Chapter 6 - ZAYN CAME TO NEW YORK
Zayn arrived in New York six days later.
Mason did not want to see him.
Amanda insisted.
“He has documents.”
So they met in a neutral conference room.
Zayn looked completely different in a winter coat and no resort sunlight around him.
Smaller, somehow.
Less like the man from the beach.
More like someone who had made a series of very bad decisions and finally understood they were connected.
He put a flash drive on the table.
“These are all my messages with Talia.”
Mason stared.
“Why give them to me?”
“Because she lied to me too.”
“That doesn’t make you my ally.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
Zayn nodded.
Then told them the part Talia still had not admitted.
She had proposed that once the land deal closed, she would leave Mason.
Not someday.
Immediately.
She had shown Zayn apartment listings in Miami.
Discussed moving Blue Meridian operations there.
Told him Mason would “be angry but practical.”
Mason laughed bitterly.
Practical.
Apparently every betrayer needs a flattering word for the victim’s expected silence.
Then Zayn opened one message.
Talia:
If Mason fights the transfer after I sign the management package, I’ll remind him how bad a divorce fight would look to his clients.
Mason’s face changed.
Amanda leaned forward.
“What management package?”
Zayn opened attachments.
There it was.
A postnuptial draft.
It would not transfer half the company automatically.
But it contained language acknowledging Talia’s expanded managerial role and certain marital claims around appreciation of the business.
Useful leverage in a divorce.
Not guaranteed victory.
But enough to make litigation expensive.
Mason looked at Zayn.
“Did she say I agreed?”
“Yes.”
“Did you believe her?”
“At first.”
“When did you stop?”
Zayn looked ashamed.
“After the anniversary beach.”
Mason almost laughed.
“The moment I showed up?”
“No.”
Zayn paused.
“The moment she told you to go home.”
Mason frowned.
Zayn continued.
“She looked happy that you were leaving.”
That sentence hurt more than expected.
Not because Mason still wanted Talia.
Because it confirmed the humiliation had been intentional.
Not a defensive outburst.
A desired outcome.
She wanted him gone.
At least for that moment.
Maybe longer.
Zayn added quietly:
“I’m sorry.”
Mason looked at him.
“For what part?”
“Touching your wife in front of you.”
“That’s the smallest part.”
“I know.”
“Sleeping with her?”
“Yes.”
“Helping her lie?”
“Yes.”
“Thinking I was a problem in a story she wrote for you?”
Zayn looked down.
“Yes.”
Mason nodded.
“Then live with it.”
May you like
He did not forgive him.
He did not need to.
