Chapter 161
Chapter 161:
Then she rose to her feet, her movements unhurried and impossibly gentle. She placed the Polaroid back into its plastic sleeve, handling the old paper as though it were a priceless artifact. She reached up and wiped the single tear from her cheek, and her face returned to a mask of absolute stone.
“You are overthinking,” June said. Her voice was flat, stripped of any human warmth. “Dust got in my eye p>
The sheer detachment in her tone made Cole’s stomach drop. This was wrong. She was supposed to yell at him. She was supposed to be furious about Alycia. But this freezing, dead calm terrified him in a way no screaming match ever could.
He took a step closer, his hands half-raised — he wanted to grab her shoulders, to shake her until some flicker of emotion surfaced. Before he could reach her, his phone began to vibrate violently in his pocket.
He pulled it out. The screen lit up with a barrage of texts from Alycia.
“Cole, my stomach hurts so badly… I’m terrified… Where are you p>
Nе𝗐 𝗰𝗵𝖺p𝗍e𝗿s evе𝗋y 𝘸е𝗲𝗄 oո g𝘢𝗹ո𝗈𝘃𝘦𝘭ѕ.𝗰оm
The words flashed before him. The heavy, suffocating chain of duty to his dead brother coiled tightly around his neck. He had promised Caleb he would protect her.
Cole’s jaw clenched. He looked at June’s blank face one last time, gritted his teeth, and walked out of the study with heavy, rapid strides.
June stood perfectly still. She listened to the sound of his expensive leather shoes echoing down the hallway. Then she heard his voice — low and suppressed, but unmistakably filled with urgent tenderness.
“Don’t panic. I’m coming right now p>
Those words worked like a massive industrial crusher, pulverizing the very last, microscopic illusion she had ever held about Cole Compton.
She remembered lying in a pool of her own blood. She remembered begging him for help over the phone.
His response then had been: “Stop playing games, June. I don’t have time for your acting p>
His patience, his gentleness, his urgency — they were real. He was fully capable of them. He simply reserved them entirely for other people.
June closed her eyes. A slow, bitterly quiet smile spread across her lips.
Thank you, Cole Compton. Thank you for showing me exactly how foolish I was.
She walked out of the study and came to stand near the grand staircase, looking out through the massive front window. She watched Cole personally open the passenger door of his Bentley. She watched him carefully help a visibly “weakened” Alycia into the car before sliding behind the wheel and driving her back to the city, catering to her every need.
Mrs. Lynch appeared at June’s side, holding a warm glass of milk, her eyes filled with deep, wordless pity.
“Are you alright, Madam?” the housekeeper asked softly.
June accepted the warm glass without looking away from the window. The Bentley’s taillights shrank and dissolved into the dark, rainy night.
“I am fine, Mrs. Lynch,” June said. Her voice was impossibly light, carrying no trace of sorrow. “In fact, I have never been better p>