Page 24 of Discretion at Its Finest

Thiswasn’t the Gregory I held together.

Wasn’t the man I spent years steadying at home, pretending his collapse wasn’t swallowing us both… not the same one I sat beside during all those empty nights, defending when no one else would.

Ibuiltthat man. I helped him hold his head above water when all he could do was sink. I made sure he didn’t drown.

And now here he was… smiling like he’d never needed saving in the first place.

Laughing with a woman who hadn’t seen the man that slept beside me, the version of him that fell apart.

This didn’t feel like jealousy… or even betrayal. I was mostly… confused. I didn’t know what to think.

Suddenly, there was a presence behind me. I didn’t have to turn to know who it was.

“A woman on your fiancé’s arm, making him laugh while the board chews him alive, while I take his seat at the head table? She must be special.”

Reid’s voice came amused, almost casual, like we were observing a performance together.

Maybe we were. But I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing how broken everything felt, how it felt like things were crumbling before me.

“Of course you’d say something like that,” I muttered, adjusting Eugene in my arms and starting for the elevator.

To no one’s surprise, he followed.

“You’re still making excuses for him?”

“I’m not—” I snapped, before I caught myself. “It’s an office. They work together. He’s allowed to smile with a coworker.”

Reid let out a breath that was almost a laugh, but it wasn’t genuine. “Is he? After everything you’ve done for him? All those years playing the perfect fiancée to a man who couldn’t even keep his promises, let alone a company?” He leaned closer. “You deserve at least a glimpse of that smile… Maybe even a thank-you.”

I stared straight ahead, jaw locked.

“You’re not angry enough,” he added, voice dipping lower, more brutal.

The words followed me down the hall, sinking deeper than they should have.

Because he was right, I wasn’t angry. I was something worse:numb, waiting for something to make me feel again.

“You don’t know what I am,” I hissed, jamming my finger onto the elevator button.

“That’s what makes this sad. You’re still defending him.”

The elevator dinged. I stepped inside without looking at him, feeling his eyes watching my every movement.

He didn’t follow. He didn’t have to. We’d be seen together again soon enough. Boardrooms. Meetings. Whatever he deemed necessary to force me closer to him and drive me crazy. I watched the doors close, his dangerous eyes locked onto mine until the last second.

The public needed continuity. And Reid—

He needed control. And he was going to take it from me. Forcing me to be beside the man I betrayed. Smiling for the cameras. Smiling for the lie that the Newman family was going to be saved.

You’re not angry enough.

The words curled inside my chest. Unfortunately, they were true. I stared at myself in the reflection until the breath in my lungs stuttered.

I wasn’t angry or heartbroken.

I wastired.

Of performing. Of defending. Pretending this life was something I’d chosen willingly. Even if it was a life I chose to stay and build.