Trevor stared at Roman.

“Your husband?”

Sadi nodded.

Chloe looked from one man to the other.

Trevor laughed nervously.

“No. Come on.”

Roman turned his head slightly.

“What part is confusing?”

Trevor's confidence returned in pieces.

“Sadi can't be married to you.”

Roman's eyebrow lifted.

“And why is that?”

Trevor looked at Sadi.

“She was broke.”

Sadi almost laughed.

Roman didn't.

“So?”

“She worked in a diner.”

“I know.”

“She lived in an apartment where the heat barely worked.”

“I know that too.”

Trevor stared.

Roman stepped beside Sadi rather than in front of her.

That mattered to her.

Roman never treated protection as ownership.

“Would you like to leave?” he asked.

“Not yet.”

“All right.”

Trevor looked between them.

“Who are you?”

Arthur answered from behind him.

“Roman Vale.”

Trevor's expression changed.

Chloe's did too.

She whispered, “Trevor.”

He ignored her.

The Vale name rarely appeared in newspapers, but powerful people knew it.

Roman owned shipping terminals, construction companies, hotels, and half a dozen corporations whose names meant nothing until someone traced where the money went.

And beneath those legitimate businesses was another reputation.

One nobody discussed loudly.

Trevor's mouth went dry.

“That Roman Vale?”

Roman looked almost bored.

“I wasn't aware there were several.”

Chloe released Trevor's arm.

“You told me she was homeless.”

“I said she was broke when we dated.”

“You said she was obsessed with you.”

“She was!”

Sadi laughed for the first time.

Everyone looked at her.

“Trevor, you stole my last six hundred dollars and disappeared.”

“I borrowed it.”

“For three years?”

His jaw tightened.

“You would never have done anything with it.”

“I was saving for nursing school.”

Chloe turned sharply.

“You told me she refused to work.”

“I did work,” Sadi said. “Two jobs.”

Trevor pointed at her.

“Don't rewrite history.”

“Then let's use yours.”

She took out her phone.

Trevor frowned.

“What are you doing?”

Sadi opened an old cloud folder.

Roman recognized it.

She had never deleted those files.

Sadi found a photograph of a handwritten note.

She held up the screen.

Trevor's handwriting was unmistakable.

Chloe read it.

Her expression changed.

Trevor reached for the phone.

Roman simply shifted his weight.

Trevor stopped himself.

Sadi lowered it.

“You left that note after emptying our savings jar.”

Trevor looked around.

Too many people were listening.

“You're enjoying this.”

“No.”

Sadi's voice softened.

“That's the part you still don't understand.”

She stepped closer.

“Three years ago, I would've dreamed about this moment. I would've wanted you to see me rich. Married. Happy. I would've wanted you to regret leaving me.”

Trevor stared at her.

“And now?”

“Now I don't care whether you regret it.”

That hurt him more.

Roman saw it immediately.

Trevor turned toward him.

“You think you know her?”

Roman's expression remained flat.

“Yes.”

“You don't.”

Roman glanced at Sadi.

“She puts hot Nextce on eggs and claims it isn't weird. She leaves books open facedown even though I've bought her thirty bookmarks. She still checks restaurant prices before ordering because she spent too many years wondering whether she could afford dinner.”

Sadi looked at him.

Roman continued.

“She apologizes when employees help her because she's still getting used to having people around her. And every Christmas, she anonymously pays the overdue heating bills for families in the neighborhood where she grew up.”

Trevor's face went still.

Roman looked directly at him.

“So yes. I know her.”

Chloe stepped away from Trevor.

“You kicked her.”

“It wasn't like that.”

“I watched you.”

“Chloe—”

“You lied about everything.”

Trevor grabbed her wrist.

“Don't make a scene.”

Chloe pulled free.

“No. Apparently that's your specialty.”

She walked away.

Trevor watched his fiancée disappear into the crowd.

Then he turned toward Sadi.

Hatred replaced embarrassment.

“This is your fault.”

Roman moved.

Sadi touched his arm.

“Don't.”

Roman stopped immediately.

Sadi faced Trevor herself.

“No. This is yours.”

Then the boutique manager approached.

“Ma'am?”

“Yes?”

“We've reviewed the security footage.”

Trevor's face lost its color.

The manager looked at Sadi.

“And mall security would like to speak with you about whether you want to file a report.”

---