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Chapter 309
Chapter 309:
“Is that your only move, Cole?” Crawford asked, his voice soaked in absolute contempt. “You use physical violence to hurt the woman you claim to own, because your brain is too pathetic to handle the truth p>
Cole remained on his knees. His hands were still suspended uselessly in the air. He stared at June’s cold face, completely incapable of forming a single word of defense.
Crawford reached down and straightened the twisted collar of his hospital gown. Even sitting in a ruined bed, bleeding and broken, he radiated the untouchable aura of a king.
He looked down at Cole.
“Cole,” Crawford said, his voice dropping to a low, serious register. “Our thirty years of brotherhood ended the second you laid your hands on her p>
Cole rose slowly to his feet. His knees felt weak. The bloodshot veins in his eyes throbbed.
𝗕𝘦 𝗍𝘩е 𝗳𝗂𝗿𝗌𝘁 𝗍о 𝗋𝖾𝘢d 𝘰ո
He looked at Crawford, a desperate, ugly sneer pulling at his lips.
“You are throwing away a lifelong alliance for a woman who is about to be a divorced castaway?” Cole spat, weaponizing cruelty to mask his panic. “Is she really worth destroying your empire for p>
Crawford did not hesitate for a fraction of a second.
“For her?” Crawford replied, his dark eyes flicking briefly to June before snapping back to Cole. “I would burn the entire Compton Group to the ground and dance in the ashes — and I would still consider it a bargain p>
The sheer, terrifying magnitude of those words struck Cole like a physical blow to the stomach. It was an absolute, unconditional devotion. It was everything Cole had failed to give her.
Crawford leaned forward slightly, wincing as his broken ribs shifted.
“I know exactly what her legal status is right now,” Crawford continued, his voice carrying cleanly through the quiet room. “I am a civilized man. I will not force her into a scandal p>
He paused, making certain Cole absorbed every syllable.
“I will wait,” Crawford declared. “I will wait until the New York Supreme Court issues the final divorce decree. And on the exact day that paper is stamped —” Crawford fixed his gaze directly on Cole’s soul. “I will officially ask June to marry me p>
The declaration detonated inside the hospital room like a nuclear warhead.
Cole’s mind short-circuited completely. The image of June wearing Crawford’s ring, sleeping in Crawford’s bed, smiling at Crawford the way she had once smiled at him — it physically nauseated him. The panic mutated into something darker: a twisted, suffocating possessiveness.
Cole took a heavy step forward. He grabbed the thick metal railing at the foot of the hospital bed and squeezed the steel pipe until his muscles trembled. He leaned his massive frame forward, his eyes completely black with madness.
“Crawford,” Cole whispered, his voice vibrating with a sick, demonic energy. “What makes you think that divorce decree will ever be stamped p>
The air in the room froze.
June snapped her head toward Cole. Her eyes widened in absolute horror.
Cole ignored her entirely. He kept his manic gaze locked on Crawford.