~CHAPTER SIXTY ONE~
She lifts her chin after speaking, but I can see it, the tremor beneath the performance.
“Okay… the truth is, I’m willing to do anything for you to see me,” Ivy says, her voice lowering, almost intimate. “We’ve known each other for years, Hardin. Years. And yet you chose Amelia over me… and I’m still here. For you.”
Still here.
Like loyalty is something she’s entitled to be rewarded for.
I don’t blink.
“And that,” I say calmly, “is the only reason you’re sitting in that chair right now. That’s your privilege.”
Her jaw tightens.
My patience is thinning.
“Go straight to the point,” I cut in, my voice dropping a degree colder. “I don’t have time for emotional speeches.”
She inhales, gathers herself, and this time when she speaks, it’s not about love.
It’s about
