Danny finally had a lead. His ex-girlfriend, the woman who had once been his everything, was staying at the luxury penthouse suite of a five-star hotel. He clenched his fists as he stood in the elevator, heart pounding with a mixture of anger and anticipation. For years, he had imagined this moment—not a reunion of love, but a reckoning. She had abandoned him without explanation, left him to rot in a cell while he clung to memories of her visits that stopped far too soon. She’d left him in darkness, and now he was going to pull her into the light of his success.

When the elevator doors opened, he strode purposefully down the corridor, his designer shoes clicking on the marble floor. Everything about him screamed power and wealth, a sharp contrast to the man she’d left behind. He reached her door, the keycard already swiped—money had a way of granting access to locked doors.

Danny stepped inside, the suite dimly lit by the moonlight filtering through floor-to-ceiling windows. His gaze landed on her almost immediately. She was lying on the massive king-sized bed, her hair spread across the pillows, her breathing steady and calm. She looked peaceful, content—everything Danny hadn’t been for years.

His jaw tightened as anger surged through him. How could she sleep so soundly, after everything? Slowly, he walked to the side of the bed, his towering figure casting a shadow over her. She stirred slightly but didn’t wake. He took a moment to absorb the sight of her, a strange mix of longing and fury twisting in his chest.

“Wake up,” he growled, his voice low but firm, dripping with venom. He didn’t come here to let her dream peacefully. “It’s time you faced what you left behind.”