---- Chapter 22 When Michael returned to the LA house after his charade of a honeymoon - a weekend at a local hotel Serena had insisted upon - he found it... empty. Not just empty of Liv. Empty of her essence. Her clothes were gone from the closets. Her books from the shelves. Her art supplies from the small studio she'd set up. Even the scent of her favorite jasmine tea was gone. It was as if she had been systematically erased from the space they had once shared. Panic, cold and sharp, began to claw at him. "She's just being dramatic," he muttered to himself, pacing the silent rooms. "She'll be back. She has to come back." His self-delusion was a fragile shield. Then his phone rang. It was Richard, his voice grim. "Michael, you need to come to the office. Now." "What is it? More investor trouble?" "It's worse than that, man. Way worse." At the Thorne Sustainable Tech office, a scene of quiet chaos greeted him. The few remaining key investors were there, their faces stony. "Michael," one of them, a man named Arthur Cole, a close ---- friend of Elizabeth Hayes, said without preamble. "We're pulling our funding. Effective immediately." "What? Why? We have contracts!" Michael sputtered. "Our contracts were predicated on certain... associations," Arthur said coolly. "Associations that no longer exist. Our loyalty was to Elizabeth Hayes, and by extension, to Olivia. Not to you, Michael. Not to this... venture, which, frankly, seems to be more smoke and mirrors than substance without their backing." The other investors nodded in agreement. His business, his supposed triumph, was collapsing. It had never been his alone. It had been built on Liv's money and Elizabeth's influence. And with Liv gone, the foundation had crumbled. The shock was a physical blow. Humiliation burned through him. He'd underestimated Liv. He'd underestimated Elizabeth. He'd thought he could have it all. Now, he was about to lose everything. Desperation, raw and terrifying, began to set in.