---- Over thirty messages from Elena had come in on WhatsApp. The last one was a five-minute voice note. "Finn, I went to your house but you weren't there... Did you go to her? You told me you didn't love her... After everything we've been through, are you really going to throw it all away for a woman who lied to you? You said you wanted me back. Now I'm here..." Finn closed his eyes, an unfamiliar irritation rising in him. Elena's tearful pleading just grated on his nerves. He turned the phone off. He walked to the window and looked out over the Boston skyline. He suddenly remembered something from three years ago. When Victoria had just married him, she had asked him timidly, "What do you think of Boston? It's my hometown." ---- He'd been reading a file. "New York is much better," he'd said without looking up. Victoria never mentioned Boston again. The next day, the legal media exploded. SHOCKING REVELATION: NEW YORK'S' UNDEFEATED' FINN CROSS AND BOSTON'S 'QUEEN' VICKY WERE HUSBAND AND WIFE! The article was accompanied by the photo of them in the courthouse corridor-Victoria, cold as ice; Finn, his eyes a storm of conflict. The entire legal community was buzzing. 'So Vicky retired for three years to be Finn Cross's maid?» "Look at the expression on his face. Did he really marry a legal legend and not even know it?" 'Theard he had an old flame named Elena. Don't tell me Vicky was just a stand-in for three years. ---- The public opinion was a tidal wave of ridicule aimed at Finn. Through it all, Victoria refused every interview request. Late that night, Finn sat alone in a Boston whiskey bar, downing one glass after another. "Sir, you've had a lot to drink," the bartender said with concern. Finn didn't hear him. Through a drunken haze, he thought he saw Victoria sitting across from him, her expression soft with a concern that was now lost to him forever. He saw her lips move, but no sound came out-just the memory of her voice, a gentle echo in the noisy bar. He reached out to touch her, but his hand met only empty air. He finally understood. ---- The most precious person in his life was gone, and he was the one who had thrown her away.