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“I don’t care. I don’t have to pretend to care about them at all anymore.”

I stilled, gripping my cell so tightly the glass groaned.

“Just make sure they get out of the house. Ronan will have the divorce papers served and prenup enforced by this time tomorrow.”

“That’s your exit strategy here? Sure, you chose a wife badly, but you’re still responsible for the fallout here. Her daughters haven’t done anything wrong.”

My father was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke his voice was ice-cold. “Yes, I made a mistake, and yes, everyone will learn about it. There’s nothing I can do about that. But I won’t let that woman get away with this unpunished. I will see her destitute in the gutter before I let her have a single penny.”

Fuck.What about my father’s famous control? I realized then how so many of the things he’d always expounded to me weren’t the way he really lived. And I’d spent years knocking myself out trying to follow his example. What a joke.

“You’re coming off as a bitter, jilted ex. I thought you were above that? If the press finds out that not only did your new wife cheat on you, but you went out of your way to leave her penniless and ruined, it won’t be a good look.”

“Don’t presume to tell me what to do with my own marriage. I will treat Marjory and her brats in the way they deserve. Justcelebrate the fact that you no longer need to babysit the elder one. I’m in New York, I’ll be coming up to Hade Harbor in a few days, and we can see about closing up shop.”

“Closing up shop in Hade Harbor?”

“Yes, there’s no need to live somewhere like that anymore. You can join another hockey team. It’s no big deal. The commute to the city was an annoyance anyway. We’ll move closer to New York.”

Those words hit me in the gut. Leave Hade Harbor? I stared out of the dark window at the blue pool, shining in the darkness of the backyard. Did I want to leave this place behind? The Hellions and the Ice Gods, this house, the quiet streets Selena and I went running on. The cragged cliffs dotted with towering pines, and cold, clean water crashing against the rocks below.

And her.

There was no way to separate this place from her. It was too much like her… beautiful and sharp, softness with jagged edges. A place that felt more like home than any I’d known since Emily died.

“I’m not leaving here, and Cal won’t either. We can’t change teams again,” I told my father quietly.

He scoffed. “You’ll do what I say if you want to inherit the company. It was a mistake to come here. It’s made you soft and unfocused.”

And happy. For the first time in forever.

“Play hockey, or don’t, but you’ll move if you want to be the heir to Sinclair Industries. I know it sounds hard, son, but it’s foryour own good. You don’t live a life of excellence like mine by accident. It takes hard choices. I will help you make them.”

Then he hung up, his words left swirling around me.

So, my father believed his life was one of excellence. Before I’d come here, I’d have readily agreed. Now, though, the words rang false. What was so excellent about amassing more money than you could ever need, just to be stuck on planes, in meetings, and alone most of the time? For the rush of being the richest man in the room? Was that the highlight of my father’s existence? Not being a good husband, a beloved father, or even a valued friend. My father had exactly one friend, Arthur, and he was his employee.

What a sad little life it was. As soon as I thought it, I knew it was something I’d long felt but had never been able to understand, until now.

A sad little life, and I didn’t want it.

I wouldn’t accept it.

Not now, when I knew better.

My phone rang again, and I nearly threw it across the room. If it was my father calling back, I wasn’t answering. There was only so much of his poison I could take in one evening.

I glanced at the display. Mike. Motherfucker. He’d caused all of this by not sitting on the information like I’d told him to.

“What?” I barked into the phone.

He paused, taken aback by my aggression.

“I-I had some updates.”

“Why don’t you just take them straight to my father?” I demanded. “Since that’s what you decided to do with the fucking information I asked you for?”

“It’s not my fault, there was a mix-up with my secretary; she sent the files to Arthur instead of you and?—”