Chapter 19: The Confession Martina closed her eyes. Fresh tears streaming down her face. “Why now?” she asked brokenly. “Why couldn’t you have said this five years…

Chapter 20: The Forty-Eight Hours They stood there. Foreheads pressed together. Tears mixing. The Eiffel Tower glittering behind them like a benediction. Paris spread below them, indifferent…

Chapter 21: The Return The plane touched down at JFK at 6:47 on Sunday evening. Reality crashed over them like a wave designed to drown. Paris had…

Chapter 22: The Goodbye “I have meetings all day tomorrow,” Jordan said. Hating how the words sounded. Professional. Distant. Everything they’d moved beyond in Paris. “But I…

Chapter 23: The Resignation Monday morning arrived with rain. The cold, punishing kind that made Manhattan look gray and unforgiving. Jordan stood at his office window, watching…

Chapter 24: The Choice “That’s not fair—” “Maybe not,” she agreed. “But it’s true.” “And Jordan, I can’t build my future on maybe. I can’t risk my…

Chapter 25: The Letting Go “I’m sorry,” he said finally. The words inadequate and too late. “I’m so sorry, Martina. For all of it. For wasting five…

Chapter 26: The Three Months Three months. Ninety-one days since Martina Hayes had walked out of Jordan Blackwell’s office and into a new life that didn’t include…

Chapter 27: The Foundation His office phone buzzed. Janet, his new assistant—a highly competent woman in her fifties who was excellent at her job and absolutely nothing…