Chapter 12
A Crossroads
Mary's POV
The moment I hung up the phone with my father, I felt a weight settle in my chest, heavy and suffocating. The room seemed smaller now, as though the walls were closing in, pressing me against the bed where I had collapsed. My fingers gripped the edge of the mattress, the cold fabric grounding me as I tried to steady my racing heart.
Elijah Brooke.
Andrew De La Cruz.
Two men. Two worlds. And both saw me as little more than a bargaining chip in their ruthless games.
I was suffocating.
What could I do? Elijah’s offer was tempting, so tempting. My father, desperate to keep Blackwood Industries afloat, might accept it, if he hadn’t already. Twice what Andrew invested. The promise of freedom. A way out. A way to break away from the chains that had bound
