Keller's dismissal set the whole department buzzing, and every head turned toward Audrey with the same unfriendly look. A pretty face, in a room full of people who thought they were the best in the city.

"Watch your mouth, Mr. Keller." Before Jason could answer, Audrey's eyes cut to him, her smile cold. "Skill isn't something you announce. It's something you show. If this company could handle a problem this small, you wouldn't have called anyone."

"Why, you—" Keller went red.

The programmers bristled. Every one of them believed they were elite.

Audrey didn't waste another word. She flipped open her laptop. "Reid. Coffee."

Reid stepped up, handed over the iced coffee, and moved out of her light. "Here you go, Ms. Griffin."

The machine woke in under three seconds. Her hands moved fast and without hesitation. Within moments, monitors across the room flickered, numbers recalibrating and shifting on their own.

"Stop her!"

Keller lunged, panic in his voice. He was certain she was about to wipe them.

He grabbed a cup of cold water off the nearest desk, ready to pour it into her laptop. "Somebody stop her!"

Two techs tried. Their keyboards were dead.

On the walls, the numbers kept spinning, faster and faster.

"Mr. Keller." A hand closed on his shoulder from behind. "Wait. Look at the screens before you do something stupid." The tech lead was frowning.

Keller scanned the monitors. His eyes went wide. "Did we just—did that bug close?"

He looked at Audrey. She was typing one-handed now, sipping her coffee.

Just then, Diego Ramos walked in with a small box in his hand and took in the room.

Under the fluorescents, Audrey looked serious and completely unshakable, her focus locked on the screen. The confidence didn't grate on him. It pulled at him.

Something long dormant stirred in his chest.

"Mr. Keller, this is emergency support only. Get a competent firm to build you a new system inside a month. After that, we're not liable for anything you lose." Audrey hit one last key, closed the laptop, and turned to go.

And came face to face with Diego. She stepped back on instinct and nearly caught her hip on the edge of a desk.

"Careful—" He reached out without thinking and pulled her in.

The clean, familiar smell of him registered before anything else, and for one traitorous second her body remembered exactly what it was like to be held by him.

Color crept up her neck. She got her composure back and put professional distance between them. "Thank you, Mr. Ramos."

And even now, he lingered in her head. It infuriated her.

Diego frowned at how deliberately far away she'd stepped.

"The gift I ordered. Happy birthday." He held out the box.

Audrey hesitated. She was surprised he'd remembered at all. It didn't soften anything. "Thank you, Mr. Ramos. That isn't necessary."

The room went still. Had the CEO just given someone a present?

Jason quietly cleared everyone out, leaving the two of them alone in the open floor.

When Diego kept holding it out, Audrey sighed and opened it. Inside was a delicate bracelet, interlocking loops set with small diamonds, and a charm shaped like a little dog.

Something in her chest went hard. "Mr. Ramos, when you buy someone a gift, it helps to know what they actually like. I prefer wolves."

She was also allergic to dogs, which he'd never noticed either.

Lila loved dogs. Diego's house was full of little ceramic ones—something Audrey had discovered the week she moved in.

Regret flickered across his face. He'd assumed she liked them too; he'd seen her browsing them online once. "I'm sorry. Can we talk?"

Audrey paused, then turned back. "I'm busy, Mr. Ramos. Anything business-related goes through my assistant. Anything else—unless it's legal—let's not. I wouldn't want to get in the way of you and your girlfriend."

She walked out, heels steady, and left the tech floor murmuring behind her.

"I'll walk you down," Reid said, hurrying after her.

"No need." She shut it down flat.

Right now, anyone connected to Diego was unbearable.

As the elevator doors closed, Audrey leaned back against the wall. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her face pale.

She had never mattered to him. A man who could get a gift that wrong had never once been paying attention. Ending it had been right.

Her hand moved to her abdomen. Thinking of the baby, something in her face softened.

She wasn't alone. Not really.

Then a sharp pang shot through her—the day catching up with her, probably.

"Ms. Griffin." Reid was waiting when the doors opened, and his face changed when he saw how pale she was. "Are you all right?"

She gripped his arm. "Take me to a hospital. Now."

She was barely eight weeks along.

"What?" He got her into the car fast. "Should I call an ambulance?"

"Just drive."

She bit her lip, both hands over her stomach.

Hold on, she thought. You and me. We're fine.

The car pulled up at the city hospital.

"Sit here, I'll get you registered." Reid steered her to a bench and hurried to the desk.

As her pulse settled, the pain eased a little.

