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Michael let out a slow breath, shaking his head. ““Couldn’t you just... I don’t know... cut her a check and send her on her way? One night’s mistake doesn’t mean a lifetime of guilt.”

Lorenzo set his glass down, fingers tightening slightly. “Esther’s injury was because of me,” he said quietly. “Brain clots. She’s living on borrowed time. If I hand her money and turn my back, what’s the difference between me and the bastards who use women and toss them aside?”

Michael stared at him. “But you don’t love her. Can you really do this? You can play caretaker for a few months, maybe a year. But a lifetime?” His tone dropped lower, more serious. “You think guilt is going to replace your wife? You think Grandpa will be okay with you divorcing Krystal for some random woman he’s never even met?”

Lorenzo’s jaw clenched. A line formed across his forehead, tight with tension. He didn’t say anything—but Michael could see the frustration building behind his silence.

***

The night air was still, the only sound the gritty scrape of suitcase wheels dragging across uneven pavement. It was late—no cars, no people, just Darren and Krystal walking side by side in the dead of night. Darren pulled two suitcases behind him, while Krystal walked ahead, heels tapping sharply against the road, her hands empty except for her purse.

Darren stole a glance at her. She looked calm. Too calm.

He had expected hesitation—maybe a second thought about leaving Lorenzo behind. After all, despite everything, Darren had seen the way she looked at him. She still had feelings for him. But pride kept her from turning back.

“You sure we’re really doing this?” Darren asked, keeping his tone casual. “Middle of the night, no goodbyes, just vanishing again. Reminds me of the old days. Running, disappearing, no one knowing where we are unless we want them to.”

Krystal didn’t look at him. “Yeah.”

Her mind was somewhere else—back to yesterday. Back to the moment Lorenzo’s face was inches from hers, his hand gripping her wrist like he couldn’t let go. Back to when he leaned in, lips just a breath away. The way her heart had skipped. The heat. The chaos.

She shook her head sharply. ‘Why the hell do I keep thinking about that asshole?’ she scolded herself. ‘I got the money. I did the job. I married him, cured him, paid off Grandpa’s debt. Now all I have to do is leave this country, find the bastard who tookmy first time two years ago, and teach him a lesson he’ll never forget.’

A sudden ping broke through the night.

Darren stopped walking. His phone buzzed in his hand. He froze as he read the screen.

Krystal turned to him. “What’s wrong?” she asked, noticing the change in his expression.

“There’s a post on the dark web,” he said slowly, lifting his eyes to hers. “Someone’s offering a bounty to drug and deliver Lorenzo. A million-dollar reward.”

Krystal’s expression changed instantly. The calm disappeared. She froze. “For real?”

Darren nodded. “It’s right here. No details on who wants him... just the reward.”

He watched her carefully. “You gonna look into it?”

Krystal looked away, composing herself. Her face hardened, eyes steeling over again. “That Cactus and I are about to be divorced. Whatever happens to him… it’s none of my business.”

She turned and started walking again, her steps faster.

Darren followed after her, watching her tense back, her stiff shoulders.

She was trying to look unaffected. But he knew her better than that.

“He was your patient. You cured him with your own hands,” he said quietly. “You took care of him every single day. Nursed him back to health. Even if you don’t have a relationship anymore, you worked yourself sick to save his hands. Took that huge payment to treat Esther. After all that... can you really walk awayand watch him get hurt? Seems a little cold to walk away and let someone else destroy him after all that.”

Krystal halted mid-step, turning back to Darren with narrowed eyes. “Esther wasn’t even sick,” her voice came out low but annoyed. “But I still did my job. I went there. I treated her.”

Then she bit her lower lip and turned to face Darren fully. “He still owes me the rest of the money. I did my job. Why the hell am I not getting fully paid?”

Without waiting for a reply, she spun on her heel and stormed off, heading back toward the city.

“Where is he right now?” she called out sharply over her shoulder.

Darren tapped quickly on his phone, tracking Lorenzo’s location through a discreet GPS. A moment later, he looked up.

“At the Blue Orchid Bar. Hotel suite number fifteen,” he said. “Someone invited him for a business meeting, but with that bounty on his head, I think something’s off.”