Chapter 254
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Chapter 254:
Across the city, in the penthouse suite of the Wolfe Hotel, the mood was different. It wasn’t angry. It was surgical.
Jocelyn stood on a pedestal in the center of the dressing room. The dress she wore wasn’t white. It was midnight blue — the color of a bruise healing into strength. Backless, plunging dangerously low, it was made of silk that moved like water over her skin.
Gaston sat on a velvet ottoman, watching her. His eyes were dark, tracing the line of her spine.
“Too much fabric,” he said, though his face remained serious.
“It needs to hide the microphone wire,” Jocelyn said, adjusting the thin strap on her left shoulder. She winced slightly as the tape pulled at her skin.
Gaston stood and crossed to her, his movements fluid and predatory. He reached out and adjusted the strap himself, his fingers brushing the bare skin of her shoulder. His touch was warm. Grounding.
𝗦a𝘃е у𝘰𝘶r 𝘧𝖺𝘷𝗼𝗋𝗂𝗍𝖾 ո𝘰𝗏е𝘭ѕ on
“You’re wearing a wire?” He raised an eyebrow.
“In case she confesses before the videos play.” Jocelyn looked at her reflection. Her eyes were hard and cold. “I want audio. I want every lie recorded p>
“The first video will be damning,” Gaston said. “But the second one — the one from St. Jude’s — that’s nuclear p>
“I want the fallout to be permanent.” She turned to face him. “She took my childhood, Gaston. She tried to take my dignity. She built her life on my trauma p>
“And tomorrow,” Gaston said, running his thumb along her jawline, “she loses everything p>
He walked to the dresser and picked up a small, crystal-encrusted clutch. He opened it and checked the hidden compartment.
“Put the recorder in here.” He handed it to her. “It’s safer. If they pat you down — which security might do, given who we are — they won’t check the lining of your bag p>
Jocelyn took the clutch and gripped it tightly.
“Are you ready to crash a wedding?” she asked.
Gaston smiled. It wasn’t a kind smile. It was the smile of a wolf watching a sheep that had wandered too far from the herd.
“I’m not crashing it, Mrs. Collins,” he said, leaning in to kiss her forehead. “I’m foreclosing on it p>
Smoke curled into the humid afternoon air, smelling of menthol and guilt.
Aspen Schneider stood behind the hydrangeas in her parents’ backyard, her hand trembling as she brought the cigarette to her lips. She took a drag — deep and desperate — holding the smoke in her lungs until it burned.
“Mom will kill you if she sees that p>
Aspen jumped. She spun around, hiding the cigarette behind her back. Ash fell onto her white silk robe.
Cory was standing on the patio, holding a beer. He looked bored.
By regaining control of Kieran, the Schneider family had finally weathered the storm and secured bail for Cory.
“I’m stressed, Cory!” Aspen hissed, glancing at the windows of the house. “Jocelyn is coming. She told me at the hospital. She’s bringing that… that actor she hired p>