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

Chapter 90

Sarah's

Pov.

The air was tense as Richard and I sat across from each other, planning our next move. The betrayal had stung, and we were still reeling from it, but there was a spark of determination in Richard's eyes that hadn't been there before. It was like he'd woken up and remembered he had something-someone-worth fighting for.

"Sarah," he said quietly, "I think we need to confront James. There has to be something he's hiding, for some reason he's working with the network. If we can find it, maybe we can turn him."

I nodded, but doubt clawed at me. I wasn't exactly keen on seeing James again after his threats. But if there was even a chance he'd fold under pressure, we needed to take it.

"How do we get to him?" I asked. "He's always so... guarded. I mean, we've tried before."

Richard leaned forward, his voice low. "Martins did some digging. James has been in a bad spot financially-nothing obvious, but his businesses are tied up in a lot of debt. If we can use that against him..." The pieces clicked. "We find his weakness, put pressure where it hurts."

Richard nodded. "Exactly."

The next morning, we set up the meeting. I couldn't help feeling that strange mixture of dread and anticipation.

James had tried to intimidate me before, and now we were flipping the tables. But as much as I tried to focus on the plan, my mind kept drifting to Richard.

hadn't seen before-a fierceness that made me feel like, maybe

in his sterile, dimly lit office, the tension was

face twisted into a smirk the moment he saw us, but I could see a flicker of

have here?" he drawled, leaning back in his chair,

must have you under quite a bit of pressure, or you wouldn't

smirk on his face faltered just slightly, but he covered it up with a laugh. "You think a few debts are enough to make me flip sides? You clearly don't know who you're dealing with." Richard stepped forward, his tone as

exactly who we're dealing with. You've always been in this for yourself, haven't you? And now, they've got you under their thumb. How long do you think you can keep this up before they crush you?" For the first time, James's confidence

on his allies. It was a small crack,

and make demands?" he shot back, his voice

forward, feeling bolder than I ever had with him. "What about your family, James? The people you're trying to protect

and for a moment, the mask dropped. His hands clenched into fists on the

back. "This doesn't have to end with everyone getting hurt. We all want out of

his options. I

in him, but he was just as trapped as we were. For a moment, I almost felt

voice softer than I'd ever heard it. "They don't let people

this? They don't care about the debts or the threats-they care about control. And once they have

run through me, but I held his gaze. "So help us take them down. You're close to them-you know how they operate. If we work together, maybe we can find a way to end this, for all of us." James shook his head, looking almost defeated. "You don't know what you're asking. They don't play fair. If I cross

we don't try, we're all done for. You said

hesitating. I could see the conflict in his eyes. He wanted out just as badly as we did, but he was afraid-afraid of what the network might do to him, or maybe even what