Page 82 of Best Kept Vows

Bryce, smug as ever, leaned forward. “I accept.”

Abraham shook his head. “Bryce…is…a fool.”

“The board will back me.” Bryce was now excited. “And I’ll show you how things are done, Sebastian.”

I looked at Dad. His eyes seemed dead, and he sighed. “Tell…her.”

I nodded. “Mama, the longer we keep it, the bigger the chance Boone Metal goes into bankruptcy, and we’ll get five cents on the dollar for it. Now?—”

“Bryce won’t let that happen,” Mama cut me off.

“Just because you couldn’t do it doesn’t mean Bryce can’t.” Coco, who had her head in the clouds, looked down her nose at me.

“Dad?” I asked because I didn’t give a shit one way or the other.

He shrugged with his good shoulder. “I’m…dying. Don’t…care.”

Hendrix then rolled my father away. He’d done his best, I realized, and now he wasdonewith the family in the same way as I was. You could only help people who wanted help.

“Well, that gets me off the hook then,” I whispered to Lia.

She studied me carefully as if trying to discern if I was indeed as relaxed as I appeared to be or if I was hiding some pent-up desire to fuck my life over Boone Metals.

I pushed my chair back and rose. Lia did the same. I put my arm around her, and she nestled into me.

“Good luck, Bryce.” I couldn’t stop smiling. I had expected to feel relief but not this bone-deep sense of peace. “You’re on your own.”

Bryce faltered for a second, clearly expecting me to fight back. He hadn’t thought it would be this easy. Themotherfucker would know soon enough why I was happy to leave this shitshow to someone else.

Somehow, this was even better than selling the company, which would have required me to bang my head against the wall for another six to twelve months. This way, I was…done.

Iwasdone.

Done with this game.

Done with this family’s toxic obsession with keeping up appearances at all costs.

I turned to Lia. “You ready to go?”

She nodded, and without a single glance back, we walked out together.

In the car, Lia reached for my hand again. “You okay?” she asked softly.

I thought about it.

About letting go of a company that had defined my life, of walking out of that house and finally choosing myself.

I looked at my wife. The woman who had always been there, even when I didn’t deserve her.

“I’m good,” I said, and for the first time since I took over that damn company and fucked up my life, I meant it.

CHAPTER 27

Ophelia

“Should I move back with Sebastian?” I asked Aurora during lunch.

Of all the women I worked with, Aurora was the one I felt the closest to. Even though we’d had very different upbringings, our personalities were similar. We tried to keep the peace. We didn’t like drama. And we tolerated a whole lot more bullshit than most—until we didn’t.