Divorce to Destiny: Reclaiming My CEO Husband by Anney GW

507 Generational Shadows

(Cass)

The smell of mildew hits me the moment I open the door to my tiny apartment. My stomach churns as I step inside, taking in the chaos left behind. Furniture overturned, drawers yanked open, and everything I once owned strewn across the floor like a crime scene. I should clean this place up and sell it. But letting it go is harder than I imagined. It's what I bought with money from Mom, to start my new life. To be the person she always believed I'd be.

That worked well, didn't it?

I drag myself out of the downward funk, this time I'll make good.

I swallow hard, gripping the strap of my duffel bag. It's been months since I fled this place, running from my own disasters. Part of me wonders why I came back at all.

But I know it's because it's all I have left of Mom-her money barely stretched far enough to buy this shoebox, but it was something of my own. My tiny sanctuary.

I drop my bag on the only chair still upright and let out a shaky breath. "Okay, Cass," I mutter to myself. "Let's get started."

I grab a garbage bag from under the sink and start with the broken picture frame on the floor. It's one of the few pictures I printed of Mom-us on the beach, her smile so bright it felt like sunlight even on bad days. The glass is cracked, but the photo is intact. Small mercies. I place it in my duffel bag.

As I toss shards of glass into the bag, a noise freezes me in place.

The door creaking open.

I straighten slowly, my heart hammering. Who can that be?

Footsteps.

I duck behind the couch, my pulse roaring in my ears. After my last time here, I'm not taking any chances.

footsteps get closer, then stop just a few feet away. I

set of footsteps...heavier footsteps. I'm not chancing looking in case they

male says, his voice low and gravelly. "This place is beneath

meet you without anyone watching," she says, her Cuban accent more pronounced

me. I've already had to activate several contingencies. My

forgive

forgive you, you'd

who is this guy? The

he says, his tone softening like a predator lulling its prey. "You may not have realized it, but everything I've done has been for our family. For you. My empire is your legacy."

grandfather? Gabriel's grandfather? The man who

is," he says smoothly. "I've changed thousands of lives,

"But people die too."

as naïve as

think the world

the only ones who can have money and power. No. I've built this for our family. My own daughter disowns me. You, Mia, you are the only one who understands me. You are the one I love. The one I

stop them

a

by his mother's

it

this world. But you... you're different.

against you, leading

is how we lay low for a while. I disappear. You make people trust you again.

trembles. "I don't

Gabriel and his siblings. They'll underestimate you, as they always have. Use that