After the divorce, he begged

Rebecca froze. Jeffrey’s words hit her like a physical blow.

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“I’m sorry,” she said. Thinking back on her own sharp words, she felt a pang of guilt. She had been cruel.

“I don’t need your apology,” Jeffrey said, his eyes never leaving her. “I want you back. Just come back, and I’ll put up with anything. You could say the most hurtful things to me every single day, and I wouldn’t mind.”

A suffocating pressure tightened in her chest. Jeffrey’s love was all–consuming. His indulgence was absolute. And his cruelty was unforgiving.

The elevator doors slid open, and Jeffrey led her to his suite. An uncomfortable silence settled between them, and the air felt heavy.

Rebecca knew she wasn’t getting out of here anytime soon, so she might as well get some answers. “Why do you have to take care of Andrea for the rest of her life? What is this ‘debt‘ you owe her?”

“She saved my life,” Jeffrey stated simply.

He had planned to tell her this only after she agreed to come back to him. But her asking now felt like a crack in her defenses, a sign that she was starting to bend. If she was giving in, he wouldn’t hide the truth.

“She saved your life?” Rebecca looked up at him, unable to wrap her head around his logic. “So why not just give her a bunch of money, or help her get something she wants?

“Wouldn’t that be enough? Do you really have to move her in with you and support her for the rest of her life?”

Jeffrey’s lips pressed into a hard line. A storm of emotions was swirling in his eyes. “I promised I’d take care of her,” he said.

Rebecca just didn’t get it. ‘A promise, she thought bitterly. ‘Always a promise.

“Why are you so obsessed with this promise?” For the very first time, she pushed him, not caring how he might react.

In the past, Rebecca would have dropped the subject, knowing Jeffrey hated talking about it. But now that everything was out in the open, she was determined to get real answers.

Rebecca believed everyone had the right to keep secrets. But when a secret was big enough to poison a relationship, it had to be brought into the light.

Jeffrey didn’t say a word. When it came to the past, his lips were always sealed.

tell me everything,” Rebecca said, giving him one last chance to have

and his voice dropped. Before she could speak, he asked, “Can’t you just

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everything you’ve

answered without

you kept telling me you loved me, you could destroy my pride, stomp all over

her throat. The suffocating weight she’d felt before became a sharp, stabbing

in her chest.

The words were meant to wound him, but they cut her just as deeply. “I can be open about my

for him. She saw that photo in

being pitied. He had built such high walls around himself, sealing the past

a breath, forcing all the warmth from her voice. “We’re really not

“Never,” he said.

lips into a hard line, her heart sinking. She knew, with crushing certainty, that it was useless to reason with him. Once Jeffrey decided

emotions, his voice flat

and left without another

mistakes, give her a genuine explanation, apologize, and promise to change, maybe she could start to let go of the

it was a fantasy. Jeffrey refused to let her in and wouldn’t tell

bolted out and ran smack into someone. “Oh god,

her back. She had her back to the elevator just now. “What’s the

the voice. “Ella? What are you still doing here?” she asked, grabbing Rebecca’s arm to make

back,” Stella said, letting go of her back and explaining. “I figured she’d start grilling you if you came back alone, so I thought I’d wait for you. We can go

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knew that if they both showed up late, Faye would think they were out having a good time. But

Ella. Really,”

friends are for.” Ella waved it off as they started walking to their suite.

in circles,” Rebecca said, keeping it vague. Jessica