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

Chapter 97

Sarah's

pov.

The past few weeks had pushed me further than I ever thought I could go.

Sitting in the dimly lit room with Richard beside me, a file of secrets splayed across the table, I felt something strange-a calm I hadn't felt in ages. Maybe it was because, for the first time, we were moving as one. Whatever came next, we'd face it together.

James hovered at the edge of the room, his presence reminding me of how far we'd come, how we'd gone from fearing him to needing his help.

I still didn't trust him fully, but in this fight, he was an essential piece. He'd been our link to the network, revealing things we'd never have known otherwise.

"Here it is," James said, pointing to a creased map on the table. "They keep their ledger, the core of their operations, here." His finger rested on a small, out-of-the-way warehouse marked on the map. Richard leaned over, studying it with narrowed eyes. "So all their dirty dealings, the whole network's transactions... it's all stored in this one place?"

James nodded. "They think no one would dare go near it. But they don't know you're desperate enough to try."

I swallowed hard, my fingers running over the edges of the papers in front of me. This was it.

This ledger was the key, the Achilles' heel of the network. If we could get our hands on it, we could bring the whole operation down.

But the reality of what we were planning hit me. "And once we have it?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. "They'll come after us, won't they?" Richard looked at me, his hand finding mine under the table. His touch was warm, steady, grounding me. "Yes," he said simply.

be ready for them. This is our chance, Sarah.

so much, and yet, here we were, willing

"Tomorrow night," he said, packing

he was gone, it was just me and Richard again. Silence settled around us, thick with unspoken fears and thoughts. I looked at him, studying the lines on his face, the slight furrow in his brow. There was a strength in him now that hadn't been there before, a determination

I asked, not sure if I wanted him to say yes or

let out a soft chuckle. "More than I'd like to admit. But I'm more scared of what'll happen if we don't

too-terrified, actually. But deep down, I knew this

couldn't sleep. My mind kept spinning,

here, the times we'd fought, the times we'd nearly broken apart. I realized something: despite everything, Richard and I were still

I whispered in

he murmured, turning

make it through this,

his voice was quiet, there was a certainty in it that made me believe him. "We'll get through

as dusk approached, we prepared ourselves. I checked the contents of my bag a dozen times, my hands shaking despite my best efforts to keep calm. This was happening. We were really doing this. Richard watched me, his gaze soft but serious. "You

eyes. There was no turning back now. We left, heading toward the warehouse with nothing but the clothes on

arrived, the building loomed in front of us, dark and silent. James had been waiting, hidden in the shadows, his face barely visible in the dim

he

stale, and every step we took seemed to echo through

he murmured, pulling out a small set of

edge. As the lock clicked open, a rush of adrenaline shot through me.

ledger. A thick, leather-bound book that seemed to hold all the answers, all the secrets we'd been searching for. Richard picked it up, his hands steady but his expression grim. "This