Chapter 6

Outside the Waldorf Astoria, the wailing sirens of the NYPD cruisers pierced the night. Surrounded by a sea of flashing cameras, Kendal was shoved into the back of a police car, her mind completely broken.

Inside the ballroom, Beatrice rolled her eyes back and collapsed in her wheelchair, sending the medical team into a panic.

Inside the concrete fire stairwell, Alyse moved quickly. Her heels clicked sharply against the cement stairs. Even while fleeing, her pace was perfectly measured and terrifyingly calm.

Suddenly, the heavy thud of footsteps echoed from the landing above her.

Godfrey vaulted over the railing, landing heavily on the stairs just a few feet below her, completely cutting off her escape route.

They stood frozen on the dim landing. The faint green glow of the exit sign stretched their shadows across the cold concrete walls.

Godfrey's chest heaved. He reached up and violently ripped his tie loose. His eyes were completely bloodshot, wild with emotional whiplash.

He stared at the face that had haunted his nightmares for five years.

"Why didn't you explain?" His voice shook so violently he could barely form the words.

Alyse was forced to stop. She didn't back away. She looked straight into his burning, tortured eyes, and a mocking smile touched her lips.

"Explain?" She let out a short, sharp laugh that echoed harshly in the stairwell. "Explain to a man who didn't even bother to ask a single question before throwing a divorce agreement in my face?"

The words stabbed Godfrey in the chest. His face turned paper-white. He took a step up, reaching out to grab her shoulders.

Alyse flinched backward, dodging his hands as if he were carrying a plague.

"I saw the video. I know you were framed. We can-" Godfrey's voice cracked. He sounded desperate, almost begging.

"Stop, Godfrey," Alyse cut him off. Her voice was absolute zero. She looked at him like he was a stranger on the street.

She lifted her chin, every word designed to draw blood. "You think that little misunderstanding was the only reason our marriage fell apart? You think way too highly of yourself."

Godfrey froze. His hands hovered in the air, stiff and useless. His brain couldn't process the meaning behind her words.

"The truth is," Alyse took a step down, leaning in close, her voice dropping to a vicious whisper. "Even if Kendal hadn't framed me, I still would have divorced you."

The sentence hit Godfrey like a baseball bat to the back of the head. The pride he had clung to, the tiny spark of hope that had just ignited, shattered into a million pieces.

He shook his head in disbelief. He searched her eyes, praying to find anger, resentment, anything that meant she still cared.

He found nothing but deep, exhausting boredom.

"Because of that man? Guthrie?" Godfrey ground his teeth together. The venom of jealousy flooded his brain, blinding him completely.

A cold light flashed in Alyse's eyes. She needed to keep the real reason-Cathleen's plot to steal the AI patent-buried. So, she leaned into his delusion.

"Think whatever you want," she said coldly. She stepped around his frozen body and continued walking down the stairs.

The overwhelming sense of defeat and jealousy snapped the last thread of Godfrey's sanity.

He spun around and lunged. His hand clamped down on her wrist like a steel trap.

His grip was terrifyingly strong, nearly crushing her bones. He yanked her backward, slamming her spine hard against the freezing concrete wall.

"You are not walking away from me," Godfrey growled. His eyes were bleeding red. His hot breath hit her face, reeking of desperate madness.

Alyse frowned in pain, but she didn't yield an inch. She stared back at him with pure defiance. "What? Is the great CEO of Hammond going to assault me in a stairwell?"

Before Godfrey could react, the heavy metal door on the landing below burst open.

A rogue paparazzi photographer, who had been chasing a different celebrity in the lobby, had spotted Godfrey's furious sprint into the fire exit. He had immediately texted his buddies, and now all three of them rushed into the stairwell with their cameras raised.

Blinding flashes of white light exploded in the dark space, capturing the intense, violent physical tension between them.

Godfrey's instincts took over. He immediately twisted his body, shielding Alyse's face from the lenses, pressing her into his chest to protect her.

It was a subconscious act of protection. It made Alyse freeze for a fraction of a second.

But she recovered instantly. Using his shifted weight, she shoved him hard in the chest, breaking his grip. She didn't look back. She pushed open the ground-floor exit door and vanished into the freezing night.

Godfrey tried to go after her, but the paparazzi swarmed him, shoving their lenses into his face, blocking the stairs.

He let out a furious roar and smashed his fist into the closest camera lens, shattering the glass. His bodyguards finally burst through the doors to pull him out, but it was too late.

The black shadow was gone.