“Anneke!”
The agonized cry was torn out of him as Marcus fell to his knees.
His eyes closed.
And he missed that one moment Anneke turned around to look at him through the car window, the sound of her name on his lips making her weep silently.
Marcus.
Marcus.
Marcus.
One
Her first few daysback home sailed past on a blank sea of numbness. Anneke found herself staring sightlessly outside the windows of her apartment, unable to appreciate all the little things that she used to cherish. The way raindrops turned the city into an artistic blur, the vivid reflection of historical buildings on the canal’s waters, the faint but comforting noise of footsteps and laughter outside her apartment – all these things were proof that the world was still turning, and she had loved that. It had made her smile.
But it was different now.
The magic was gone. Nothing was beautiful. And she was lost.
When a week had gone past and she still couldn’t feel, Anneke’s pragmatic side asserted itself and she decided enough was enough. Showing up at work, she steeled herself for curious glances and nosy questions, but it took only a few minutes for her to realize that she had underestimated Willem’s powers of manipulation.
Apparently, everyone believed that Anneke had been down with the flu the entire week, and with the exception of her siblings, no one seemed to know she had done aBritneyin Vegas.
When she met her eldest brother in the conference room for their regular meeting with the board, she could only look at him, knowing he’d understand even if it were only her heart speaking the words.
Thank you.
To which Willem only inclined his head, as if telling her she should have known better than to think he’d let his baby sister worry about anything.
Oh, if only.
A part of Anneke truly wanted to go back to being a child. To pretend that she was helpless and let her big bad wolf of a brother solve everything. But she couldn’t. She wasn’t and would never be like that.
And so life continued to march on, with Anneke determined not to let the fact that she wasstillMrs. Ravelli bother her. She would get around to filing for divorce...in time. But for now, she decided to focus all her attention back on work. She poured all of her energy to it, and when DKE wasn’t enough to stave the growing numbness inside of her, she sought the company of other people.