COULD YOU DANCE WITH ME? MY EX IS WATCHING

The world exploded into chaos.

Marcus plunged into the freezing black water with a choked scream, dragging Lily down with him.

“LILY!” Julian roared. He threw himself onto the ice, not running, but sliding on his stomach to distribute his weight.

Sarah didn't think. The revelation about her father, the betrayal, the lies—it all vanished in the face of the little girl in the yellow raincoat vanishing beneath the ice.

Sarah dropped to the ice and crawled desperately after Julian. The surface groaned and hissed beneath them, threatening to give way at any second.

Julian reached the jagged edge of the hole. The water was violently churning. Marcus had resurfaced, gasping and thrashing blindly, his heavy coat pulling him under. He wasn't holding Lily. In his panic, he had let her go.

“Where is she?!” Julian screamed, grabbing Marcus by the collar of his suit and hauling him toward the edge.

“I don’t know!” Marcus sobbed, coughing up water, his face blue. “I let go!”

Julian shoved Marcus toward the thicker ice, dismissing him entirely, and stared into the pitch-black water. Without a second of hesitation, Julian plunged his hands into the freezing depths, feeling blindly in the dark.

Sarah reached the edge right beside him. The cold radiating from the water was absolute, terrifying.

“Julian!” Sarah cried.

“I can’t feel her!” Julian yelled, sheer panic breaking his voice. He moved to dive in.

“Wait!” Sarah grabbed his shoulder. The moonlight caught a faint glimmer of yellow trapped just beneath the surface of the unbroken ice, two feet to their left. The current had swept Lily under the solid sheet.

“There!” Sarah slammed her fist down on the ice above the yellow blur. It didn't break.

Julian scrambled over. He didn't use his fists. He lifted his elbow and slammed it down with the force of a man possessed. The ice cracked. He hit it again, roaring in pain and desperation. The ice shattered.

Julian reached down and pulled the limp, soaking wet body of his daughter from the water.

Lily wasn't breathing.

“No, no, no, sweetheart, please,” Julian begged, carrying her to the solid bank. He laid her gently on the snow, his hands shaking violently as he began CPR.

Sarah knelt beside him, stripping off her dry wool blanket and wrapping it around Lily’s freezing body. She rubbed the little girl’s hands, tears streaming down her own face.

“Come on, Lily,” Sarah prayed aloud. “Come on.”

One, two, three, breathe. Julian’s face was a mask of sheer agony. One, two, three, breathe.

A terrible, agonizing minute passed.

Then, Lily choked.

Water spewed from her lips, and she sucked in a ragged, gasping breath. She opened her eyes, coughing violently, and began to cry.

Julian collapsed forward, pulling Lily against his chest, burying his face in her wet hair. He sobbed, the sound torn from the deepest part of his soul. “I’ve got you. Daddy’s got you.”

Sarah sat back on her heels, crying silently, relief washing over her in a tidal wave.

A few feet away, Marcus had dragged himself onto the snowy bank. He lay on his back, coughing and shivering violently. The leather ledger he had died trying to protect was floating away, sinking slowly into the dark water.

Julian stood up, holding Lily tightly in his arms. He looked at Marcus. The vulnerability of the father vanished, replaced by the cold wrath of the billionaire.

“The police are on their way,” Julian said, his voice deadly quiet. “You will rot in a cell for the rest of your life. And if you ever speak my daughter's name again, I will make sure you don't survive to see trial.”

Marcus didn't answer. He just curled into a ball, broken and defeated.

Julian turned to Sarah. She stood up, shivering violently in her wet dress. The adrenaline was fading, leaving her exhausted and acutely aware of the devastating truth Marcus had revealed.

“Sarah,” Julian said, stepping toward her.

She held up a hand, stopping him. Her heart was shattered. “Is it true, Julian? Did my father kill your wife?”

Julian stopped. He looked at her, his dark eyes filled with a sorrow that mirrored her own. “Yes.”

“And you bought my company to ruin me.” It wasn't a question.

“Yes,” Julian whispered. “When I found out who you were, I wanted to destroy you. I wanted Arthur Hayes’s daughter to feel the pain I felt.”

A sob tore from Sarah’s throat. She turned away, unable to look at him, wrapping her arms around herself.

“But then,” Julian continued, his voice cracking, stepping closer, “I watched you. I saw how Marcus treated you. I saw your talent. Your kindness. And when you walked up to me at that gala, trembling but so brave, asking me to dance…”

He reached out, his hand hovering inches from her shoulder.

“I realized I was punishing an innocent woman,” Julian said, his voice breaking. “I fell in love with the daughter of the man I hated most. And I have spent every day since trying to figure out how to tell you the truth without losing you.”

Sarah turned back to him. The raw, desperate honesty in his eyes stripped away all her defenses.

Before she could speak, Lily reached out from Julian’s arms, her small, cold hand grabbing Sarah’s finger.

“You helped Daddy save me,” Lily whispered, her teeth chattering.

Sarah’s heart shattered and reformed in the same instant. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around both of them, burying her face against Julian’s chest. He held her tight, a desperate, fierce embrace that promised he would never let go.

Suddenly, the wail of police sirens pierced the silent mountain air.

Julian kissed the top of Sarah’s head. “It’s over.”

“No,” a weak, raspy voice hissed from the bank.

They turned. Marcus had pulled a small, silver object from his soaked pocket. A flash drive.

“The ledger is gone,” Marcus sneered, his teeth chattering uncontrollably. “But the wire transfers… the proof that Sarah signed off on the embezzlement… it’s all on here. I go down, she goes down with me.”