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“You arenotuprooting our daughter on a whim just so you can chase your boyfriend to another city.”
“On awhim?” she practically screeches. “You are such a fucking asshole. I tried so hard to be everything for you. But I was never good enough.” She stops hurling her hurt for a second to catch her breath. “I’m not chasing myboyfriend. I’m following the man I’m marrying.”
Gage doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t blink.
“You are not taking Luna with you,” he says, so low, so lethal his words feel like a blade.
I recoil at his tone.
It’s the tone I used to hear in another man’s voice. The one that always meant: this is not a decision you’re having any say in.
Shayla draws her entire body up like it’s a fortress. “I’m her mother, Gage. And in case you forgot, courts like mothers. Especially when the father works too much to spend the kind of time with them that’s in their best interest. I work from home. I’ll have a husband to provide Luna a family. Let’s see who they choose.”
Gage’s jaw grinds so hard it looks like he’s chewing gravel. His eyes don’t darken. They flatline. Cold. Razor-sharp. No mercy. His spine straightens tight. One hand clenches at his side. And his chest expands like he’s about to roar, but what comes out is quieter. And far more dangerous.
“You think a court will choose you over me? Try me. I’ve got lawyers, the money, and the fucking proof that you haven’t honored our agreement.” His voice doesn’t rise, it cuts. “Let’s see how far your new husband’s willing to go when I drag this through the court. Because I promise you, Shayla, I won’t stop until I win.”
My heart slams against my ribs.
My nervous system doesn’t know whether to run or shut down, so it justholds, every cell locked in limbo.
My breath stops like I’ve swallowed glass.
Every hair on my arms stands to attention as my body reacts to a threat I can’t see but candefinitely feel.
Because I’ve heard that before, felt this exact pressure.
Not from Gage.
From James.
The weapon that’s wielded beneath the words. The one that says the courtroom’s already his, the system favors him, that he’s got the power and I’m just lucky to speak.
And the voice that didn’t raise to yell but sank to something worse. The one that made decisions for me and told me they were facts. That left no room for argument.
You don’t get a say.
That’s what it always meant.
And standing here now, listening to Gage sayI won’t stop until I win, something inside me buckles.
I blink fast. Swallow hard. Try to ground myself in the facts I know.
Gage isn’t James.
He’s not.
He’s never made me feel small.
He’s never used my past against me.
He holds me. He lets mebe.
But God, this?
This tone. This moment.
The threat of power. Of money. Ofwinning at all costs.