I woke to the sound of grinding.
Not loud. Not violent. Just a steady mechanical hum coming from somewhere downstairs.
I lay there in the dark, staring at the ceiling. The clock on the nightstand read 2:07 AM. Cade's side of the bed was empty. Cold.
I sat up. Listened.
The grinding stopped. Started again. Stopped.
I pushed back the covers and stood. My bare feet made no sound on the hardwood as I crossed the bedroom and opened the door.
The hallway was dark except for a thin line of light coming from under Cade's office door at the end of the hall.
I walked toward it.
The grinding got louder. Closer.
I stopped in the doorway.
Cade was hunched over his desk. His back was to me. The desk lamp threw harsh shadows across the wall. In front of him, a paper shredder. The kind with a wide mouth and a clear bin underneath.
He was feeding something into it.
Page by page.
I stepped into the room. "Cade?"
He jerked. Spun around. His face was pale. Tight.
"What are you doing up?" he said.
I looked past him at the shredder. At the bin underneath, half-full of thin white strips.
"What are you shredding?"
He didn't answer.
I walked closer. Saw the stack of paper on his desk. Cream-colored. Heavy stock. The kind you use for legal documents.
I knew that paper.
I'd signed it three years ago.
The licensing agreement. The one that said the recipes belonged to my family. That Cade could use them for the business, but the intellectual property stayed with me. The one we'd had notarized at the lawyer's office downtown.
The original.
"No," I said.
I lunged forward. Reached for the stack.
Cade grabbed my wrist. Hard.
"Don't," he said.
I tried to pull free. He shoved me backward.
I stumbled. My shoulder slammed into the doorframe. Pain shot down my arm.
I stared at him.
He straightened. Picked up the next page. Fed it into the shredder.
The machine whirred. Chewed. Spit thin strips into the bin.
"Cade—"
"Stop," he said. He didn't look at me. Just kept feeding pages. One after another. "It's done, Sloan."
"That's the original agreement."
"I know."
"You can't—"
"I just did." He fed the last page into the machine. Watched it disappear. Then he turned to face me. His jaw was set. His eyes were flat. "There's nothing left to prove you own any of this."
I couldn't breathe.
He stepped closer. Lowered his voice. "You want to fight me? Fine. But you don't have a contract anymore. You don't have proof. It's your word against mine. And I've got a company, a legal team, and a brand worth eight figures. What do you have?"
I looked down at the shredder bin. At the confetti of cream-colored paper. At the pieces of my name, my grandmother's name, scattered and unreadable.
My wrist throbbed where he'd grabbed me. I could already see the bruise forming. Dark and ugly.
I looked back at him.
His face was stone.
And something inside me—something that had been bending and bending for months—snapped clean.
I didn't yell. Didn't cry.
I just turned around and walked out.
I went to the guest bedroom. Locked the door. Sat down at the small desk by the window.
My hands were steady.
I took out my phone.
Searched: *document recovery specialist New York*.
Found a company in Midtown. Twenty-four-hour service. I filled out the contact form. Explained what I needed. Uploaded a photo of the shredder bin I'd taken from the doorway before Cade noticed.
Sent it.
Then I opened my email and pulled up the message I'd sent yesterday to Harper Sterling. She'd replied within an hour. *Let's talk. Tomorrow, 9 AM. My office.*
I typed a new message.
*I need to move faster. Can we meet today? Early as possible.*
I hit send.
Then I searched for forensic labs. Found one in Brooklyn that specialized in food composition analysis. Filled out their intake form. Requested a full breakdown comparing Natasha's reformulated recipes to my grandmother's originals. Uploaded photos of the journal pages—before and after the red ink.
Submitted.
I set the phone down.
Outside, the sky was still dark. The city was quiet.
I looked at my wrist. The bruise was spreading. Purple and red.
I pressed my thumb into it. Felt the ache.
Then I picked up my phone again and opened the camera. Took a photo. Clear. Close-up. Time-stamped.
Saved it.
I sat there until the sky started to lighten. Until the first glow of dawn crept over the rooftops.
My phone buzzed.
Harper Sterling.
*7 AM. I'll have coffee ready.*
I stood up. Walked to the closet. Pulled out a navy sheath dress. Simple. Professional.
I got dressed. Did my hair. Put on lipstick.
Looked at myself in the mirror.
My face was calm. Blank.
I didn't look like someone whose husband had just shoved her into a wall and shredded the only proof of her life's work.
I looked like someone who had work to do.
I picked up my purse. Slipped my phone inside.
Unlocked the door.
Walked downstairs.
Cade was in the kitchen. Coffee in hand. He glanced up when I came in. His face was neutral. Like nothing had happened.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Out," I said.
I walked past him. Opened the front door.
"Sloan."
I stopped. Didn't turn around.
"Don't do anything stupid," he said.
I looked back at him. Met his eyes.
"Too late," I said.
Then I stepped outside and closed the door behind me.
