Chapter 924
Liam walked in. He wore a fresh charcoal-grey suit, impeccable as always, carrying two cups of coffee in a cardboard carrier. He looked tired but composed — the perfect picture of the concerned partner.
“The doctor says you’re stable,” Liam said to Lucian, placing the coffee on the table. He turned to Skye. “We should go. You need sleep.”
Skye didn’t move. A deep, bone-chilling cold spread from her stomach to her fingertips.
She threw the file at him.
It struck his chest and fluttered to the floor, scattering papers across his polished shoes.
“Is it true?” Her voice was barely a whisper, but it carried the weight of a scream.
𝗦𝘩а𝗿𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝗿 𝗍𝗁оug𝗁𝘁ѕ 𝗼ո 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝗇o𝘃𝗲𝗹ѕ.cо𝗺
Liam looked down at the papers. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t look surprised. He bent down, picked up the cover sheet, and glanced at the timestamp.
“Lucian has been busy,” Liam said calmly.
“Answer me!” Skye shouted. “Did you know Silas was coming? Did you let Grandpa die?”
Liam straightened up. He looked her in the eye, and his expression was terrifyingly void of guilt. “I knew an attack was probable. I prioritized the long-term extraction of the threat over a premature warning that would have sent Silas into hiding. It was a calculated risk.”
“You waited,” Skye said, stepping closer. “You sat on that information. You waited until we were cornered.”
“I managed the risk,” Liam corrected. “If I had moved sooner, Silas would have gone underground. We would have been fighting a shadow war for years. By letting him commit, I exposed him. The Thorne family control is now consolidated. You have the power. Alistair has the power. The result is a victory.”
“The result?” Skye choked out. Tears burned her eyes, hot and furious. “Grandpa Thorne is dead. Alistair is broken. And you treat it like a balance sheet.”
“It is a balance sheet, Skye,” Liam said, stepping toward her. He reached out a hand. “That is the world we live in. I did what was necessary to ensure you won.”
Skye slapped his hand away. The sound was sharp in the quiet room.
“You didn’t do it for me,” she hissed. “You did it to own me. You wanted me to owe you.”
She backed away, shaking her head. The man standing in front of her wasn’t the man who had held her hand in the helicopter. He was the man who had signed divorce papers without looking up from his phone five years ago. A monster made of mathematics and ambition.
“Skye,” Liam said, his voice dropping an octave. “Don’t be irrational.”
“Irrational?” Skye laughed — a broken sound. “I’m the most rational person in this room. Because I finally see you.”
She turned and ran.
“Skye!” Liam moved after her, his cane clicking rapidly on the linoleum.
“Let her go.” Lucian’s voice stopped him cold. “You chase her now, you lose her forever. You’ve done enough damage for one day, Kensington.”
Liam stopped in the doorway. He watched Skye’s figure disappear down the hallway, his jaw clenched so tight a muscle feathered in his cheek. He looked back at Lucian.
“I saved your life,” Liam said coldly.