Chapter 162
Chapter 162:
A flicker of jealousy stirred in the woman in the passenger seat when she saw him photographing someone else. Then recognition crossed her face. That woman was Kristine. And the man beside her was not Colton, but someone she didn’t recognize. Her lips pressed together. “Did Mr. Yates and Kristine really break things off p>
Without answering right away, Devin sent the photo to Colton. Only then did he turn toward her, wearing an easy, disarming smile. “I’m not fond of women who ask too many questions p>
The woman’s expression stiffened, and she dropped the subject immediately, not daring to ask anything more.
Meanwhile, Kristine and Vance wrapped up their discussion about renting and got back in the car to look for a place. Wanting to stay as far from Colton as possible, Kristine deliberately chose a quiet suburb on the outskirts of the city.
As the car moved down the road, silence filled the space between them. They had known each other for seven years, yet their lives had rarely overlapped in any real way. For a long stretch, neither of them knew what to say.
Eventually, Vance broke the quiet. “Kristine, the only people who knew you were in Lunatown were my family. Do you have any idea how Mr. Yates managed to track you down p>
Colton had managed to pinpoint Lunatown, but tracking down the old family home in such a limited window had proved impossible. Arriving before Kristine left was even more far-fetched.
After turning it over in his mind, Vance landed on the only explanation that made sense — someone within their group had betrayed them. Still, he trusted his family completely and couldn’t bring himself to believe any of them would turn their backs on Kristine.
Kristine had weighed the same possibility. But after the chaos of the previous night, her mind was too scattered to follow that thread.
𝗥𝗲со𝘮meո𝘥 𝘵𝘰 у𝗈𝗎𝘳 f𝗿i𝗲ո𝗱s
“Recently, nobody unfamiliar showed up in Lunatown except p>
“Except who?” Vance pressed.
“Except Helen’s friend,” Kristine answered, her eyes fixed on the distance. “But I really don’t see him betraying me p>
She barely knew Ryan, yet in those rare moments they had spoken, she had glimpsed something of her own past in him. Besides, he didn’t strike her as the kind of person who would sell someone out for his own benefit.
Vance shot her a thoughtful look, words caught on his tongue. Kristine was gentle by nature — but the world wasn’t simple or fair. One way or another, he was determined to unmask whoever had betrayed her.
Meanwhile, at Yates Group, Colton sat at his desk staring blankly at his computer, unable to concentrate.
The previous night, once he found out Kristine had gotten into Asher’s car, he had hunted them down without hesitation — and eventually spotted her at a KFC restaurant. She had been huddled near the window, her small frame pressed against the glass, looking as lost as a child left behind. The sight had tugged sharply at his chest.
He still couldn’t figure out how everything between them had unraveled so completely.