His eyes burned. “I loved her.”
“I know.”
That hurt him more than anger could.
We returned before anyone noticed.
Celeste had grown reckless. She cornered my chief financial officer and announced that Vanessa would soon control the family foundation. Gerald told a bank director that my removal was “already assured.” Vanessa ordered the photographer to capture her beside the company’s founding portrait, calling it “the first image of the new era.”
Then she approached me.
“You should leave before the dancing starts,” she said. “Stress isn’t good for confused men.”
I lowered my voice. “How long have you been planning this?”
Her expression flickered, then hardened.
“Long enough to know Ethan inherited your weakness.”
“And if the court rejects your petition?”