Chapter 5

Kelsey POV

Bennett stared at me, genuine shock finally cracking his composure.

I had never said "no" to him. Not about dinner, not about business, and certainly not about sex.

"Stop being dramatic, Kelsey," he said, closing the distance between us. "Give me the drive. You don't know what you're doing."

"I know exactly what I'm doing," I said, my voice steady as steel. "I am terminating my role here. As of this moment, I am no longer the curator of your money-or your ego."

"You can't terminate family," he sneered, reaching out to grab my arm.

I sidestepped him smoothly.

"I already did," I said. "Mr. Henderson filed the papers an hour ago. And I signed the separation of assets regarding the gallery. The art is mine, Bennett. The building is mine. My grandmother left it to me, not us."

Bennett paused, blinking in confusion. "Henderson works for the family."

"Henderson works for the Don," I corrected him. "And Randolph... your father... he likes me a hell of a lot more than he likes you right now."

Bennett's face went ashy pale.

"You went to my father?"

"I told him everything," I lied.

I hadn't told him everything, but Randolph was old-school. He hated messy public scandals. He loathed that Bennett was making a mockery of the Calloway name with a fake-pregnant intern.

"He sanctioned the divorce," I said, delivering the final blow. "He wants this cleaned up. He wants me gone quietly."

Bennett looked like he had been slapped. His master plan-the breaking, the humiliation, the crawling back-was disintegrating in front of him because his own father had cut the strings.

His phone buzzed.

He ignored it, glaring at me with pure venom. "You think you can just walk away? With my secrets?"

"They aren't your secrets on this drive, Bennett. They are my contacts. My work. My life."

His phone buzzed again. And again.

He growled, ripping the device from his pocket.

"What?" he barked into the receiver.

Then, the transformation happened. The anger vanished, replaced instantly by a frantic, performative panic.

"Is she bleeding? How much? I'm coming. I'm coming right now."

He hung up.

"Alya collapsed," he said, breathless. "She says she's losing the baby."

I almost laughed. It was right on cue. She sensed she was losing his attention, so she manufactured a crisis.

Bennett looked at me, then at the door. He was torn. The predator in him wanted to stay and control me, but the public figure had to play the role of the grieving father.

"This isn't over," he said, jabbing a finger in my face. "Stay here. We will finish this."

He turned and sprinted out of the office.

He didn't even ask why I was there. He didn't ask if I was okay. He chose the lie. Again.

I waited until I heard the elevator ding.

Then I moved.

I didn't stay. I grabbed a duffel bag from the closet and packed only the essentials. My sketchbook. My carving tools. A photo of my mother.

I left the diamonds. I left the furs. I left the couture dresses he had bought to drape over me like a trophy.

I checked my phone. Social media was already blowing up.

Bennett Calloway rushes to hospital! Tragedy strikes the Calloway heir!

Sources say Kelsey Calloway is nowhere to be found. Cold-hearted ex-wife abandons grieving couple.

They were painting me as the villain.

I looked at the headlines. I waited for the anger. I waited for the hurt.

But there was nothing. Just a flat, gray silence.

I felt... bored.

I was bored of his drama. I was bored of his cruelty.

My heart wasn't racing anymore. It was beating slow. Strong.

I walked out of the gallery, locked the door, and slid the key through the mail slot with a satisfying clink.

I hailed a taxi.

"JFK Airport," I said.

I looked out the window as New York City blurred past me. The glittering lights of the skyline looked like the bars of a cage I had finally slipped through.

I touched the USB drive in my pocket.

I pulled out the document Randolph had signed. Permission of Exit.

I wasn't running away. I was moving on.

The taxi merged onto the highway. I didn't look back.

I closed my eyes and whispered to the darkness.

"Goodbye, New York."