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Chapter 543
Chapter 543:
She rose to her feet, her face perfectly composed, and pushed open the heavy oak door. She stepped into the hallway with one intention — to leave the estate as quickly and quietly as possible.
She moved down the long, dimly lit second-floor corridor.
As she neared the corner by the grand staircase, a large shadow detached itself from the darkness of an alcove and stepped directly into her path.
It was Cole.
He looked wrecked. He was wearing a fresh suit, but it was clear he had thrown it on in a frantic, desperate rush — the expensive fabric already wrinkled, his tie gone entirely, his shirt collar half-undone. His dark hair was disheveled, and his eyes were bloodshot, ringed with deep, bruised shadows. He had clearly been tearing the city apart looking for her all morning, and now she had simply walked back into his territory on her own.
June stopped.
The temperature in her eyes dropped below freezing. She looked at him with the kind of flat, complete indifference one might give a piece of litter on the sidewalk, and took a deliberate half-step backward, physically rejecting his proximity.
𝖩𝗈𝘪ո 𝘵𝘩𝗲 𝖼o𝘮𝘮𝘂ո𝗶𝗍𝘆 𝘢𝘵
That single, small movement hit Cole like a blade to the chest. His hands curled into fists at his sides.
He thought of the promise he had made at Caleb’s grave. He swallowed his pride. He forced the violent possessiveness clawing at his mind back down by sheer will.
When he spoke, his voice came out broken and gravelly — a register of pleading he had never once used in his life.
“June… please,” he rasped, each word scraping against his throat. “Sign the Non-Prosecution Agreement. Let Richard and Martha go p>
June stared at him. For a moment she thought she had misheard.
Then a cold, razor-edged smile curved the corners of her lips — the expression of someone who has just heard the most absurd thing imaginable.
“You are begging me?” Her voice was sharp as a scalpel. “You want me to spare the two people who tried to destroy my life? Cole, have you lost your mind entirely p>
Cole closed his eyes. A spasm of naked anguish moved across his face.
He couldn’t tell her the truth. He couldn’t explain that he was doing this to honor his dead brother’s last wish. He was completely trapped inside a cage of his own construction.
“I have to save them,” he said again, like a machine running on a single broken loop. “It is my responsibility p>
June looked at him with undisguised disgust.
She unclasped her Hermès bag, reached inside, and withdrew a thick, folded stack of legal documents. Without a word of warning, she swung her arm forward and slapped the papers against his chest.
They hit him and scattered across the expensive carpet. The bold black letters on the top page were impossible to miss: Divorce Agreement.
“You want me to drop the charges?” June said, her voice carrying no heat whatsoever — only a cold, absolute finality. “Fine. Sign that paper. We end this marriage today, and I will let those two walk free p>
Cole looked down at the documents lying at his feet.