She Turned Her Grief Into Wings novel Chapter 10

Belongs to him?

Only taking what belongs to her?

Caden found it utterly laughable. He tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Drawing a pretty clear line, aren't we? Shera, in your eyes, was this entire three-year marriage just a transaction from start to finish?"

"What else would it be?" She fired back instantly, as if she had seen through the facade a long time ago. "You only married me for your grandfather's shares, didn't you? Neither of us has the moral high ground here."

The air instantly froze.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Caden suddenly let out a dry laugh, dropping his hand that was still frozen in mid-air.

"Well said."

Those words were like a needle, mercilessly puncturing his dignity.

He stepped forward, his tall frame completely shadowing Shera. Every trace of softness vanished from his face, as if it had never existed in the first place.

"I won't sign. You should know exactly why I got married in the first place." Caden stared down at her, reclaiming his signature arrogant dominance. "When it comes to us, you don't get to decide how it starts, and you sure as hell don't get to decide how it ends."

There it was. That was the real Caden Hayes. The warmth was just a mask. The moment his bottom line was threatened, he reverted into that ruthless, cold-blooded corporate monster.

Shera stared at him for a long time.

"Caden, do you honestly believe I'm incapable of surviving without you?"

He didn't say a word, but his eyes gave her the answer.

She scoffed at his sheer arrogance, letting out a cold laugh. "I hope you can stay this confident forever."

Without wasting another breath, she pulled out her keys and walked toward her car, her face terrifyingly calm.

He vaguely recalled Shera getting it for him at a chapel on a rainy afternoon last spring. A massive storm had flooded the mountain pass, and she had called him to pick her up. When he drove to the base of the mountain, he found her huddled into a tiny ball under a fake mushroom statue. The moment she saw him, she gave him a guilty, mischievous smile and apologized for being a burden.

She pulled the lucky charm out of her pocket and showed it off proudly, bragging that it had been personally blessed by Master Silvanus, and out of her entire tour group of twenty people, she was the only one who had won it.

With the cabin lights on, she was completely drenched, her hair plastered to her forehead, looking as pathetic as a stray cat. But those eyes of hers were practically shining.

He rarely drove himself. For business trips and dinners, Aiken usually drove, and he switched cars constantly, so he never paid attention to what was added or removed from them. He had no idea when she had hung this lucky charm up—maybe it was that night, maybe some other day.

The cherry of the cigarette burned down to his fingers, the stinging heat finally snapping him out of his daze as he reached out and crushed it into the ashtray.

After a long silence, he pulled out his phone and made a call.

"Look into Rhys Jewell."

A sharp cramp twisted his stomach again. Caden pressed his head against the steering wheel, his hand gripping his abdomen.

He realized that, somehow, things were starting to spiral entirely out of his control.