Chapter 276
Chapter 276:
“Scared, Kensington?” I asked, a cruel smirk touching my lips.
Liam looked at the coaster, then back at me. He swallowed hard. His Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Never,” he lied.
He squared his jaw and marched toward the ride of doom like a man walking to the gallows.
The safety bar locked down across our laps with a heavy, mechanical clunk that sounded final.
I sat back, feeling the hard plastic against my spine. Beside me, Liam was gripping the bar so tightly his knuckles had turned bone-white. His eyes were squeezed shut, his breathing shallow and rapid.
“You can still get off,” I said—not out of kindness, but out of curiosity. I wanted to see if he would break.
“No,” Liam ground out. “I’m doing this p>
The coaster jerked forward. The chain lift began its slow, rhythmic clicking. Clack. Clack. Clack.
We rose higher. The park spread out below us, a kingdom of candy-colored plastic. The wind whipped my hair around my face. I took a deep breath. For a second—just a second—I felt free. I felt light.
I glanced at Liam. He was trembling. A fine sheen of sweat coated his forehead.
“Open your eyes, Liam,” I shouted over the wind. “You paid millions for this view. Look at it p>
He forced one eye open. He looked down. His face went green.
We crested the top. There was a moment of weightlessness, a pause where the world seemed to hold its breath.
Then we dropped.
Gravity yanked us down. I screamed—not in terror, but in a release of adrenaline. It was a primal sound, washing away the stress of the studio, the anger, the plotting.
Liam didn’t scream. He made a sound like a dying seal.
We twisted, looped, and dove. By the time the brakes slammed us into the station, Liam was slumped over the bar, gasping for air.
The attendant unlocked the bars. I hopped out, my legs buzzing with energy. Liam stumbled out, staggering sideways. He grabbed a trash can and dry-heaved.
I watched him. Part of me wanted to laugh. But another part—the part that remembered the man I once loved—felt a wing of pity.
I walked over to a concession stand that had been staffed just for us. I grabbed a bottle of water, then walked back and handed it to him.
𝘙𝖾a𝘥 o𝘯 𝘢𝘯у 𝘥𝘦v𝗂с𝗲 o𝘯 𝗯еl𝗇𝘰𝘃elѕ.𝘤o𝗆
“Here,” I said.
He took it with shaking hands. He drank half of it in one gulp, water spilling down his chin onto his expensive sweater. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Are you happy?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
I looked at him. He was a mess—hair wild, face pale, dignity shattered. And he had done it just because I challenged him.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, my voice softer than intended.
“I’d do anything,” Liam said, looking me in the eye. The intensity in his gaze was terrifying. “Anything to make you look at me like you used to p>
The moment hung in the air, fragile and almost sweet.
Meanwhile, at Kensington Manor, the peace was being shattered in a very different way.
Lydia Winthrop sat in the sunroom, sipping tea with Matriarch Beatrice. She held out her phone. “Have you seen this, Grandmother? A staff member at the park leaked it p>
Beatrice put down her porcelain cup. She squinted at the screen. It showed a photo of the empty VIP entrance with a sign: Private Event for L & S.
“Liam rented a VIP sector for her?” Beatrice’s voice was a low growl. “That cost a fortune. Is she mad p>
“He’s obsessed,” Lydia said, fueling the fire. “She’s draining him, Grandmother. First the divorce settlement demands, now this? She’s trying to bankrupt the family before she leaves p>