She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her notes. Coming back to the company meant setting its direction all over again.

"Audrey Griffin. Well. It really is you."

A woman's voice, and it was enjoying itself.

Audrey looked up and went cold.

The woman was striking even furious—a narrow, catlike face, a small mole high on one cheekbone, the kind of looks that photographed better than they behaved.

Where Audrey was quiet and unhurried, Lila Stone came at you like weather.

"Lila." Audrey blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"You've got some nerve, showing your face. But let me spell it out for you. If Diego doesn't love you, he doesn't love you. You could hand him a hundred better reasons and he'd still walk out the door after me." Lila's smile was pure goading.

That little curve of her mouth said everything. Triumph, plain and simple.

She waved one pale hand, and the bracelet on her wrist caught the light. Impossible to miss.

Audrey's chest clenched. She knew that bracelet. Diego had put an identical one on her wrist two years ago and told her it was a family heirloom, passed to the women who married into the Ramos family.

So it hadn't been indifference. It had been contempt.

Audrey stood, and made herself smile. "Ms. Stone, do I look like I'm competing with you? If you want leftovers, take them. I won't stand in your way."

"You—" Lila's eyes flashed.

"Spare me. They're all yours." Audrey turned to go.

Then Lila crumpled sideways toward her, like a puppet with its strings cut.

Audrey stepped clear on instinct, one hand flying to her stomach. If Lila landed on her, the baby—

"Audrey, help me. Please—"

Audrey froze, and a shadow fell across her.

The man scooped Lila up like something breakable and pinned Audrey with a look. "I knew you didn't like her. I didn't think you'd put your hands on her."

Audrey laughed, sharp and incredulous. "Did you actually see anything? I never touched her."

Lila pressed closer to Diego, eyes brimming. "It's my fault. She didn't do anything."

"And you're still defending her."

That was the thing that cracked her. Heat rushed to Audrey's face. Half the waiting room was watching her get humiliated in public by a man she'd loved for three years.

Pride wouldn't let her stand there another second. She straightened her spine and walked. The tears came the moment her back was turned.

Pain could fade into a dull ache. Tears could fall without permission. And still, she couldn't seem to put him down.

You are unbelievable, Diego Ramos.

"She looked upset. You should go after her," Lila said, all careful concern, smiling into his shoulder.

"Never mind her. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. I've already called friends, they're on their way. Please go—she was pale, and she's on her own." Lila had already clocked the man waiting by the doors.

Diego hesitated. Pale. That stuck. He went.

Reid spotted Audrey heading for the exit with red eyes and slipped the registration form out of sight. She'd been clear: nobody was to know about the pregnancy. Especially not Diego.

"Guess we're not making that appointment," he muttered.

"Audrey!" Diego called, picking up his pace.

"Mr. Ramos." Reid stepped into his path. "Hold on."

"You've got a lot of free time, Mr. Medina. Always trailing after Ms. Griffin." The irritation surprised even him.

Reid smiled, unbothered. "She doesn't want to see you. I'd stop chasing her if I were you. You have your own obligations." He tilted his head toward the waiting room. "Isn't somebody waiting?"

Diego's expression cooled. "How is any of this your business?"

He was winding up to say more when his phone rang. His mother. Aurelia Ramos.

He picked up fast. "Hi, Mom."

"Diego, what exactly do you think you're doing? Bring Audrey home. Tonight."

Aurelia's voice, normally unflappable, had an edge in it. She had objected to the marriage three years ago. Now they were ending it without telling her, and she'd had to hear about it secondhand.

Widowed young, she'd raised Diego with his grandfather's help, through one hard year after another. He'd built himself into the man who ran Ramos Enterprises. And this was what he did with it.

Diego's eyes darkened. "Understood."

He turned to Lila apologetically and handed her a card. "I'm sorry. Something's come up at home."

Lila's irritation simmered under the surface. She'd expected him to react to Audrey leaving with another man. He hadn't.

She took the card with a sweet smile. "Of course. I'm still waiting on that wedding, you know."

She waved it at him. "Thanks, Diego."

Audrey's car was pulling out when Diego stepped in front of the door. "My mother wants us at the house."

Audrey, who had only just stopped crying, frowned. Aurelia wanted them home?

Her mother-in-law had never once interfered. What had changed?

Out of respect for Aurelia, she felt obliged to go. She hadn't been the one to end this marriage, so she wouldn't be the one apologizing for it.

"Fine. Move so I can shut the door."

The waiting room replayed itself in her head and her chest twisted. Right now she didn't want to look at him.

