She directed her attack back at Deirdre with a voice tight with tears. “What the hell did I do to you, Miss McKinnon?! Why are you doing this to me?! If it’s because you love Bren—if it’s because you want to snatch him away from me, then at least fight me fair and square instead of employing all these disgusting schemes to persecute me!”

In the past, this used to be the sort of trigger that would kick Brendan’s rage straight to the boiling point. He would have immediately booted Deirdre out of the door right there and then. And yet, today, the man simply stood a step away from her, leveling his eyes at hers without a word.

There were signs of conflict in his eyes. There was doubt.

Charlene grimaced. The gnawing panic inside her mind had grown to a chomp. “W-What’s wrong, Bren?”

He handed the document to her. “See for yourself.”

She almost snatched it out of his hand in her franticness. As she read, all the color was drained out of her face. Brendan’s voice, cold and commanding, c