Winning Back His Ex's Wife's Broken Heart by Hayley

Chapter 96 Richard pov.

The anger hitfast, followed by a wave of regret. "I should have known," I muttered, my jaw clenching as I dropped the paper onto the table. "I should've seen this coming." Sarah stepped closer, her hand resting on my arm. "Richard, you couldn't have known. You trusted him because... well, because he was family to you." "Family," I echoed, the word tasting bitter. "Sfamily he turned out to be. He was there through everything, and now... now he's part of this mess, trying to tear us down." I turned away, trying to calm myself. This betrayal cut deep. But standing there, feeling Sarah's gaze on my back, I felt something else-something that was stronger than anger or regret. Trust. She'd trustedenough to tell me, to showthis evidence, even when it could have blown up in both our faces.

"Sarah," I said, my voice low, turning back to her. "Thank you. For telling me." She looked surprised, like she hadn't expectedto say that. "I just... I knew I couldn't keep it from you, even if it hurt. We need to be honest with each other if we're going to get through this." I nodded, letting her words sink in. She was right. The only way out of this mess was together, and that meant I had to stop trying to protect her by keeping her in the dark.

She'd stood bythis whole time, trustedwhen no one else would. It was tI trusted her as much as she trusted me.

"We're going to find out everything," I said firmly, looking into her eyes.

"We're going to dig into every part of this, even if it means looking at people I never thought I'd have to question. And I want you with me, every step of the way." A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "You mean that?" I reached for her hand, squeezing it gently. "I do. I don't want to do this alone, not anymore." She nodded, looking relieved, like a weight had lifted off her shoulders too. "Then let's start with him," she said, nodding towards the document on the table.

"If he's connected to the network, there has to be a trail. Something we can use to understand what we're really up against." Together, we sat down and went through the document, picking apart every line, and every detail. It felt strange, sitting there with her, combing through evidence, strategizing like partners.

I'd spent so much ttrying to shield her from this side of my world, but now, with her beside me, it felt... right. Like I should've let her in a long tago.

As we worked, I caught glimpses of Sarah's expression-focused, determined. She wasn't afraid, not anymore. And seeing that made something shift inside me. She'd been stronger than I'd given her credit for, and now that we were doing this together, I realized how much I'd underestimated her. We were a team, and if we were going to take down this network, I had to start seeing her as my equal in every sense.

Hours passed, and the more we uncovered, the more tangled the web seemed to get. The network had their hands in everything, but there were still gaps, holes we could use. And every new piece of information we found madefeel like we were one step closer to finding a way out.

"Look at this," Sarah said, pointing to a note scribbled in the margins. "It's a list of people connected to him- sof them have been in touch with the company recently, remember?" I nodded, following her lead as she pieced it all together. "If we can connect any of these people back to the network, we'll have proof. Enough to clear our names and maybe even take down a few of their operations." She looked at me, her eyes shining with a mix of hope and determination. "Do you think he was... forced into this? Maybe he got in over his head, and the network pulled him in." The thought made my stomach turn. "Maybe. But at the end of the day, he still chose to betray me, Sarah. And if he's willing to do that, then he's part of the problem. We can't let ourselves feel sorry for him." She nodded, her expression hardening. "You're right. We have to focus on stopping them, no matter what." A silence settled between us as we both absorbed the weight of what we were about to do.

We were taking on something bigger than either of us, but we were doing it together. And somehow, that made all the difference.

"I'll do whatever it takes to protect us," I said quietly, reaching over to take her hand. "Whatever it takes." She squeezed my hand, givinga small, reassuring smile. too. We're in this together now, Richard. For real this time."

For the first tin weeks, I felt a spark of hope. We had a plan, we had each other, and even though the road ahead was uncertain, knew onen thing for sure we were stronger together than we'd ever been alone. "Then let's go through every one of these names," I said, nodding towards the list. "We'll track down everyone he's been in contact with and see who's loyal and who's playing both sides." She looked at me, her expression serious. "And if we find out it's someone close to us?"

I took a deep breath, feeling the weight of her question. "Then we deal with it, Sarah. No matter who it is. We ve can't let anything or anyone get in the way of this." She nodded, a steely look in her eyes. "Then let's get started." As we sat there, pouring over every detail, every connection, I felt something shift between us.

This wasn't just about taking down a network or clearing my nanymore. This was about us, about building something strong enough to withstand any storm.

I felt like I wasn't fighting this battle alone. Sarah was with me, truly with me, and as we worked side by side, I realized I was finally ready to let her in.