A hot, suffocating ache climbed my throat, tasting like ash. I had spent my entire career as a forensic accountant, tracing stolen money through labyrinths of corporate lies.

Now the most devastating trail I had ever audited led directly through my marriage bed, straight into my childhood home, implicating every person who had ever called my loyalty a weakness.

I closed my eyes, let the pain wash over me, and then locked it away.

“Send everything to the forensic auditor,” I said, my voice steady. “I want a certified report on my desk by tomorrow morning.”

By noon the next day, Adrian realized the walls were closing in. He dispatched his senior partner, Cole, to the hospital to negotiate a surrender.

Cole met Mara in the cafeteria, looking nervous and uncomfortable in his expensive suit. He’d always been Adrian’s lapdog.