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

Chapter 97 Sarah's pov.

The past few weeks had pushedfurther than I ever thought I could go.

Sitting in the dimly lit room with Richard beside me, a file of secrets splayed across the table, I felt something strange-a calm I hadn't felt in ages. Maybe it was because, for the first time, we were moving as one. Whatever cnext, we'd face it together.

James hovered at the edge of the room, his presence remindingof how far we'd come, how we'd gone from fearing him to needing his help.

I still didn't trust him fully, but in this fight, he was an essential piece. He'd been our link to the network, revealing things we'd never have known otherwise.

"Here it is," James said, pointing to a creased map on the table. "They keep their ledger, the core of their operations, here." His finger rested on a small, out-of-the-way warehouse marked on the map. Richard leaned over, studying it with narrowed eyes. "So all their dirty dealings, the whole network's transactions... it's all stored in this one place?" James nodded. "They think no one would dare go near it. But they don't know you're desperate enough to try." I swallowed hard, my fingers running over the edges of the papers in front of me. This was it.

This ledger was the key, the Achilles' heel of the network. If we could get our hands on it, we could bring the whole operation down.

But the reality of what we were planning hit me. "And once we have it?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. "They'll cafter us, won't they?" Richard looked at me, his hand finding mine under the table. His touch was warm, steady, grounding me. "Yes," he said simply.

"But we'll be ready for them. This is our chance, Sarah. Our only chance to end this." I searched his eyes, feeling the weight of what he was saying. We'd both been through so much, and yet, here we were, willing to risk it all one more time. "Then let's do it," I said, trying to steady my voice. "We can't keep running, Richard." James nodded, clearly relieved we'd agreed. "Tomorrow night," he said, packing up the map. "We'll go in after dark." Once he was gone, it was justand Richard again. Silence settled around us, thick with unspoken fears and thoughts. I looked at him, studying the lines on his face, the slight furrow in his brow. There was a strength in him now that hadn't been there before, a determination I hadn't seen since the beginning of all this.

"Are you scared?" I asked, not sure if I wanted him to say yes or no.

He let out a soft chuckle. "More than I'd like to admit. But I'm more scared of what'll happen if we don't do this." His answer hitharder than I'd expected. I was scared, too-terrified, actually. But deep down, I knew this was our only shot at freedom.

That night, lying in bed, I couldn't sleep. My mind kept spinning, thinking of all the ways this could go wrong. But then I thought about all we'd been through to get here, the times we'd fought, the times we'd nearly broken apart. I realized something: despite everything, Richard and I were still standing. Together. The trust we'd built, the battles we'd won-none of it had ceasy, but it was real. And it was strong.

"Richard?" I whispered in the dark.

"Hmm?" he murmured, turning over to face me.

"We're going to make it through this, right?" He reached out, his hand warm against my cheek. "Yes," he said, and even though his voice was quiet, there was a certainty in it that madebelieve him. "We'll get through this. Together." The next day, as dusk approached, we prepared ourselves. I checked the contents of my bag a dozen times, my hands shaking despite my best efforts to keep calm. This was happening. We were really doing this. Richard watched me, his gaze soft but serious. "You ready?" "As ready as I'll ever be," I replied, meeting his eyes. There was no turning back now. We left, heading toward the warehouse with nothing but the clothes on our backs and the knowledge that we'd either walk out of there with the key to freedom or not at all.

When we arrived, the building loomed in front of us, dark and silent. James had been waiting, hidden in the shadows, his face barely visible in the dim light.

"It's all clear," he whispered. "Let's move." Inside, the air was cold and stale, and every step we took seemed to echo through the empty hallways. We followed James down a narrow corridor until we reached a locked door.

"This is it," he murmured, pulling out a small set of tools to pick the lock.

I held my breath, every nerve in my body on edge. As the lock clicked open, a rush of adrenaline shot through me. This was real. We were really doing this.

Inside the room, shelves lined the walls, stacked with boxes and files. And in the middle of it all, there it was-the ledger. A thick, leather-bound book that seemed to hold all the answers, all the secrets we'd been searching for. Richard picked it up, his hands steady but his expression grim. "This is it," he said quietly, flipping through the pages. Each line was a transaction, a record of every underhanded deal, every betrayal. It was all here. "We have enough to take them down," I whispered, hardly able to believe it.

He nodded, closing the ledger and tucking it under his arm. "Then let's get out of here." But as we turned to leave, I felt a chill run down my spine. Something wasn't right. "Wait," I whispered, grabbing Richard's arm.

A second later, the sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway. banic shot They were through me, but Richard's grip tightened on my hand. "Stay calm," he whispered, his voice steady. "We'll find another way out."

James pointed to a side door, and we hurried through, slipping into a dark stairwell. My heart pounded as wedescended, every step bringing us closer to freedom-or danger. When we finally emerged outside, I felt like I could breathe again. We'd done it. We had the ledger. And even though we were far from safe, I felt a surge of hope. As we walked away, I looked up at Richard, a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. "We actually did it." He smiled back, his eyes shining with relief and pride. "Yes, we did."

In that moment, standing there with him, I realized how far we'd come. The trust we'd built, the battles we'd won-none of it had ceasy. But it was real, and it was strong. "We're going to take them down, aren't we?" I asked, feeling a newfound confidence. He nodded, his gaze fierce. "Yes. We're going to end this." As we walked away, hand in hand, I knew that whatever cnext, we were ready. We'd cthrough fire to get here, but we were stronger for it.

And as long as we were together, nothing could stop us.