Winning Back His Ex's Wife's Broken Heart by Hayley

Chapter 89

Sarah's

pov.

As I sat across from Richard, a new resolve had settled over us both. We'd been dancing around these shadows for so long, pretending we could handle things on our own, that maybe the other didn't need to know. But I could see now how much I'd held back, and how much he'd hidden. If we were going to get through this, we'd have to trust each other completely. "Alright," I said, breaking the silence between us, "so what's the plan?"

Richard looked at me, his expression a mix of determination and something like relief. "First, we get Martins involved," he replied.

"He knows enough about this kind of work, and we need someone on our side who understands the law, someone who can move quietly and quickly."

I nodded, feeling a little weight lift. Martins was someone I trusted too. A practical thinker, level-headed, someone who wouldn't get rattled easily. If anyone could help us, it'd be him.

"When do we meet him?" I asked, already calculating how much time we had left before the network moved again. Every day seemed to draw them closer, and the sense of urgency was pressing down like a vise. "Tomorrow morning," Richard said. "He'll want to meet somewhere quiet, somewhere safe. Maybe at his lake house-it's isolated, and no one would think to look there."

I agreed, and we sat in silence for a moment. It was strange, the way things had shifted. For so long, I'd thought I was protecting Richard by keeping him out of my investigations, and he had probably felt the same. But now, here we were, forced to rely on each other. And somehow, it felt... right.

The next morning, as we drove to Martins' place, I found myself lost in thought. I couldn't shake the unease that came with knowing just how deep these ties went.

How many others were in it? How many people had known all along, maybe even helped James and Susan keep us in the dark?

When we arrived, Martins was waiting by the door, his face calm but alert. He looked at us, nodding as we stepped inside.

the door behind us. "Tell me what's going

the network, about James's veiled threats, and how

with every word, and when he finally spoke, his voice was laced with

lightly," he said, leaning forward. "If this network is as powerful as it sounds, we're not just dealing with a few disgruntled business contacts. We're talking

Systemic. I'd known it was bigger than us, but the reality of that word hit

meant we were up against more than just James or Susan. We were up against a whole system of people who'd built their lives on

I asked, trying

enough to feed information to the network, but trusted enough that you wouldn't suspect

business partner.

included. Richard's

of them could be the leak. And here I was, thinking it was just James or Susan

do that?" I asked, leaning forward. "We can't just go around accusing people.

the bait. And in the

knew we'd have to be careful. One wrong move, and the

Richard looked over at me. "We can't trust anyone," he said quietly. "Not until we know for sure who's on

weight of that truth settle over me. We were in this together, but we were also alone. It was a strange, unsettling feeling, knowing that anyone could be

next few days, Richard began reaching out to his contacts under the guise of casual conversations, trying to gauge who

and Susan, piecing together anything that might help us

but the information was scarce-whatever this network

we were making progress,

late evening when I received the message, a single line from Jason: "Someone tipped them off. They know what you're