Page 32 of My Husband’s New Fiancée

Dante wastes no time.

“You seem very sure of what you want, so tell me. Let’s save ourselves some time.”

You.

The answer rises instantly inside me. But I swallow it back.

Then come the other truths, equally desperate.

I want the years that were stolen from me. I want my life back.

But I look at the man who just kissed the woman who plotted my death, and I answer in a detached, neutral voice:

“I want my shares returned and my position formally restored.”

He assesses me like a stranger.

Deep down, he’s right.

I’ve changed. I didn’t have a choice.

“You’ve got nerve, I’ll give you that,” he says coldly. “What exactly do you think we’ve been doing for the past two years? We have a new Head of R&D. I’m not firing her just to make room for you.”

“I don’t want her position. I want my research back. I don’t care about titles.”

“Don’t insult me by pretending your research still means anything to you. Not after abandoning it for two years.”

Abandoning it.

“Believe whatever you want,” I reply.

“So you’re really not going to give me any explanation?” he asks.

“I don’t remember you asking for one.”

“Well, I’m asking now.”

I’ve imagined a thousand possible explanations.

One that would point him toward the truth without betraying myself.

Without revealing to the enemy—to the woman he may very well confide in tonight—how vulnerable I still am.

“I…” I hesitate. “I had health problems.”

He laughs, but there’s no amusement in it.

“Problems you apparently didn’t think were worth sharing with your husband. Problems you still refuse to explain.”

His tone is bitter, hurt, almost exhausted.

I could tell him everything right now.

That someone tried to kill me. That I survived. That I paid for it dearly.

But even if he believed me… would he turn against Bianca?

Or would he stop me from bringing her down?