The silence that settled between Sarah
and Jayden over the next few days was not the icy, distant kind they had
navigated when they first met. It was a heavy, suffocating silence, thick with
unspoken words and bruised pride. Jayden had spent the remainder of the week
locked in his study or burying himself in corporate files at the SJ Corp
headquarters, trying—and failing—to drown out the reality of her choice.
He could not stop her. No matter how
much he raged, no matter how many legal loopholes his brilliant mind tried to
construct, Sarah's decision remained absolute. She was going to meet Keith.
As the end of the week crept closer,
the reality of the impending meeting hung over the penthouse like a storm
cloud. Sarah had spent sleepless nights preparing herself. She didn't want a
prolonged, vicious legal battle that would drag her name through the mud and
expose her deepest vulnerabilities to a jury of strangers. She wanted closure.
