Page 34 of My Husband’s New Fiancée

“Ciphera might even decide to pull out.”

He actually seems worried by the idea.

Is Aurenza really in such a fragile position?

He heads for the exit, pausing briefly by the door before leaving without another glance.

I remain standing in the middle of the empty room, my chest aching.

He truly believes freezing the funding round would upset me. He couldn’t be more wrong.

I didn’t come back to cash in on a higher valuation.

I came back to stop it.

And expose everything it’s hiding.

10. Doubt Creeps In

Dante

I leave the conference room without looking back.

She actually has the nerve to judge me for moving on.

She vanished without an explanation, without even the decency of a goodbye—and somehow I’m the one being condemned?

I’m the one who’s supposed to justify trying to survive her absence?

I still remember those nights.

The first few weeks after she disappeared, I stopped eating. Stopped sleeping. Every time I closed my eyes, I searched for her in the dark.

Her voice. Her perfume. The warmth of her body against mine.

I missed her so badly it felt lethal.

During the day, I tore the world apart looking for her. I imagined her injured somewhere, dying, calling out for me.

I hired private investigators, contacted hospitals, harassed the police until they started looking at me with that pity people wear once they’ve already accepted the outcome.

Some nights, the pain got so sharp the only way to dull it was alcohol.

I’m not proud of those nights.

Of those bottles emptied alone in an apartment where everything still whispered her name.

When I hit rock bottom, Bianca showed up.

She didn’t say much. She simply stayed. Mourning her best friend while I mourned the woman I loved.

Her quiet presence soothed me.

We grew closer.

Shared grief slowly became something else.

Something more intimate.