Chapter 20 - A Clean Slate
We sat by the wide loft window, sharing pastries while the city bustled below.
"You did good, Chloe," Carter said, looking around the bright, open space. "Most people would have broken under that kind of betrayal. You took the scalpel and cut out the rot."
"I had good help," I smiled, looking at him.
Carter set his coffee cup down, his gaze turning warm and steady. "I’m not an investigator on your case anymore, you know."
"I know."
"Which means," he continued, leaning in slightly, "I don't have to follow protocol if I ask you out for a real dinner tonight. No laptops, no bank statements, no fraud logs."
A genuine, effortless smile spread across my face—the first one I had felt in what seemed like a lifetime.
"Seven o'clock," I said. "And you’re letting me pick the restaurant."
"Deal," Carter laughed.
As he walked out the door to let me finish unpacking, I looked at my reflection in the polished glass of my new office window.
The timid girl who compromised her dreams to please an unfaithful man was gone.
In place stood a woman who owned her name, her future, and every single step forward.
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The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
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