Chapter 4

When I couldn't catch him at the office, I took a cab late one night out to his private estate beyond the city.

At one in the morning, the Range Rover finally came up the drive. I ran out and stood in front of it with my arms spread wide.

He got out in the glare of his own high beams and walked toward the door without so much as looking at me.

I lunged and caught his coat sleeve, gripping it so hard my knuckles went white.

"Arthur, I'm sorry. I'll take all the blame. Please, restore the hospital's funding."

He stopped and looked down at me, his mouth twisting. "You'll take the blame? With what?"

He jerked his arm free. I stumbled and fell.

My knees were screaming, but I grabbed the leg of his trousers. "Just say yes, and I'll leave this city tonight. You'll never have to look at me again."

That struck a nerve.

He turned his hand and clamped it around my wrist so hard I thought the bones would give.

He dragged me into the front hall and threw me down on the cold marble.

"You want to take the blame for him?" He stood over me, his eyes stripping me where I lay. "Seven years. Take your clothes off. Let's see if that body is still worth tens of millions."

The humiliation came down on me all at once.

Seven years ago, I believed he really loved me.

Until the day I heard him tell Cecilia, "Stop it. You're the only one who's ever going to be my wife. Lillian is just a way to pass the time. I'll get rid of her before the wedding."

I bit my lip until I tasted blood.

After a while I lowered my eyes and reached, hands shaking, for the top button of my trench coat.

If it saved Richard's life's work, what was my pride worth?

My fingers hadn't reached the button when Arthur bent down and seized my jaw. His eyes were burning.

"Where's all that pride you had back then? You'd rather break than bend, remember? Did you just throw it away?"

He let go as if I'd burned him and pointed at the door. "Get out!"