Page 112 of Sweet Wicked Vows

Jaxon,

Do not try to contact me. Do not try to find me.

I hope I served my purpose for you and your brother.

Whatever the pair of you are wishing to achieve, I want no part of it.

I hope you found thejusticeyou were looking for.

You always said this was business and nothing more, I guess I should have listened.

A means to an end,

Evelyn Reynolds.

PS. I want a divorce.

I re-read the letter over and over. Each word was a knife twisting in the gaps of my ribcage, reaching for my thundering, black heart.

How did she know? How did she discover the truth? Did Frederic tell her? He was angry enough to do it. He’d hurt me, hurt her, and hurt the whole world in his need for vengeance.

Fuck, what the hell was happening?

A million and one questions raced through my brain, attempting to piece back the jagged pieces of my world shattering around me.

But all I could focus on was that she left me.

She left me.

I was more than versed in being alone, thriving off the comfort solidarity gave me, but for the first time in my life, kneeling on that bedroom floor, I was utterly and hopelessly lonely.

And it was entirely my own doing.

Chapter ThirtyFive

It’s amazing how much books helped when life was spiraling completely out of control.

A week after announcing my new business venture and the date for the grand opening, the business’s email inbox was jam-packed with manuscripts. Brand new books, never seen before writers, and so much potential waiting for someone to take the chance on them. It was the perfect way to disappear from the shit show that was my life.

Two weeks had passed since I moved out of the house in Tribeca, and Jaxon hadn’t as much as sent a single text message.

Not that I cared.

Or that was at least what I kept telling myself.

I walked away, and the fact my heart struggled to beat a single time without pain, I tried to keep myself from falling apart.

I’d been a fool to ever think that Frederic Dade wanted something as simple as access to my father’s European market. Something he could have easily achieved with time and smart business decisions.

The two brothers played me like a puppet, preying on my vulnerability, and what made me want to vomit was the fact that I let them do it.

After walking away, I didn’t know where to turn. Flynn was nowhere to be found, not answering a single phone call or textmessage. Saunders, however, picked up on the first ring of my call, coming to my rescue and carrying the little I fled with from my marital home.

When he asked where I wanted to go, the thought of going back to my empty family home didn’t feel right.

I didn’t want to sit and replay every single word I heard through the air vent.

A means to an end, nothing more.

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