Chapter 5 Craig waited a day and night, calling endlessly, but I never responded. Instead, he received the contract that destroyed the Moore Group, stained with my parents' blood. The terms were brutal, causing a cold sweat to break out. My parents had 24 hours to raise 500 million dollars, or lose their core technology and assets. For Craig, it was just a number. For the recovering Moore Group, it was impossible. My signature marked the agreement, and the counterparty bore the Kennedy Group's seal. Craig didn't recall ever authorizing such a document. He'd hindered the Moore Group but always aimed to help them recover. In time, they'd have thrived. He had no idea what had gone wrong. "The Moore assets are liquidated, their company dissolved," a subordinate reported. "Find her!" Craig's fingers crumbled the contract. "Whatever it takes, bring Michele back." He rushed upstairs, hoping I'd be hiding as I once did, but my room was empty, save for my phone on the table. His voicemails became a silent mockery. I'd vanished from his world. He searched everywhere. By dawn, word came that I'd been spotted at the airport. Craig raced there, disheveled, chasing my plane as it took off. From above, I saw his broken and frantic frame, but my heart was ash "Craig Kennedy, farewell," I muttered. "I will not see you again." The plane faded into the horizon. Craig stumbled, a metallic taste rising in his throat. He looked down and saw blood on the ground. "What's this?" "We'll clean it. The lady who just boarded left it," an airport worker said. Bystanders whispered, "Artists are unstable. She must've been performing, walking with bloody feet." Craig's ears rang. He stared at the fading bloodstains, dazed. "No, it can't be, Mervin, tell me this isn't real. She didn't bring anything. Her passport is at home. How could she leave?" His grin was uglier than crying. 1/3 Chapter 5 +25 Bonus "I've looked into it," Mervin replied. "Mrs. Kennedy left with her professor through a special talent channel. Her documents were expedited." Craig's strength drained, and he looked blankly at the sky until Mervin dragged him back to the estate. He sat, motionless, for a day and night. Forgotten memories, vivid as flowers at dusk, flooded back. The day before I was sent to his bed, I'd shown him my Florence Art School acceptance, bubbling with excitement. We'd planned our future. I'd study abroad, and he'd build his empire here. When I succeeded, he'd throw me a grand wedding. I was radiant then, my future bright, even without the Moore name or his ring. He'd been proud to be loved by someone so remarkable. But the next morning, he had woken up beside me, his world shattering as he recalled the wine I had given him. "I never loved anyone else," he murmured. "Even after what she did, I only love her. I just couldn't get over it. Why did I love her so much when she didn't love me at all? If she'd said one word, I'd have given her the Kennedy empire. But she..." He paused and continued, "I brought those women home to see her yield and hear her say she loved me. I didn't care if it was a lie. When she screamed, demanding my love, I thought, 'Why should she get it when she betrayed me?"" He sat on the sofa, as still as a statue. Only his lips moved, constantly shifting. The pain inside him couldn't find any outlet. It piled up, layer after layer, like boiling oil on his soul. "Why did she leave? Why didn't you stop her? I told you to give her the coat, not let her go," he muttered, trembling. He was the one who had told me to leave, but he couldn't face it. Mervin laid it bare. "Sir, you drove her away." 11 "No! She begged me not to divorce her days ago. How could I?" Craig retorted, yanking open a drawer. He pulled out stacks of divorce agreements I'd refused, as if they proved my love. Mervin slid the contract back. "Those women, using your name, forced Michele to sign this right here. She called you 99 times for help. Lucia said you were busy. Mrs. Kennedy waited 24 hours until the contract took effect. The Moore Group collapsed. Her parents, unable to bear it, jumped to their deaths. Right before you walked in with Lucia, she signed their cremation papers." 2/3