Chapter 27
Chapter 27:
She brought her eyes into focus. Miles. He had been asleep in the chair beside her bed, his suit rumpled, his hair disheveled. He was wide awake now, his expression flooded with alarm.
“What time is it?” June rasped. Her throat felt like dry gravel.
“Thursday morning,” Miles said softly. “You’ve been out for nearly twenty-four hours p>
Thursday.
She had missed it. She had missed the hearing.
Cold, sharp panic flooded her chest.
“I have to call him,” June said, her voice climbing. “He’ll think I — he’ll go after Apex. He threatened to —” She grabbed at the bedside table and knocked a plastic cup of water to the floor.
“June, stop,” Miles said, taking hold of her wrists. “You had a severe infection and internal bleeding. You almost died p>
“Give me my phone!” June said, tears breaking loose. “Please, Miles — you don’t know him. He won’t stop unless I explain p>
Miles looked at her. He saw the terror in her eyes. This was not the fear of a woman losing money. It was the fear of a woman being hunted.
Up𝖽𝖺𝘁𝗲𝗌 е𝘷е𝗿у 𝗐𝘦𝘦𝗄 𝗈ո
He sighed and opened the drawer. He handed her the cracked phone.
“One call,” Miles said. “If he upsets you, I’m taking it back p>
June’s fingers trembled so badly she could barely navigate the screen. She went to settings and unblocked the number.
She dialed.
Ring. Ring.
Please pick up. Please let me explain.
A click. The call connected.
“Cole?” June breathed. “Cole, I’m so sorry. I was p>
Silence on the other end.
Then — sound. Water running. The low hum of a ventilation fan.
“Cole p>
“Mmm, wait —” A female voice. High-pitched and breathless. “Cole, stop — not there p>
June went perfectly still. The blood drained from her face.
Alycia.
“Come back to bed,” Alycia’s voice floated through the speaker, bright and unhurried. “You promised we could go another round before work p>
Then Cole’s voice — deep, muffled, as though he was some distance from the phone. “Coming. Just let me dry off p>
More laughter. The intimate sounds that followed were unmistakable.
June sat with the phone pressed against her ear, listening to the soundtrack of her own undoing.
She was lying in a hospital bed, tubes drawing the infection from her body, her abdomen held together over the place where their child had been.
And he was in bed with Alycia.
Something inside June broke. Not loudly. It was the quiet, final sound of a bridge giving way into the sea — barely audible, and absolute.
She did not speak. She did not scream. She did not cry.
She pulled the phone from her ear and looked at the screen. The timer was still counting: 00:42.
She pressed the red button.
She went to settings. Block Caller.
She handed the phone back to Miles. Her hand was steady.
“Did you reach him?” Miles asked gently.
June looked toward the window. The sun was shining. It looked unconvincing.
“No,” she said. Her voice was empty of everything. “He’s busy p>
She lay back against the pillows and closed her eyes.
“Miles p>
“I’m here p>