Chapter 15
Chapter 15:
He thought about the video. The way she had looked at that man. The way she had looked at him in the club — as though he were merely blocking her light. She did not want his money. She did not want his name. She simply wanted out.
The insult was sharper than any financial demand could have been.
“Fine,” Cole said. “If she wants to be destitute, let her p>
He signed. The nib tore the paper slightly. Cole Compton. He threw the pen down. Ink spattered across the mahogany.
“File it,” Cole ordered. “And Lawrence — call the banks. Freeze every account linked to her name. I want to make sure she cannot rent a bicycle in this city without my approval p>
Lawrence hesitated. “Cole, there was already a flag on the credit report. A new inquiry from American Express. For a Centurion card p>
Cole’s jaw tightened. “Find out who is backing her. I want a name p>
Lawrence nodded and left.
Cole walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked down at the city spread below him. He had the money, the company, the girl. By every measure, he had won.
So why did it feel as though he had just lost the only real thing in his life?
𝖱e𝖺d 𝘄𝗶tho𝘶𝘁 𝘪𝗻𝘁еrr𝘶𝗽𝘵i𝗼𝘯𝘀 𝗈ո
The air inside the Apex Bio lab was crisp, carrying the clean scent of ozone and sanitizing solution.
June sat at a microscope, adjusting the focus with steady hands. Her white lab coat concealed the fading bruises along her waist. A strand of hair slipped from her ponytail and she tucked it back without looking up.
Her phone buzzed on the bench beside her. A text from Carter Vance: He signed. Court date set for Wednesday, 9:00 AM.
June let out a breath she felt she had been holding for four years. She set the phone down and returned to the microscope. The cells were dividing. Life, continuing regardless.
“Good news p>
She looked up. A colleague stood nearby, holding a tray of coffees.
“The best,” June said, accepting a cup. “The trash took itself out p>
“Dr. Prescott is looking for you,” the colleague added. “He’s in the secure wing. Says the synthesis results are back p>
June rose from the stool. A wave of something — gratitude, relief, a quiet and unfamiliar hope — moved through her. She had a cancer drug to finish. She had a great deal of work still ahead of her. And she had a husband to bury, figuratively speaking.
She walked down the pristine white corridor, her footsteps falling in a steady, unhurried rhythm.
Wednesday, she thought. Just three more days.
The secure wing of Apex Bio was accessible only by retinal scan.
June walked in. The room was dominated by a massive holographic display of a protein chain. Standing before it was Dr. Miles Prescott — a legend in the field. Tall, silver-rimmed glasses, with the kind of quiet intensity that made people instinctively careful around him.
He turned as she entered.
“Erickson,” he said. His voice was deep and unhurried. “Your modifications to the binding agent. They’re aggressive p>
“They’re necessary,” June replied, moving to the display. “If we want to bypass the blood-brain barrier without toxicity, we have to be aggressive p>