"Money? I have more than enough."
"Connections and resources? Plenty are lining up to offer what the Winstons never could."
Sophia Sullivan's words dripped with ice.
"What exactly are you bringing to the table, Liam?"
Liam Winston stood frozen.
Each syllable lashed like a whip, stripping him bare.
She hadn't even blinked at that 3 million bid during the auction.
Financial worries had never touched her.
When they divorced, she'd left with nothing but an old suitcase and a handful of clothes.
Not a single penny from the Winston fortune had passed through her hands all these years.
Only now did he realize—Sophia hadn't been climbing social ladders. She'd been lowering herself.
His grip tightened.
"What will it take for you to say yes?"
"Nothing."
"..."
The woman before him might as well be carved from glacial stone.
This icy detachment bore no resemblance to the docile wife from three years ago.
The contrast cut deeper than any blade.
Recent events flashed through his mind—how close he'd come to death by her hand.
Mercy wasn't in her vocabulary.
Liam dropped the pretense.
His mother's affairs were just an excuse tonight.
This was about the bitterness festering in his chest.
The question tore free:
"Did you leave because Chloe came back... or was there another man?"
Darkness churned in his gaze.
Sophia's lips curled.
"Are the great Liam Winston's regrets finally catching up to him?"
The smile never reached her eyes, leaving only mockery.
"Need I remind you? You filed the papers first."
That day, Chloe Evans had suddenly moved into the Winston estate.
No one had bothered to tell her.
She'd been treated like a stranger in her own home.
Liam's expression twisted.
"Chloe's return was unexpected—"
"Our third anniversary," Sophia cut in.
"I cooked all day."
"You didn't even glance at the table."
"Chloe Evans has always been your only priority."
She stated it without jealousy.
Only finality.
In the past, she might have mimicked Chloe's mannerisms to please him.
Now? Not worth the effort.
"Three years of proving myself, yet I never measured up to a single word from her."
"I'm setting us both free."
Her gaze swept over him, all illusions shattered.
Stripped of nostalgia, the man repulsed her.
"We're settled. No debts between us."
"Keep harassing me, and I'll personally arrange hospital beds for you both."
She tilted her head, casual as a lounging panther.
The threat in her tone raised goosebumps.
Liam's chest constricted.
He pressed a hand over his heart, struggling to breathe.
She was drawing lines in blood.
"Sophia, can't we at least be friends?"
"Spare me the disgrace."
"..."
All color drained from his face.
Watching her walk away without hesitation,
the pain came in waves—
each more brutal than the last.
A slow, excruciating execution.