The comments were brutal.
Aaron didn’t stop any of it.
In fact, Daniel told me, he laughed when someone showed him the post.
Jasmine sat beside him in his office.
Wearing a white dress that looked suspiciously like one I’d once bought for her.
She crossed her legs.
“Do you think she’ll come back?”
Aaron leaned back in his chair.
“She always does.”
Jasmine smiled.
“You sound very sure.”
“I am.”
He picked up his phone.
No messages from me.
No calls.
Nothing.
His smile faltered slightly.
“She’ll cool down.”
Jasmine reached across the desk and touched his wrist.
“You deserve someone who understands your world.”
Aaron looked at her.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then his phone rang.
The caller ID made his face change.
“Who is it?” Jasmine asked.
Aaron didn’t answer.
He stood.
“Excuse me.”
He walked into the adjoining conference room and shut the door.
Then answered.
“Hello?”
The voice on the other end said only one sentence.
Aaron’s face went pale.
“What?”
A pause.
“You’re certain?”
Another pause.
His hand tightened around the phone.
“No.”
He shook his head.
“That can’t be right.”
The caller said something else.
Aaron slowly sat down.
“What do you mean the ownership records changed?”
Silence.
Then Aaron whispered:
“Who authorized it?”
The answer came.
His blood ran cold.
Because the signature wasn’t forged.
It was real.
And it belonged to Alyssa.
That evening, I arrived at my family’s estate.
My father was waiting in the library.For illustrative purposes only
Standing by the fireplace with a glass of untouched whiskey.
He looked older than he had that morning.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
When I walked in, he didn’t ask if I was okay.
He just said:
“You finally stopped choosing him.”
I looked at him.
“I thought I was choosing love.”
My father sighed.
“No, sweetheart.”
He stepped toward me.
“You were choosing a man you hoped would eventually become worthy of your love.”
That sentence cracked something open in me.
I looked away.
“I gave him everything.”
“I know.”
“I gave him the money.”
“I know.”
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