Isabella knew it was reckless.
Knew it was unprofessional. Knew it could backfire spectacularly. But after three days of Liam's brutal coldness following her breakdown in his office—three days of him treating her like a stranger, like she hadn't cried and confessed and begged for acknowledgment—Isabella was desperate.
She needed to know if anything she did could break through his walls. Needed to know if the man who'd spent $180,000 to save her mother still existed beneath the ice.
Needed to know if he felt anything at all.
So she made a decision that was either brilliant or insane: she was going to test him.
The Hartley deal was worth $47 million. The contract signing was tomorrow at 2 PM. And Isabella, who was responsible for organizing all the documentation, was going to "lose" the most critical file—the one containing the signed letters of intent that would make or break the entire negotiation.
