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Chapter 523
Chapter 523:
Brogan looked into her eyes for a long moment. “Don’t push yourself too hard today,” he said softly.
He turned and walked out of the lab, his shoulders carrying a slight, almost imperceptible slump.
The heavy door clicked shut behind him.
The moment she was alone, the tightly wound muscles across June’s back released a fraction.
She walked quickly to the stainless-steel sink, turned the faucet to its coldest setting, and shoved both hands under the freezing stream. She pumped a heavy dose of antibacterial soap and began scrubbing — her knuckles, her palms, the spaces between her fingers — until her skin turned red and raw. She was trying to wash away something that left no visible mark.
She looked up at the mirror above the sink.
A woman with pale skin and hollow eyes looked back at her. She felt like a porcelain figure that had been shattered and glued back together — functional from a distance, fragile up close.
The physical wound at her neck was still healing beneath a light sterile dressing, a constant, tactile reminder of how close she had come to the edge. The psychological damage ran quieter, deeper, and followed her every second of every hour.
June dried her raw hands on a paper towel, pulled her safety goggles back into place, and walked back to the microscope.
The numbers and the science were the only things that still made complete sense. Work was the only thing that came close to numbing the pain.
At nine o’clock that night, a freezing autumn rain began to fall over Manhattan.
𝘋𝗶ѕ𝗰𝘰𝗏𝖾𝘳 𝗁id𝘥е𝗻 𝘨𝖾𝗆ѕ o𝘯
June walked out of the Apex Bio building, pulled her beige trench coat tight around her body, and opened a black umbrella. She stood at the edge of the sidewalk, trying to hail a taxi. The rain was heavy and the wind cut through her clothes. She waited ten minutes, but every passing cab was already occupied.
A massive black Maybach rolled slowly down the street.
As it drew within fifteen feet of her, the engine let out a heavy, metallic clunk. The car shuddered and rolled to a stop against the curb. The breakdown seemed almost too perfectly timed — a flicker of suspicion crossed June’s mind — but then she saw the driver leap out with an expression of genuine panic, and she pushed the thought away as paranoia.
The driver hit the hazard lights, popped the hood, and stood in the downpour pretending to inspect the engine.
The tinted rear window rolled down slowly.
Crawford Love’s face appeared in the frame — handsome, slightly pale, wearing a mask of perfect surprise.
“June? What are you doing out here in this weather p>
June went still. She had not expected to find the billionaire media mogul stranded at the curb in a rainstorm.
Before she could respond, Crawford pushed his door open and stepped out into the rain without an umbrella, walking straight toward her.
June instinctively raised her umbrella higher and stepped forward to cover his head from the downpour.