Chapter 252

Cassandra knew pain real pain. The kind that goes bone-deep and lingers long after the bruises fade. She’d felt it when she shattered her wrist during her first year at Stanford, and again, years later, when her high-profile engagement collapsed under the weight of betrayal. But even those memories paled in comparison to what Ryan must have endured. She stood in the glass-walled side office of the penthouse suite, watching Nathaniel review his notes from the exam. The light from the skyline bounced off the chrome desk, reflecting the hard edges of a world that never offered second chances unless you took them.