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.

to talk, really talk, then you have to tell me everything,” Rebecca said, giving him one last chance to have a real

stuff before.” The look in Jeffrey’s eyes changed, and his voice dropped. Before she could speak, he asked, “Can’t you just be with

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I could,” Rebecca said, feeling suffocated by frustration. “But after everything you’ve done, everything you’ve

without a shred

long as you kept telling me you loved

caught in her throat. The suffocating weight she’d felt

in her chest.

words were meant to wound him, but they

spite of it all, a part of her still ached for him. She saw that photo in her mind again:

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

forcing all the warmth from her voice. “We’re really not right for each other. Can’t we just

“Never,” he said.

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

and get some rest,” Jeffrey said, burying his emotions, his voice flat and calm. “You have

left without another

hoped they could sort things out. If he could just admit to his mistakes, give her a genuine explanation, apologize, and promise to change,

wouldn’t tell her the truth. There was

eighteenth floor. Rebecca bolted out and ran smack into someone. “Oh god, I’m so sorry,” she said, not even looking to see who it

me,” Ella yelped, rubbing her back. She had her back to the elevator just now. “What’s

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

“I figured she’d start grilling you if you came back alone, so I thought I’d wait for you. We

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good time. But if Rebecca came back by herself, Faye would be

Ella. Really,”

started walking to their suite. “Seriously though, what was with

Rebecca said, keeping it vague. Jessica