"Kristen!" Finn helped Grace up, then turned and clamped Kristen's wrist in a hard grip. "Apologize to Grace."
Kristen shook him off, expression flat, and slapped him hard across the face.
"Finn." Grace gasped and darted in front of him. "Kristen, if you're angry, take it out on me. It has nothing to do with Finn."
"Perfect." Kristen raised her hand for another slap.
Before her palm could land, Finn seized her wrist midair. His eyes on her were ravenous, voice squeezed from his throat. "Kristen, don't push your luck."
Kristen tried to wrench free and failed more than once. "Finn, it's you two… who've gone too far!"
She'd already stepped aside to give Grace her place. She held proof of their cheating and still hadn't thrown it online—saving their faces. But if they insisted on shoving disgust in hers, then she didn't need to endure it any longer.
"Apologize to Grace!" Finn repeated, crushing her wrist as if to grind the bone.
Kristen flicked a glance at the fragile, oh-so-helpless Grace behind him and let a cool smile lift her lips. "The one who should apologize is Grace. I still have the cheating evidence. If I post it online…"
Before she could finish, Grace burst into tears. "Finn…"
Finn's brows slashed tight, his face growing uglier by the second. He glanced at Grace, weeping like rain. "Go back first. Don't worry. I'll handle it."
Then he dragged Kristen toward his car.
She struggled, but she was no match for his strength. "What are you doing? Let go! Finn, let me go—"
He ignored her entirely, shoved her into the car, and locked the doors.
The cramped space held only the two of them, and Finn's dark, heavy expression pressed the air down even further.
Kristen turned her head to him. "What do you want?"
"Your phone." He thrust out his hand. "Delete the records."
Kristen turned away with a cold laugh. "In your dreams."
Finn didn't waste words. He snatched her bag, dug out her phone, and tried to unlock it.
Kristen didn't flinch, watching him punch at passwords. "Don't bother. It's backed up to the cloud. Smash my phone and it won't matter."
With a furious crack, Finn hurled the phone against the window; it bounced and fell onto the floor mat.
Kristen's body trembled despite herself. She looked at his flailing rage with no fear in her eyes—only a calm release, as if she finally saw him clearly.
So this was the man she loved for three years, the one she nearly quit the industry for.
Nothing special, after all.
"What will it take for you to delete them?" Finn ground out between his teeth.
"I won't delete them. I'm keeping them to remind myself just how stupid I once was—believing in love, believing in a man—and where that got me." Once the records were gone, she'd lose her leverage. She absolutely wouldn't delete them.
"Kristen, you're a woman—you know if that stuff gets out, Grace's life is over…" Seeing she wouldn't budge, Finn forced his tone softer. "Delete the records, and anything you want as compensation, I'll give you."
"I don't need your compensation." Kristen's stance didn't waver. "If she dared send you those pictures, she should have thought about the consequences."
Realizing she wouldn't yield to threats or persuasion, Finn's eyes narrowed. In the next beat, he leaned in—
Kristen tensed at once. "What are you trying to do?"
( End of Chapter )
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