“You want me to use my family’s legacy to pay off your bad investments,” I said.

“It’s not just my investments, it’s our future,” Daniel insisted, his eyes searching mine for any sign of softening. “If the Mercer Group goes under, we lose everything. The townhouses, the cars, the reputation. We’ll be ruined.”

“You will be ruined,” I corrected him.

Daniel shook his head, a desperate grin appearing on his face, though it looked more like a grimace.

“No, Maya. We are married. We are a team.”

He took a deep breath, trying to regain some of his old composure, though his shoulders remained hunched.

“I won’t file for divorce,” he said, as if presenting me with a grand prize.

I almost laughed.

“You won’t?” I asked.

“No,” Daniel said, his voice growing firmer as he convinced himself of his own value. “We will stay married. We will show everyone that we survived this. I will be the husband you deserve, Maya. I swear it.”

Behind him, Vivian’s face had gone from pale to a deep, mottled red.