Diego's hand stayed on the door. "Ride with me. Are you really going to be this stubborn?"

Audrey could hardly believe it. After all of it, he still expected her to smooth things over for him, days before the divorce was final.

"Reid. See him out." Her voice was flat.

Reid, hovering three steps back, blinked. Why was he being dragged into this? Still, he stepped forward. "Mr. Ramos. If you would."

Jaw tight, Diego let go of the door. "If you're walking into my mother's house, you're arriving with me." It wasn't a request.

Audrey nodded, unbothered. The threat didn't land.

At the Ramos house, Aurelia was in the living room with a cup of coffee, back straight, expression severe. Beneath it, she had always struck Audrey as more warm than hard.

Audrey hadn't spent much time with her during the marriage, but Aurelia and Diego's grandfather had never treated her as anything but family.

"Hello, Mrs. Ramos," Audrey said. With the divorce going through, she'd decided to change how she addressed her. A clean slate needed clean lines.

Aurelia nodded, apparently unbothered by it. As far as she was concerned, Audrey belonged to this family, divorce or no divorce. She held out a velvet box. "Happy birthday, Audrey."

Then her eyes cut to her son. "You're getting divorced, and you thought you didn't owe me a conversation?"

Diego rubbed his temple. "Mom, you don't get involved in this."

"Because Audrey turned out to be a better daughter-in-law than I had any right to expect. Let me be clear with you. Nobody else is welcome in this house. Not Lila. Not ever." Aurelia knew a great deal more than either of them had told her.

She turned back to Audrey and her face softened. She took Audrey's hand. "Whatever happens between the two of you, you're still family to me and to his grandfather. Come and see us."

Something in Audrey's chest eased. "Thank you, Mrs. Ramos."

Watching them, Diego felt a strange discomfort settle under his ribs. Lila alone at the hospital surfaced in his mind, and the irritation came with it.

"If there's nothing else, I'll go."

Aurelia's disappointment was open. "Go, then. But you know where this family stands."

"Audrey. Coming?" He gave her a look that meant they weren't finished.

She hesitated, then tucked the velvet box into her bag and smiled at Aurelia. "It's late. I'll come back soon."

"Take care of yourself," Aurelia said, walking them to the door.

Outside, the tension found them again.

"Audrey," Diego said, "since my family knows, we stop dragging this out. Tomorrow, eight o'clock, my attorney's office. We sign the final agreement and file."

Something heavy settled in her chest. "Fine."

"One more thing. I'd rather you didn't come here so often. I don't want Lila getting the wrong idea, or my mother deciding against her before she's met her."

Audrey glanced back at the house, then gave him a thin, ironic smile. "Do you get to decide who your mother sees? My relationship with Mrs. Ramos is mine. It has nothing to do with you. And whatever happens between you and your beloved is none of my business."

She walked off without looking back, heels striking a steady rhythm on the drive.

In the car, she told the driver, "Home."

As they pulled away, she opened the velvet box. Inside was a brooch, old and unmistakably fine. She recognized it at once—a piece the family kept, not the kind of thing you handed a woman on her way out. Exhaustion crashed over her. She leaned back and closed her eyes while three years of her life flickered past.

A strange, unplaceable sadness settled over her. Once, she'd cared about nothing but money and done exactly as she pleased. Loving Diego had changed her, and not for the better.

Time to go back to being herself.

The car stopped at her house. Nancy was waiting at the door, beaming. "Ms. Griffin. You're home."

Nancy's eyes flicked meaningfully toward the second floor, her grin widening. Audrey followed it and found a tall figure leaning on the stair rail.

Crisp white shirt, tailored black trousers, a smile like he'd never had a bad week in his life. "Welcome home, Audrey," he said, and opened his arms.

"What are you doing here, Omar?" Reid's voice came from behind her as he went forward to shake his hand.

Omar Bell gave him a look. "I heard Ramos Enterprises was coming apart at the seams and figured Audrey was finally getting divorced. So here I am. She's back, so we're celebrating. This calls for a night out."

He waved Reid off, linked his arm through Audrey's, and steered her toward the dressing room. "Surprise."

The wardrobe, empty two weeks ago, was full—clothes, shoes, accessories, every piece chosen for her. Half of it custom.

Omar pulled out a black strapless top and a leather skirt and pushed them at her. "We have to look like we belong, don't we?"

Audrey took them. "Give me five minutes."

"Take ten." He shooed her toward the door, then added, "Oh—Audrey. There's something you should probably know."