For both of them, this was already an ufortably personal question.


    Still, Ste answered honestly. "Not at the moment."


    "And in the future?" Joshua pressed.


    "The future?" Ste paused to consider. "Who can really say what''s toe?"


    Joshua''s gaze was steady. "Would you ever get back together with Haynes for the


    sake of your child?"


    This time, Ste barely hesitated. She shook her head instinctively.


    "No. I wouldn''t."


    Outside the door, Haynes had just raised his hand to knock. He froze at her


    words.


    Joshua''s voice carried through the door again. "You were together for five years,


    you have a child... Are you really able to let go?"


    Ste''s reply was immediate. "Forcing ourselves to stay together for our child''s


    sake would only be unfair—to him, to ourselves, and to the very idea of marriage.


    I used to put up with so much in that rtionship, all because of Keen.


    I thought I was sacrificing a lot for our family, but the truth is, neither Keen nor


    Haynes needed that from me.


    And all the while, I felt indescribably wronged... I suppose that''s just another form


    of emotional ckmail.


    Honestly, I''m happy with my life now. I may have beente to realize it, but at


    least I didn''t miss my chance."


    Joshua''s tone softened. "Do you still love Haynes?"


    Ste didn''t even take a moment to think. "No. I don''t."


    Inside the hospital room, Joshua nced subtly toward the door. The faintest hint


    of a smile touched the corners of his mouth.


    Haynes didn''t enter. Instead, he turned and walked away.


    He wasn''t sure why, but suddenly he didn''t know how to face Ste anymore.


    He''d always known, deep down, that Ste had moved on. But hearing her say it


    out loud felt like a sledgehammer mming into his chest.


    Those three words—"I don''t"—echoed in his mind.


    A bitter smile flickered across his lips.


    You brought this on yourself.


    Suddenly, he understood Keen''s inner conflict.


    Part of him wished Ste could be


    like she was before. But looking at


    her now, he realized maybe this


    life—free and unburdened—was


    what she truly deserved.


    If he had never seen this side of her, would he still be so hung up on her?


    ...


    In the dim basement, Sellers huddled in the corner, barely conscious.


    He looked gaunt, his entire body covered in gruesome wounds—whip marks,


    burns, and neat, precise cuts from a de.


    Some of the injuries had begun to fester, oozing pus.


    The whole basement was thick with the stench of rot and blood.


    Sellers had never been so utterly broken in his life.


    It was as if he had been consigned to the deepest circle of hell.


    Foreman Richards didn''te every day, but whenever he did, he made sure to


    try every imaginable method of torture.


    Each time, he left Sellers wishing for death.


    Still, Sellers clung to survival.


    If he could just hold out until rescue


    came, no matter how badly he was


    hurt, his brother and the old man


    would see him healed.


    And once he got out...


    A cold, vengeful light flickered beneath Sellers'' matted hair.


    He would make Foreman suffer a fate worse than death.


    And Ste!


    If it weren''t for her, he would never have fallen so low.


    He was already beginning to regret stopping Leonard from taking things further


    with her.


    He should have let Leonard ruin her face.


    If Ste had been disfigured, would Foreman still care for her? Would any man?


    As Sellers brooded over how he''d


    repay Foreman and how he''d make


    Ste suffer, a faint mechanical


    beep sounded at the door.


    Foreman was back.


    Sellers closed his eyes, forcing down the seething hatred that threatened to


    consume him.