"You're a real piece of work, Samuel. Lois treated you like her own brother when she was a kid. She trusted you with everything she had. She grew up and married you, gave you her whole heart. But she could never have imagined — not in her wildest nightmares — that the person who destroyed her mother's life's work, the person who drove her mother to her death, was you all along."
I clenched my fists so hard my nails cut into my palms. The pain was blinding, but it was nothing — not even a fraction — compared to the agony ripping through my chest. Inside the room, Grayson's voice rose again, dripping with insinuation:
"Think about it. This poor, clueless woman runs your household every day, helps you manage the jewelry business, gives you everything she's got. She'd hand you the whole world if she could. If she ever found out that you were the one who sold her mother's core patents to a competitor — that you personally drove her mother to her grave — do you think she'd skin you alive?"
"Shut your mouth."
Samuel's voice cut through like a blade of ice, low and tightly controlled, laced with barely restrained agitation.