Chapter 2

I looked back and took several slow, deep breaths.

I understood how the adult world worked.

I understood that the rich played by different rules, too.

But… I couldn't accept them.

In my world, love was sacred. Betrayal was never an option.

My mother's life had been saved by her family. It was a debt I'd never be able to repay.

But even so, I couldn't accept her betrayal.

The least I could do was let her keep her dignity and end this marriage quietly.

At ten the next morning, I showed up outside the corporate tower.

I did my best to stay calm, to act as if nothing had happened.

"Vice Chairman Fox."

The staff greeted me warmly, and I forced myself to nod back before stepping into the elevator that ran straight to the chairwoman's office.

When the doors slid open, I stepped into a long corridor lined on both sides with photos of the two of us.

Each one captured a different memory from the years we'd spent traveling together.

We were smiling in every photo. Now those photos felt like knives, each one twisting deeper into my heart.

I walked the length of it and came to her private office.

On her desk sat cartoon figurines made to look like the two of us.

When I came in, she was holding the one that looked like me.

She always said she couldn't bear to put it down. On the days I was away on business, she liked to keep it in her hand.

"Honey!"

The moment she saw me she jumped up, her face lighting up as she hurried toward me.

She practically threw herself into my arms, clinging to me like a koala.

"You smell so good. I've missed this." She leaned against me and took a deep breath, as if she wanted to memorize my scent.

My heart clenched. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed she was capable of betraying me.

"Carry me to the room in back." Her eyes were half-lidded, her voice soft and teasing.

Every time I came home from a trip, she couldn't wait to have me all to herself.

I used to be proud of it. I took it as proof of how much she loved and missed me.

But remembering the sight of Merlin carrying her into the bedroom the night before, my stomach lurched.

"Ugh…"

I crouched down and retched, and she rubbed my back gently, her eyes brimming with worry.

"What's wrong?"

"Did you eat something bad?"

"Didn't I arrange for a private doctor to travel with you?"

"I drank too much at a business dinner last night. My stomach's still off." I threw out an easy lie.

Gail hurried to get me some water and medicine, then personally cleaned out the trash can I'd just been sick into.

"Feeling any better?" She dabbed the sweat from my forehead. "You can skip those business dinners from now on. We don't have to curry favor with anyone."

I nodded, and she gave me a sulky look. "I'll let you off today, but once you're better you owe me. The whole time you were away I thought about you every single day."

"But you're still going to have to make it up to me in full, understand?"

"Ms. Mason." I sat up straight and looked at her.

"Ms. Mason? Did going away change you somehow? Getting bold and wanting to play a little game with me?"

She watched me, smiling. "I like it."

"Ms. Mason, I want to resign."

She reached out and touched my forehead. "No fever. Did you get possessed last night?"

"Are you unhappy with the position I gave you?"

"If you want it, the chairman's seat is yours anytime."

She'd offered to make me chairman more than once, and she meant it.

Which was why it was even harder to believe the woman standing in front of me had betrayed me.

"Ms. Mason, I'm tired. I want to take some time to rest."

"That's my fault." Gail stroked my head. "But you don't need to resign. Rest if you want to, for as long as you want."

"I want to feel what it's like to have no job, that kind of freedom." I looked at her. "The kind of freedom that comes with walking away from a job altogether."