"Marry me."
I couldn't help it. I laughed.
"Sarah, what could you possibly want from me?"
"You. I want you."
She was good at this act. But I'd already died once. I would never fall for that line again.
I picked up the folder and tore it clean in half.
"Then let it go bankrupt."
"I'd sooner beg on the streets than marry you."
The second she left, I called the company's finance department to verify.
The situation was worse than she'd described. Not only had the cash flow dried up, but several massive debts were about to come due. Someone had clearly been pulling strings behind the scenes.
Who else could it be but Sarah?
She'd stop at nothing to force me to submit. The playbook was identical to my past life. First, engineer a crisis from the shadows. Then swoop in as the savior, so I'd fall at her feet in gratitude.
Not this time.
I listed my apartment for sale. I pawned every piece of jewelry I owned. I even reached out to former rivals, offering to sell my shares at a steep discount.
Every single one of them refused to see me.
Regina Henson had put the word out: anyone who helped me was openly declaring war on the Henson Group.
Morgan called to talk me down.
"Roland, would it kill you to bend a little?"
"Sarah's crazy about you. She went to Regina on her knees for your sake."
"You marry her, the company's saved, you've got a good life ahead of you. Everybody wins. What's the problem?"
I hit the end-call button and blocked his number.
Three days later, the court summons arrived.
I sat in my empty rental, staring at the bare walls.
The door swung open. Sarah stood in the doorway, umbrella in hand.
"Roland, stop fighting this."
She walked toward me and looked down from above.
"All you have to do is say yes, and all of this goes away."
I lifted my head and met her eyes.
"Sarah, do you honestly think that if you back someone into a corner and then toss them a scrap of mercy, they'll worship the ground you walk on?"
Her brow creased.
"I'm just trying to help you."
"Help me? By cutting off every escape route I had?"
I stood and closed the distance between us.
"By having Regina blacklist me?"
Sarah's hand shot up and seized my jaw, her fingers digging in hard.
"Roland, my patience has limits."
"You will marry me. There is no other option."
I let a slow smile spread across my face.
"Fine. I'll marry you."
Sarah blinked. She clearly hadn't expected me to agree so easily.