CHAPTER 12: The Name He Borrowed

Ryan tried softness next.
It arrived late, wearing a ruined suit and a voice Claire remembered from the early years, when ambition still sounded like hunger rather than entitlement.
"Claire," he said. "We built this together."
She almost laughed, but the sound would have given him too much.
"No. I funded it. I protected it. I corrected your numbers, softened your debt, signed guarantees you presented as your genius, and smiled while people called me supportive. You built a stage and forgot who owned the floorboards."
His face tightened.
"You loved me."
"Yes," she said. "That is why it took so long for me to call this what it is."
The passengers stared at their tablets, their glasses, their hands. No one wanted to witness the death of a marriage and a balance sheet in the same breath, but the jet gave them no exit.
Ryan reached toward her.
Claire stepped back before his fingers found her sleeve.