After Eight Years, She Left Me at the Altar for Her First Love novel · Chapter 40 of 48

Chapter 40: Dane's Price

Dane Ostrow came through the gym's front door at closing time on Monday, and he was crying.

Troy stood in the middle of the mat with Hazel on his hip and the last two members of the junior boxing class staring from the bench.

Dane wore a gray hood, and his right hand was still in a cast.

He had not shaved in days.

"Don't," Troy said.

"Please."

"Get out."

"Please. Just hear me." Dane went down on both knees on the rubber floor. "Judith dropped me."

Troy said nothing.

"The minute the recording played, her lawyer called me. They said the Foundation never hired me, and every payment was a personal loan." Dane's voice cracked. "The district attorney called an hour later. Accessory to kidnapping. Because of the boat."

"You drove the boat."

"She said it was for the baby's air! I'm broke. My agent won't pick up. The studio sued me for the contract money, and my landlord changed the locks."

"I paid for none of that."

"I know." Dane lifted his face. "I need you to tell the DA I didn't know."

The front door opened again behind him.

Molly came in with a bag of groceries on her arm.

She stopped dead.

Hazel saw her and shrieked "Mo!" in a voice that bounced off the mirrors, and everyone in the room flinched.

Molly set the bag down very slowly.

"Why is he in my gym?" she said.

"He wants a deal," Troy said.

"I'll do anything," Dane said. "Anything."

Molly crossed the mat and stood over him.

She was five foot four, and he was kneeling, and she looked down at him for a long while.

"You called me the brawler's wife," she said.

"I was told to."

"You live-streamed my baby's empty crib."

"I was paid."

"You stood in a parking lot and told nine hundred thousand people my husband was a thug, and then you punched him in the face to prove it."

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