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.

was a strength in him I hadn't seen before-a fierceness that made me feel like, maybe we'd come out of this

in his sterile, dimly lit

I could see a flicker of something else in his eyes-a

here?" he drawled, leaning back in

The network must have you under quite a bit of pressure,

covered it up with a laugh. "You think a few debts are enough to make me flip sides? You clearly don't

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 wavered. His fingers drummed against the desk, and

possibility of turning on his allies. It was a small crack, but it

his voice a bit too forced. "What,

him. "What about your family, James? The people you're trying to protect while you play

dropped. His hands clenched into fists on the desk. "Leave them out of this," he

to end with everyone getting hurt. We all want out of this mess. You, me, Richard. We all stand

silence as he looked between the two of us, weighing his options. I could see it-he was scared, desperate, and struggling to keep up the

had its claws in him, but he was just as trapped as we were. For a moment, I almost felt a pang of sympathy for him.

he spoke, his voice softer than I'd ever heard it. "They don't

away from something like this? They don't care about the debts

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

said it yourself-they won't let anyone go. But if

wanted out just as badly as we did, but he was afraid-afraid of what the network might do