Chapter 2: Get Out of My Life
Anna closed her eyes, feeling the sting of fresh tears burning against her skin. It wasn't the first time Robert had hit her, but each blow carried a new, crushing weight of humiliation.
"How dare you accuse me of his death?" Robert hissed, his narrowed eyes burning with unconcealed rage. "I did everything I could! You have no right to complain!"
Complain?
Anna let out a hollow laugh—bitter and devoid of amusement. After all these years, after everything they had been through, he hadn't changed. Not even a little.
"You could have done more," she murmured in a quiet voice. Her gaze remained fixed on the floor, as if looking at him might break what little control she had left. "Or at the very least... you could have told me before it was too late."
A sob pressed against her throat, but she swallowed it down. She refused to break—not now.
Six years ago, when the Hyde family teetered on the brink of financial ruin, her father, Steven Adler, had been their last hope. He had invested everything—his fortune, his trust, his very future—into Robert's desperate attempt to salvage his family's name.
Robert had been eager to launch his own software startup, chasing after the latest trends in tech, but no investor had wanted to take a chance on him. His track record was disastrous—several failed businesses, countless burned bridges, and a reputation that warned others to stay away.
But Anna... she had believed in him.
Naive and devoted, she had pleaded with her father to help.
And in the end, it had cost him everything.