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Chapter 572
Chapter 572:
Her eyes widened by a fraction. Her mind moved quickly through the implications, and the more she considered it — knowing the obsessive, possessive nature of both men — the more horrifically plausible it became.
Julian pressed forward. “They physically beat each other half to death in a private club last night. Blood on the walls. If June doesn’t step in to clarify things, or simply tell them to stop, the entire financial sector of this city goes down with them p>
The shock on Sloane’s face lasted about three seconds before it was consumed entirely by disgust.
She let out a sharp, contemptuous laugh.
𝗕𝖾 𝘁𝗵e 𝘧𝗂𝘳𝗌𝗍 tо 𝘳𝖾𝖺𝗱 𝗈𝘯
“Let me make sure I understand this correctly,” she said, her voice dropping to something precise and withering. “These powerful, supposedly untouchable men cannot manage their own jealousy. They destroy everything around them, and now you want to drag an innocent woman back into the wreckage to clean it up for them p>
Julian opened his mouth. The words didn’t come.
“It’s about thousands of jobs, Sloane,” he managed, gesturing toward the red ticker crawling across the billboard outside.
Sloane stepped closer.
“I don’t care,” she said, with complete, unshakeable finality. “June crawled through hell to get away from Cole’s abuse. I will not let her be pulled back into this disgusting exercise in male ego. Not by you. Not by anyone p>
Julian recognized a dead end. He shifted to his usual fallback.
“Sloane, if this gallery is looking for a sponsor for the upcoming season,” he said carefully, though the breath it took made him wince, “I can write a very generous check right now. Just give me the number p>
Sloane’s expression became something glacial.
She turned, walked to the glass door, and pulled it open. She gestured to the street with absolute clarity.
“Keep your money, Julian,” she said. “Let those two men bite each other until there’s nothing left. June is doing well, and she doesn’t need either of them p>
Julian looked at her — the fierce, unmovable certainty in her eyes — and knew there was nothing left to try.
He let out a long, slow breath, adjusted his jacket with a wince, and walked back out to the car.
He lowered himself onto the leather seat and closed his eyes. He had no strategy left. The war would have to run its course.
Inside the gallery, Sloane watched the Maybach pull away from the curb. The moment it turned the corner and disappeared, she took her phone from her pocket and dialed.
It rang twice.
“Hello?” June’s voice came through — calm, clear, unhurried.
Sloane drew a quiet breath and pushed the entire absurd, catastrophic truth of what she had just heard down somewhere deep.
“Hey, June,” she said, her tone easy and bright. “Are you free this afternoon? Let’s do high tea at The Peninsula p>
She had made her decision. She would check on June in person, look her in the eye, and guard this secret with everything she had.
The moment Crawford’s Gulfstream had vanished into the California sky, a profound and unsettling quiet had descended on the villa.