Don’t be stupid.
Ryan’s answer was six words.
I’m just getting to know people.
My stomach turned.
Vega moved another page forward.
I didn’t touch it.
“How much were the shares worth then?”
“Probably less than a million.”
“So he married me for something that might someday be worth money?”
“We can’t prove why he married you.”
I looked at her.
“Yes, you can.”
“Kelsey—”
“He researched me before we met.”
“Yes.”
“He photographed me.”
“Yes.”
“He knew my father owned the shares.”
“Yes.”
“He lied about how we met.”
“Yes.”
I stood.
The room shifted under my feet.
Vega came around the table.
I held up my hand.
“Don’t.”
I needed space.
I needed air.
I needed fifteen years to become something else.
Every memory opened at once.
Ryan volunteering to help my father organize documents.
Ryan insisting on preparing my parents’ taxes “because family shouldn’t pay strangers.”
