“I came to tell you a thing or two about your husband.”
My short nails bit into my palms as I tried to maintain a smiling face for the customers around us. “Leave.”
He shifted in his seat, scooting forward. “I met him while we were still in love. You and I… He paid me to break up with you, Rose. He was too insistent, he wouldn’t let me turn him down. I was afraid of what he’d do to me. If I had known he would force you to marry him and play with you like this, I would have—”
With every word coming out of his mouth, I felt my body sway more. The world started to spin around me. My knees weakened, and I had to take the seat across from Joshua.
Once he was done speaking, there was no happiness left inside of me.
He paid me to break up with you.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jack
After we had wrapped up a long meeting with an old client who was considering selling his company, I was still in the meeting room with Samantha and Fred trying to figure out the details when Cynthia walked in after a quick knock. I should’ve guessed it from the look on her face. I should’ve guessed my time was up and everything was about to come crashing down on me.
Rose walked in on the heels of my assistant before I could finish my thoughts, and there was nothing but heartbreak written all over her face. Something was really wrong. Was she feeling sick again? My mind ran with that possibility.
“I’m sorry to interrupt like this,” Rose started with a quiet sadness in her voice, her eyes on me. No one else in the room mattered. It was just us. “Can we talk?”
I jerked my head up and stood. “Please excuse me.” Fred and Samantha’s voices were nothing but a murmur in the background.
I counted every single step I took toward her—Rose, my wife. It took twelve steps in total. If I could have slowed time, I would have. I’d never turn it back, though. I’d never change any second of what we had together. Before I could reach her side, she turned around and walked out of the meeting room, pausing just outside the door.
Clenching my jaw, I moved to put my hand on the small of her back, out of habit and need.
Clearing her throat, she took a step away from me. She wasn’t here for our lunch. It killed me, seeing her like that, and that was when I knew why she’d come. Knowing I was responsible for it, knowing I’d done that to her—it broke something inside of me.
My hand fell to my side, fingers forming a fist. I pushed both my hands in my pockets as she watched me so I wouldn’t feel the urge to reach out to her. “My office?” I asked into the loud silence between us.
She nodded and walked ahead of me as I followed.
Finally we made it to my office, and instead of taking a seat, she grabbed her elbows and stood right in the middle of the room. Before I could turn around and close the door for some sense of privacy, Cynthia appeared in the doorway. Letting out a knowing breath, she looked at me and then to Rose.
“Can I get you anything, Mrs. Hawthorne?”
I wished I could’ve taken my eyes off of her, because maybe then I would’ve missed her flinch. She shook her head and her lips tipped up just for a second. “No. Thank you, Cynthia.”
The door closed and we were finally alone.
Her eyes met mine as I moved to stand in front of her. “You’re not here for lunch.”
“No.”
I braced myself. “I’m listening.”
There was that loud silence again as a few seconds passed and her shoulders drooped in defeat, her expression changing, crumpling in front of my eyes.
“Tell me it’s a lie, Jack. Tell me it’s a lie so I can breathe again.” Untangling her arms, she placed a fist on her heart as if trying to ease her pain.
I gritted my teeth, my hands clenching in my pockets. “You’re gonna have to be more specific.”
She dropped her hand from her chest and tipped her chin up, her eyes already shining with unshed tears. “Tell me you didn’t pay Joshua to break up with me. Tell me—” Her voice broke, causing physical pain in the middle of my chest. “Tell me you didn’t lie to me about