?Chapter 159:


    He had seen them together not long ago. Eric had seemed protective, unwilling to let her go.


    They hadn’t appeared like a couple falling apart, but the fact remained—Hadley had been sent overseas and kept away for four years.


    “Hadley, just tell me—”


    She had no patience for this.


    Hadley took a slow breath, steadying herself. “If I don’t exin, does that mean I’m not getting the money?”


    “That’s not what I—”


    Before he could finish, a sudden, forceful pounding shook the door.


    Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang!


    The intensity of the banging made it clear that if they didn’t open the door, whoever was outside was more than ready to break it down.


    “Open up!”


    “Open the door!”


    “Srixby PD! We know you’re in there!”


    What was happening? Why had the police shown up?


    Hadley’s gaze flicked toward the man across from her. His face had drained of color, his panic unmistakable.


    “Shit!” He shot up from his seat, his breathing quick and uneven. Even if they had done nothing wrong, getting caught up in a police matter could easily spiral into something far worse. A simple questioning could turn into a scandal.


    But more than anything, he couldn’t afford for his family to find out about this meeting.


    Hadley saw right through him. “How ridiculous!” she thought. He had spoken big words about caring for her, but now that things were about to getplicated, his only concern was himself.


    “Hadley…”


    “What’s the problem?”


    Additional chapters at g ??ln ov els .???? ??


    She arched a brow, her voice sharp with amusement.


    “We’re innocent, aren’t we? We could just open the door and exin everything. There’s nothing to hide, right?”


    “Hadley…”


    His hesitation said it all.


    Her lips curled into a cold smirk. “Rx, I’m just messing with you. But look at you—already breaking a sweat.” Her amusement faded as she turned toward the balcony. “If you don’t want to be seen, then leave through there.”


    “Hadley—”


    “Now!” Her patience had run dry. “Unless you’d rather stay? Because I’m about to open the door. Once they take you in for questioning, let’s see how you exin this to your wife.”


    He froze, then spun on his heel and bolted toward the balcony without another word.


    He ran.


    Hadley let out a quiet scoff.


    She never needed him anyway.


    With a steadying breath, she walked toward the door and pulled it open.


    “Hadley!”


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