Chapter 146
Chapter 146:
He grabbed the door handle. He was going to walk into that lobby and end this.
His shoe hit the pavement.
Then he stopped.
The wave of reality that broke over him was cold and absolute. What was his title if he walked through those doors right now? He was the husband who had been banished to a guest room. The man who had ripped her mother’s brooch from another woman’s chest. If he caused a scene, June would look at him with that dead, clinical disgust, and Declan would smile at his face. He would have nothing — no ground to stand on, no leverage, no dignity.
The powerlessness was suffocating.
Cole let out a guttural sound and pulled his leg back into the car. He slammed the door with enough force to shake the frame, then drove his fist into the leather panel with a dull, heavy thud.
𝘉𝖾 t𝗵e f𝗶rѕ𝗍 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝖾а𝖽 𝘰𝗇
“Drive,” he snarled at the driver. “Get me out of here p>
The Maybach’s tires bit into the asphalt as it pulled hard into the traffic.
Inside the lobby, June caught movement in her peripheral vision and turned her head. The black car was already disappearing down the avenue.
Declan had seen the Maybach clearly. He had seen Cole’s face in the half-open window.
A dark, satisfied smirk crossed his lips for just a moment. Then, deliberately, he shifted his body a few inches closer to June — not enough to be obvious, but enough to be intimate.
“That perfume you’re wearing today,” Declan murmured, his voice dropping to a low, suggestive register. “It’s very distracting, June p>
June’s expression hardened instantly. She pressed her spine against the back of the sofa, re-establishing the professional boundary with a single, deliberate movement.
“Let’s stick to the profit margins, Mr. Hayes,” she said, her voice cold and even.
Ten minutes later the meeting concluded. Declan walked out with his lawyers.
Chloe bounced over. “Dr. Erickson! The team wants to take me out for a welcome dinner tonight. We’d all love it if you came p>
June looked at the young woman’s open, hopeful expression. A brief flicker of warmth moved through her, followed immediately by the weight of everything waiting for her in the lab.
“I appreciate the invitation, Chloe,” she said, her voice softening slightly. “But I have a core data model running tonight. I’ll be in the lab late p>
She reached into her bag, drew out an unlimited anonymous Swiss corporate expense card, and placed it in Chloe’s hand. “Dinner and drinks are on me. Enjoy yourselves p>
Chloe stared at the card with wide eyes. “Thank you so much p>
June gave her a brief nod, turned, and walked to the secure elevators. She swiped her badge. The heavy steel doors closed around her, sealing her off from the complicated, emotional world outside.
She was going to win this war with science. Nothing else was permitted to matter.
The atmosphere inside Hayes Pharmaceuticals headquarters the next morning was electric.