Chapter 208
Chapter 208:
“I’m just glad you aren’t hurt,” she said. “Don’t waste your energy on garbage. I’ll have a pair of limited-edition Louboutins sent to your apartment tomorrow to replace the heel.” A genuine, soft laugh escaped her. “If Cole wants to make himself a receptacle for toxic waste, let him. We have a much larger empire to build p>
She released the button.
Without hesitating, she pressed her thumb to the screen, selected every photograph of Cole and Alycia, and deleted them. She didn’t save them as evidence. She didn’t linger over them. She erased them from her digital memory as completely as she had erased Cole from her soul.
She set the phone face-down on the counter, pulled her safety goggles back over her eyes, and returned to the microscope.
At one in the morning, June finally left the lab.
Her private driver took her back to the penthouse. She stood under a long, scalding shower until the sterile smell of the lab was entirely gone, then changed into deep emerald silk pajamas and poured herself a glass of red wine.
𝘛𝗁𝗼𝗎𝘴an𝖽𝘀 𝗈f 𝗋𝘦а𝖽𝘦r𝘴 𝗼n
She carried it to the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked out over the glittering sprawl of the city.
The complete severance of her emotional dependence on Cole felt like something had been surgically removed from her spine. She felt light. She felt genuinely free.
She raised the glass.
A sharp electronic beep sounded from the front door.
June went still. The wine glass stopped inches from her lips.
Only she had the biometric code for that lock.
The heavy metal handle was shoved down hard. A rush of cold hallway air swept into the warm apartment.
A large, dark figure stepped into the foyer.
June turned. The ambient light of the city caught his face.
Cole. A small medical box in his right hand. His face a mask of dark, barely contained fury.
The Compton Group was the primary developer of the building. He had bypassed the security protocols and obtained the master override key from the building manager.
He had come tonight to assert his dominance — to warn June to control Vera. He had expected to find her in tears, or furious, or broken by the photographs he knew Vera had sent.
Instead, he found her at the window in silk, with a glass of wine, looking entirely at peace.
The sight detonated something in his chest.
He slammed the door shut behind him. The sound cracked through the quiet living room like a gunshot. He took a heavy step forward, bringing the full weight of the storm directly into her sanctuary.
The main lights were off. Only the neon glow of the Manhattan skyline bled through the glass walls, casting long, sharp shadows across the floor.
Cole crossed the room toward her, his footsteps heavy and deliberate against the hardwood. His dark eyes swept over the emerald silk, over the composed stillness of her face, over the glass of wine held loosely in her hand. She looked beautiful. She looked entirely unbothered. The combination made his blood run hot.
June didn’t scream. She didn’t step back.
She lowered her wine glass and looked at him with quiet, undisguised revulsion.
“Who gave you permission to break into my home?” Her voice was flat and cold as a blade.