Page 111 of Forty, Flirty & Framed

"I meant about us," she clarifies, her voice barely audible.

"There is no us," I say, the words carving something vital out of my chest even as I speak them."There can't be.Not now."

She flinches as if struck."Just like that?"

"What did you expect?That I'd overlook fraud because we—" I stop myself, unwilling to name what's been growing between us."You lied to me, Karina.From the very beginning."

"Not about everything," she says fiercely."Not about how I feel about you."

"How would I know?How would I ever know what's real with you?"

The question hangs between us, unanswerable.

Her silence confirms what I already knew—there's no going back from this breach of trust.

"I should go," she says finally.

"Yes.You should."

She turns to leave, her shoulders straight despite everything.

At the door, she pauses."For what it's worth, I was going to tell you.Today.Before the party."

"But you didn't," I reply softly."And that's the point, isn't it?"

After she's gone, I sink back into my chair, staring at the ridiculous sympathy basket.

My phone buzzes again—a text from Grayson.

Alex is handling press.Connor's distracting investors.I'm on Duncan damage control.Luke's monitoring socials.What do you need?

It's a reminder that I'm not alone, that there are people I can trust implicitly.

Just not the one person I wanted to.

I glance at the teddy bear in its tiny kilt, its sewn-on smile absurdly cheerful against the wreckage of my evening.

"Hashtag Kilted Heartbreak," I say to the empty office."How bloody appropriate."

25

HIGHLAND GAMES OF THE HEART

KARINA

It’s hard to disappear when you’ve gone viral.At least, disappear completely.

Sunrise creeps across Seattle on a Sunday morning in late August, the light shifting from peach to gold as I pull into my mother's driveway.

The small bungalow with its faded siding and meticulously maintained garden has always been my refuge in times of crisis.

Today, I need it more than ever.

After the brutal confrontation with Callum, I drove aimlessly for hours before inevitably finding my way here.

It's barely 6 AM, yet light already glows from the kitchen window—Mom's always been an early riser.

Some habits don't change, even when your daughter's professional disgrace is likely trending on every social platform.