---- Chapter 12 Cash POV: It was her. After a year of chasing shadows across continents, she was finally here, standing under the dim glow of a New York streetlamp. She was more beautiful than | remembered, but different. Sharper. Colder. The warmth that had once radiated from her was gone, replaced by a polished, impenetrable sheen. She looked at me not with hatred, but with a terrifyingly blank indifference, as if | were a stranger, a piece of furniture in her path. "Eliza," | breathed, my voice hoarse. | took a step toward her, my legs unsteady. "Don't," she said, her voice like ice. "Get out of my way." | couldn't. | reached for her, my fingers closing around her wrist. Her skin was cold. "Please," | begged. "Just talk to me. Let me explain." My eyes fell to her left hand. A simple, elegant diamond band glinted on her ring finger. The air left my lungs in a painful rush. "You're... married?" The words felt like shards of glass in my mouth. ---- A slow, cruel smile touched her lips. She angled her hand, making the diamond catch the light. "| am," she said, her voice smooth as silk. "No," | said, shaking my head, a frantic denial bubbling in my chest. "You can't be. We're not... we never got divorced." She laughed, a sound utterly devoid of humor. "You and | were never married, Cash. You and Catherine are. Or did you forget about your actual wife in your globe-trotting quest to find your mistress?" The words hit me like a physical blow. | recoiled, my hand falling from her wrist. "My husband is coming to pick me up," she said, her voice dripping with condescension. "I'd appreciate it if you weren't here when he arrives." Just then, a cherry-red Ferrari pulled up to the curb. Dane Wells got out. He walked over to Eliza and slid his arm around her waist, pulling her flush against his side. He looked at me, a triumphant smirk playing on his lips. "Cash," he said, his voice oozing false cordiality. "Good to see you, old friend. You must come to the wedding. We haven't sent out the invites yet, but I'll make sure you get one." He leaned down and kissed Eliza's temple. "Ready to go, darling?" The world spun. Dane and Eliza. My best friend and the love of ---- my life. It was a betrayal so profound, so absolute, that | couldn't even process it. | watched them get into the car and drive away, leaving me alone on the sidewalk, drowning in the ruins of my own making. Eliza POV: The moment we were out of Cash's sight, | pushed Dane away. "What the hell was that?" | demanded. "That," he said, not taking his eyes off the road, "was the first crack in his foundation. He needed to see you happy. He needed to see you with me. A man in love is irrational. A man in love and consumed by jealousy is a fool. And fools make mistakes." He was right. It was a calculated, cruel move. And it was exactly what we needed. "I'm flying back to Hong Kong tomorrow," he said. "The deal is entering its final phase. | need you there." A knot of anxiety tightened in my stomach. Hong Kong. The city where the Robinsons reigned. The city full of ghosts. "The board meeting is in two weeks," he continued. "That's when we make our move." There was no turning back. | had come this far. | would see it through to the end. ---- When | landed in Hong Kong, | didn't go to a hotel. Dane had arranged a private suite for me, a war room overlooking the glittering harbor. For two weeks, | barely slept. | lived on coffee and adrenaline, poring over financial reports, shareholder lists, and legal documents. "The news of the sanctions is about to leak," Dane said during one of our late-night strategy sessions. "The stock is going to plummet. But not enough. We need to hit them harder." "Their new energy patent," | said, my mind racing. "It's their crown jewel. But | found a loophole in their international filing. A technicality. If we challenge it, we can tie it up in litigation for years. It will spook the investors. The stock will nosedive." Dane looked at me, a new respect in his eyes. "And Catherine," | continued, my voice turning to ice. "She's their link to the Yang money. We need to break that alliance. We need to use her child." "Eliza..." Dane started, a hint of caution in his voice. "This is not the time to get soft, Dane," | snapped. "You wanted to burn their world down. Fire is not selective. It burns everything." He stared at me for a long moment, then a slow grin spread across his face. "You know," he said, "I think I'm starting to fall in love with you." "Don't," | said coldly. "Love is a liability | can no longer afford." ---- The girl who believed in love was dead and buried, along with her mother. "| have one more piece of ammunition for you, then," he said, his tone turning serious. "Something I've been holding onto. Catherine's baby. It's not Cash's. | stared at him, stunned into silence. "| had a DNA test done," he explained. "The real father is some polo player she had a fling with. Cash is so wrapped up in his own drama, he never even questioned it." This was it. The kill shot. A weapon so devastating, so personal, it could obliterate them all. "Hold onto it," | said, my mind already calculating, strategizing. "We'll use it when it will cause the most damage." The next day, we filed the legal challenge to the patent. As predicted, panic ensued. The Robinson stock cratered. Dane, through a series of shell corporations, began buying up a controlling interest. Cash flew back to Hong Kong, a man possessed. He launched a series of reckless, vindictive attacks against Wells Enterprises, so blinded by his jealousy of Dane that he couldn't see the real threat. He was accelerating his own demise. The board was in an uproar. Alton Thornton, his face a grim, stony mask, had to personally intervene to stop the ---- hemorrhaging. He summoned Cash to his office. "Is this because of that girl?" Alton roared, his voice echoing through the halls. "Are you willing to sacrifice this entire company, everything | have built, for a housekeeper's daughter?" He slapped Cash across the face, the sound sharp and brutal. Cash just stood there and took it. He admitted it. He was doing it all for me. As Alton clutched his chest, his face turning a dark shade of red, Cash's phone rang. It was the hospital. Catherine's son, the premature baby who had spent the first few months of his life in an incubator, was sick. A high fever. Cash ran out of the office, leaving his father sputtering with rage. Alton Thornton stood by the window, watching his son's car speed away. His eyes were cold and hard as granite. He knew, then, that there was only one way to get his son back. He had to get rid of me. Permanently.