"The debt is paid. All ties are cut. From now on, we are strangers..." Elliot murmured the phrase under his breath, repeating it until his mind went numb.
A memory surfaced—Victoria's voice, sharp and accusing.
She'd told him how Margaret had asked for money.
A clean break, she called it. To settle things for good.
At the time, fury had blinded him. The thought that Margaret wanted cash and not him felt like betrayal, a bitter taste he couldn't swallow.
Yet he'd never once thought to ask the obvious question: How much?
'Five hundred thousand? A million? Two million? The Blooms are wealthy. Any sum meant to make someone vanish would be substantial.'
His phone buzzed, shattering the silence. Victoria's name flashed on the screen.
The moment he answered, her tirade began. "Elliot, you
