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

Chapter 91

Sarah's pov.

The air in the car was thick as Richard drove us toward the meeting spot. I sat there, fiddling with the cuff of my sleeve, trying to keep my breathing steady, trying to look like I wasn't on the edge of running. I glanced at Richard, his jaw tight, his hands gripping the steering wheel a little too hard.

He caught my gaze and softened, giving me a slight smile that was supposed to be comforting.

But there was nothing comforting about this. Not when we were about to walk into a room with James and a few of his "network contacts."

Just saying the word made my stomach twist. And James... Well, trusting him felt like trying to trust a snake. You just couldn't be sure he wouldn't bite.

"So, are you ready?" Richard asked, his voice low and calm. Too calm. He knew this was a big risk-maybe even our biggest so far.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I replied, trying to sound steady. But my mind was spinning. I knew we had no choice but to work with James.

He had the connections, the leverage, and-if he actually followed through-the key to finally getting out of this mess.

But I also knew we were playing a dangerous game, and one wrong move would send everything spiraling.

I forced myself to breathe, in and out, in and out. For Richard's sake, I tried to look calm, or at least not terrified. He needed to think I was handling this, that I was strong, and capable. We'd been through so much, come so far. If he saw any crack in my armor, it might just break him too.

So I straightened up, met his eyes, and gave him what I hoped looked like a reassuring smile.

"Let's get this over with," I muttered, my voice barely above a whisper.

When we arrived, James was already waiting inside, lounging on a worn-out leather couch like he hadn't a single care in the world.

Seeing him there, smirking, made my skin crawl.

up," he said, glancing between Richard and me. "Was

No way was I going to give him the satisfaction of seeing

my voice colder than I felt. "We're here to talk, not to

I'm just getting a feel for the

shot a quick look at Richard. "You two look tense. But I get it. This isn't exactly friendly

happen, or are we just wasting our time?" James shrugged, still wearing that lazy smirk. "It depends," he said slowly,

secrets they kept. And yet

him. "We don't have time for

thought he might push back,

nodded, all business now. "Fine. Follow me. I've set up a little meet-and-greet. Just... don't do

a quick look. This was it-the moment we'd been dreading and hoping

feeling that every step we took was just digging us in deeper, but

behind James, I

narrowed slightly

he carried it in his shoulders, in the tight

And yet, a part of me couldn't shake the feeling that there was still more

paranoia, the stress of everything piling up, but... I couldn't help wondering. There were pieces of Richard's past

there were times

giving us a smug grin.

myself to stay calm, to not let him see how much he

pooling in the corners. Three men sat at a

looked like the type who'd seen it all,

Richard," James said, motioning to the men.

in greeting, but

his cheek, spoke first. "So, you're the ones James keeps talking about." His voice was low, gravelly,