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.

closed the door

James's veiled threats, and how

watched Martins' expression grow more serious with every word, and when he finally spoke,

he said, leaning forward. "If this network is as powerful as it sounds, we're not just dealing

down my spine. Systemic. I'd known it was

up against more than just James or Susan. We were up against

where do we start?" I asked, trying

Richard before answering. "We need to know who else in your circle might be compromised. Someone close enough to feed information to the network, but trusted enough that you wouldn't suspect them. Someone like..." His voice trailed off, but we all knew

a friend. Or a business partner. Or even

stomach twist, realizing just how many people that included. Richard's company was built on trust, on connections

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

asked, leaning forward. "We can't just go around

monitor them. Set a few traps, see who takes the bait. And in the meantime, I'll reach out to some of my contacts, and see what I

start, but I knew we'd have to be careful. One

anyone," he said quietly. "Not until we know for sure who's

truth settle over me. We were in this together, but we were also alone. It was a strange,

under the guise of casual conversations, trying

Susan, piecing together anything that might help us identify

scarce-whatever this network

we thought we were making progress,

was late evening when I received the message, a single line from Jason: "Someone tipped them