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MY HUSBAND TOLD ME NOT TO COME TO HIS PARENTS' HOUSE FOR CHRISTMAS. "MY EX-WIFE WILL BE THERE," HE SAID. "MY PARENTS WANT MY DAUGHTER TO HAVE A COMPLETE CHRISTMAS." SO I SPENT CHRISTMAS EVE MY OWN WAY. BUT JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT, MY PHONE RANG. MY HUSBAND'S VOICE WAS TREMBLING... "WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?!" / Chapter 4 / 8

Chapter 4 - Boxing Day Ambush

The next morning, the doorbell rang persistently at 8:00 AM.

I opened it to find Daniel standing on my porch. His hair was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot, and his high-end wool coat wrinkled as if he’d slept in it on a jail cell floor. Gone was the arrogant, dismissive husband of two days ago. In his place stood a desperate man staring down total ruin.

"Claire, please," he stammered, stepping uninvited into the hallway. "You have to call the bank. You have to sign the extension. Dad had a mild angina attack last night—Mom is hysterical, and the police are investigating the corporate accounts. They think we did something wrong!"

"They think you did something wrong, Daniel," I corrected him, crossing my arms. "Or rather, your parents and your precious ex-wife."

"Vanessa was just trying to help Lily secure her future!" he blurted out, digging his own grave deeper. "My parents wanted to make sure Lily’s trust fund was safe from market volatility! It was just a temporary loan from the business accounts—"

"A two-million-dollar embezzlement scheme disguised as market volatility?" I cut him off, my voice sharp enough to draw blood. "And you signed off on it, didn't you? To keep Vanessa and your parents off your back, you risked my entire personal fortune without my consent."

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My hand froze inches from the cold steel of the Sig Sauer P226. Beneath the amber glow of the bedside lamp, the source of the warmth against my side wasn't an assassin, an operative from a rival syndicate, or a traitorous lieutenant.

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The silence in the master bedroom stretched so tight I could hear the slow, heavy drip of my own pulse in my ears. Dominic Rossi’s dark eyes locked onto mine, burning with a feverish intensity that should have sent me running back down the hallway and out into the rain

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Daniel froze. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. The realization that I knew every single detail hit him like a physical blow.

"Pack your things, Daniel," I said quietly, pointing toward the door. "Your complete Christmas is over. Now comes the reckoning."

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