Chapter 252

• I knew pain real pain. The kind that goes bone-deep and lingers long after the bruises fade. I’d felt it when I shattered my wrist during my first year at Stanford, and again, years later, when my high-profile engagement collapsed under the weight of betrayal. But even those memories paled in comparison to what Ryan must have endured.
• I 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.
• “What about the substance?” I asked quietly, my voice steady but edged with concern. “The drug he was on… is it still a serious issue?”