Theo’s fingers twitched on the steering wheel.
“No… no, nothing.”
“It’s not just us looking into this. Mr. Miller and Mr. Martin are both digging around too.”
Everyone seemed obsessed with who Patricia was going to marry.
Emerson was investigating, wanting to know who was behind Patricia.
But what about Joseph? What was he after?
Theo’s grip on his phone was so tight the veins stood out on the back of his hand. Even his fingertips shook.
His feelings for Patricia were a tangled mess.
Did he love her?
Probably not.
Did he hate her?
Honestly, yes.
He hated the debt she’d forced on him three years ago. Hated how she always looked down on him.
He hated the way she’d look at him from her wheelchair, like he was some kind of stray she had to pity.
Her gaze was always so gentle—just not with him.
For strangers, she was kind.
For him, she was merciless.
He’d imagined it a thousand times—if Patricia had just been a little warmer, a little less cruel, would things have ended differently between them?
But there are no what-ifs.
In the end, every relationship either becomes family or turns into animosity.
Strangers? How do you ever go back to being strangers after you’ve been married?
Theo’s resentment only grew as his car picked up speed on the highway, spreading in the darkness like a monster’s claws. There was no escaping it.
After Cloud Peak, Patricia was completely drained. She collapsed on the bed, too weak to even roll over.
Oliver was crazy. Absolutely out of his mind.
When the sound of running water from the bathroom stopped, she buried herself deeper under the comforter. She didn’t want to see him.
Oliver walked over, looking annoyingly refreshed, and put his big hand on the comforter, gently smoothing it over her. “Come on, eat something.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Are you mad at me?”
Of course she was. Who wouldn’t be? She’d told him to stop—over and over. Did he ever listen?
Oliver sighed, sounding helpless, then leaned down and picked her up, comforter and all. “I know, I know, I’m a jerk.”
“I get jealous, Pattie.”
He said it so quietly, like it was a secret he was ashamed to confess. “I get jealous of those three years you spent with Theo.”
Patricia blinked and pushed the covers away, looking at him in surprise. “Nothing ever happened between us. You know that.”
Her first time had been with Oliver. She’d never had anything with Theo.
“I know!” Oliver jumped in quickly, looking anxious.
“That’s why I think I’m going crazy.”


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