Chapter 550
Chapter 550:
“Belle! Help me! Call Grayson!” Cheryl seized her daughter’s arm, her voice cracking into desperation.
Belle’s eyes flew to Grayson, searching for any sign of intervention.
Grayson remained at the window, looking out at the city below — still, silent, entirely unmoved. He was no longer a participant. He was simply a witness.
The handcuffs clicked shut with a sharp, metallic sound. Cheryl was in custody.
As the officers led her away — sobbing, struggling — Belle turned and fixed Isolde with a look of pure, undisguised hatred. Then she turned and ran after her mother.
The waiting area fell into a sudden, profound silence.
Ellyn had slipped back into Saul’s room to sit with him, leaving Isolde and Grayson alone in the corridor.
Grayson finally moved. He walked over and stood before her, his voice low and rough.
“Satisfied p>
Isolde looked up at him. The exhaustion in her eyes had been overlaid with something cold and settled — a resolve that had no interest in comfort or conciliation.
“Satisfied?” she said. “Grayson, this is only the beginning p>
𝘙𝖾сom𝗺𝖾𝗇𝘥 𝗴𝘢lո𝗈𝘷е𝘭𝘀.cоm 𝗍𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝗎𝗿 𝖿𝗋іеոd𝘴
He stared at her, a slow wave of helplessness rising in his chest. Whatever he had done, it had not been enough. It never seemed to be enough. “If you’re looking for an apology, I can p>
“I don’t accept proxy apologies,” Isolde said, her voice cutting cleanly across his. “Especially not from you p>
Without another word, she turned, took her mother’s arm as Ellyn reappeared in the doorway, and walked back toward the patient rooms. She did not look back. Her spine was straight, her steps even and unhesitating — a portrait of someone who had already moved on.
She left him standing alone in the empty corridor.
An hour later, the side exit of the precinct was a circus.
Camera flashes popped like lightning strikes in the dark. Microphones were thrust forward like spears.
Belle shielded her face with her Hermès bag, guiding a disheveled Cheryl down the steps. Cheryl’s mink coat had been confiscated as evidence, and a misdemeanor assault charge was now a permanent stain on her record. She had been released on bail, but the humiliation was written across her entire body. She shivered in a thin silk blouse.
They dove into the back of a waiting black SUV. Belle slammed the door and locked it.
“Drive,” she said to the driver, her voice tight and shaking.
As the car pulled away, Cheryl slapped the leather seat. “That ungrateful woman — I will ruin her! I will sue her for defamation p>
“Shut up, Mother.” Belle ripped off her sunglasses. Her eyes were red and swollen. “You have a criminal record now. Do you understand what this does to the IPO p>
She pulled out her phone, her hands unsteady, and dialed Grayson’s private number. The line rang once, twice — then clicked to voicemail.
Belle stared at the phone before setting it down hard. He wasn’t simply unavailable. He was avoiding her.
“Turn around,” she told the driver, her voice thin with panic. “Mount Sinai. Now p>