Michael's POV
Allyson had crossed the line.
Again.
I sat back in my office chair, jaw clenched as I replayed every act of her rebellion from today. She had ignored my phone calls. Made excuses about work when she was actually having lunch with Kenneth. Then lied straight to my face about it.
I had believed her at first. Even when every instinct screamed that something was off. Not just about Kenneth either. There was something else she was keeping from me. Something bigger. I could sense it in the way she avoided my eyes, the tension in her shoulders when she thought I wasn't watching.
But I pushed those thoughts away.
Because I had made a choice to trust her.
Trust. The word tasted bitter in my mouth. I hadn't trusted anyone in years. Not in business deals. Definitely not with my heart. Yet here I was, giving her chances I had never given anyone else.
I refused to let the ghosts of my past destroy what we were building.
