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Chapter 316
Chapter 316:
Cole stared at the bruises. He stared at the blood on the sheets.
The guilt was a physical mountain crushing his spine. He could not breathe. He could not think.
“Alycia…” Cole rasped, his voice like tearing sandpaper. “I don’t remember p>
Alycia buried her face in her hands. A loud, heartbroken sob tore from her throat.
“Don’t say that!” she cried, her voice muffled. “Please don’t say you don’t remember! You were so drunk, Cole. I just wanted to help you to your room. But you — you locked the door.” She lowered her hands. Tears streamed down her face, ruining her makeup. She stared at him with eyes full of devastation and humiliation. “You pushed me onto the bed,” Alycia sobbed, her voice fracturing perfectly. “I told you to stop. I told you I belonged to Caleb. But you wouldn’t listen. You were so strong. And it hurt so much, Cole. It was my first time p>
The words first time were a lethal injection straight into his heart.
He looked at the blood again. The physical proof — the evidence of innocence shattered by his own drunken, animalistic loss of control.
Cole grabbed fistfuls of his own hair and pulled hard, welcoming the pain. He wanted to tear his own skin off. He was a monster. A disgusting, pathetic monster. He had lost June forever, and now he had destroyed his brother’s legacy.
He slowly lowered his hands. His eyes were completely hollow, stripped of any light or hope. The arrogant, powerful billionaire was utterly dead inside.
𝗢𝗿𝗴а𝘯𝘪z𝘦 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗂𝖻𝘳а𝘳𝗒 𝗈n
He looked at Alycia. His voice came out flat — the mechanical drone of absolute despair.
“I am sorry,” Cole said. The words tasted like ash.
He pushed himself off the bed, eyes fixed on the floor, and reached for his clothes.
“I will take responsibility,” Cole stated, pulling on his trousers. “I will marry you. I will give you the Compton name p>
Alycia kept her face buried against her knees, her sobs continuing loudly. But behind the cover of her arms, her eyes flew open in a massive, psychotic surge of pure victory.
She had won. The empire was hers.
Cole pulled his shirt over his shoulders without bothering to button it. He kept his back to her.
“I will have my assistant secure a private residence for you today,” he said. “Do not leave this room until he arrives p>
He picked up his jacket and walked out. The heavy door clicked shut behind him.
The instant the door closed, Alycia’s sobbing stopped.
She wiped the false tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. She reached under her pillow and pulled out her smartphone, opened the photo gallery, and selected the most graphic, undeniable image — her bruised neck, Cole’s sleeping face, and the stained sheet all visible in a single frame.