Chapter 4

The elevator was out of service.

I took the stairs because the interview clock was running and I had nothing left to lose except the future Chloe had tried to erase.

Ryan followed me into the stairwell.

“Emma, stop.”

I kept moving.

“Daniel said I have twenty-seven minutes.”

“You are not meeting him.”

I turned on the landing. “You slept with my best friend.”

His face changed.

Chloe, two steps behind him, went pale.

Ryan’s thoughts erupted.

*It happened once.*

*It meant nothing.*

*I was angry because you missed the playoff game.*

He did not say any of it aloud.

That was the cruelty of hearing him: I knew exactly how little his excuses were worth.

“You brought her into our bedroom,” I said. “You let the entire city believe she was your girlfriend. You watched people call me a stalker, and you said nothing.”

“I was protecting you from the media.”

“No. You were protecting your single-star image.”

Chloe began to cry. “Emma, you’re twisting everything.”

I laughed once, without humor. “You answered my phone and tried to destroy my job.”

“I was scared that man would take advantage of you.”

“You were scared I would leave.”

Ryan stepped closer. “You already left.”

“I came back.”

“For one night.”

“I came back for good.”

The words landed between us.

His hand loosened around my wrist, but he did not let go.

*She gave up everything.*

*She was really staying.*

His face flickered with something almost like regret.

Then Chloe whispered, “She is only saying that because she got caught meeting her boss.”

Ryan’s expression shut again.

That was all it took.

One sentence from her could erase every truth from me.

I yanked my wrist back. “Move.”

He blocked the stairs.

“Not until you tell me what Daniel Brooks offered you.”

“A job I earned.”

“An apartment.”

“Company housing.”

“And what does he get?”

I stared at him.

His thoughts begged, *Tell me no one else can have you.*

His voice cut me open.

“Did you spend seven years pretending to be loyal while waiting for a richer man to make an offer?”

Something inside me went quiet.

Not broken.

Finished.

I stepped around him.

Ryan grabbed my arm again. Harder this time.

“Emma, I said stop.”

“You don’t own me.”

His fingers tightened instinctively.

I pulled.

My heel caught the edge of the step.

For one suspended second, I saw Ryan’s eyes widen.

Then the stairwell turned sideways.

My shoulder struck the railing. My ribs hit the concrete landing. The back of my head slammed against the wall.

Pain exploded through me so violently that I could not breathe.

Ryan froze above me.

Chloe screamed.

Blood slid warm behind my ear.

I tried to move and could not.

Ryan came down the stairs too fast, nearly falling himself. He dropped beside me, his hands hovering over my body.

“Emma.”

His voice was not cold anymore.

Inside his head, panic tore through every wall.

*Get up.*

*Please get up.*

*I didn’t mean it.*

*I only wanted you to choose me.*

I wanted to tell him that love was not supposed to feel like surviving a hostage situation.

No sound came out.

Somewhere far away, Chloe was calling emergency services.

Ryan reached for my face.

His fingers shook.

*If you don’t love me, I would rather die.*

The thought hit me the way it had a hundred times before.

Once, it would have made me forgive him.

Now I looked at his terrified face and felt nothing but exhaustion.

He touched my cheek.

And something changed.