CyndieeBrowns
"People talk. "
People ask.
People wonder.
Their biggest question is always the same: why do I stay with the man who brings tears to my face?
Well... my why is hidden.
Thalia Prescott. At twenty-eight, I am one of the most respected lawyers in the city. In the courtroom I am sharp, controlled, and untouchable. At home, I am something else entirely. Married to Julian Marcus Prescott, a man the world admires, I have perfected the art of smiling through pain. Everyone believes we have the perfect marriage. No one sees what happens when the door closes.
Then he walks into my office.
Michael. Forty-four. Powerful. Private. A man who doesn't need fame to own every room he enters. He hires me for a case that should have been simple... but nothing about him is simple. The late nights. The quiet conversations. The way he looks at me like he can see every crack I've spent years hiding.
I was never supposed to feel anything.
I was never supposed to want more.
And I was never supposed to fall for the one man who makes me remember what it feels like to be seen.
As the case deepens, so does the connection between us. Stolen moments turn into stolen feelings, and the perfect life I fought so hard to maintain begins to unravel. Torn between the man who breaks me and the man who sees me, I am forced to confront the one question I have spent years avoiding:
How long can a woman keep pretending before the truth finally destroys her?
Some women stay because they have no choice.
I stayed because I thought I deserved it.
But Michael is teaching me that maybe... I don't.
In a world of power, secrets, and silent suffering, I must decide whether I will continue to survive... or finally choose to live.
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