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.

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

we finally stood in front of James in his sterile, dimly lit office,

the moment he saw us, but I could see a flicker of something else in

drawled, leaning back in his chair, trying

didn't flinch, meeting his gaze head-on. "We know about your debts, James. The network must have you under quite

think a few debts are enough to make me flip sides? You clearly don't know who you're dealing with."

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 I could

his allies. It was a small

just walk in here and make demands?" he shot back, his voice a bit too forced. "What, you think I'll betray them because of a

The people you're trying to protect while you play these games? Do they know what kind of danger

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

ruin us," I shot back. "This doesn't have to end with everyone getting hurt. We all want out of this mess. You, me, Richard.

as he looked between the two of us, weighing his options. I could see

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

the debts or the threats-they care about control. And once they have

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

"If we don't try, we're all done for. You said it yourself-they

looked between us again, 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 they might already