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Chapter 615
Chapter 615:
She climbed the stairs and found Eleanor’s suite. She sat with the old woman for twenty minutes, holding her hand and speaking softly about nothing in particular, until the doctor insisted on sedatives and rest. When she emerged, Cole was gone from the garden.
She found him on the terrace, leaning against the railing with his shirt removed, a paramedic working on the burn that covered his left shoulder blade — an angry red welt the size of a dinner plate. He turned when she approached. His eyes held hope, desperate and fragile, like a candle in a hurricane.
She walked past him.
She did not slow. She did not speak. She collected her coat from the hall closet, called for a car, and left the estate without looking back.
From the terrace, Eleanor Compton watched her go.
She had seen everything — the rescue, the rejection, the absolute and final severance of any remaining connection between them. She looked at her grandson, still standing with his hand outstretched toward the empty space where June had been, and felt something break quietly in her chest.
Not for him. For the girl who had finally, completely, escaped.
After a sleepless night driving back from the Hamptons, June arrived at her apartment as the sun rose. She took a scalding shower, changed into a fresh lab coat, and drove to the one place where the chaos of human emotion was replaced by the clean, predictable logic of science. Here, in her lab, she was in control.
The summons came at nine-fifteen that morning.
June was in the sterile environment of Apex Bio’s Level Four laboratory, her eye pressed to the microscope and her mind fully engaged with the cellular structures before her, when her assistant’s voice crackled through the intercom.
Rо𝗺𝖺𝗻𝘤𝗲 aո𝗱 𝗉a𝘀ѕіоn 𝗈𝘯
“Dr. Erickson? Mr. Compton is here. With a legal team. They say it’s urgent. They won’t leave p>
June straightened. She removed her lab coat with deliberate movements and hung it on the hook outside the containment zone. Then she walked to the conference room.
Cole sat at the head of the table. He wore a fresh suit, impeccably tailored, his hair styled and his face shaved. But his complexion was pale, a fine sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead despite the cool temperature of the room. He sat unnaturally straight, every movement stiff and measured — a clear attempt to conceal the severe pain from the burn on his back.
Beside him sat six lawyers, the Compton Group’s most expensive corporate litigators in the country. Their briefcases were open, their tablets glowing with documents.
“Dr. Erickson.” The lead counsel rose and extended a hand that June did not take. “We’re here to formally notify Apex Bio of a hostile takeover bid. Compton Group Ventures is prepared to offer p>
“The number is irrelevant.” June’s voice cut through the prepared speech. She looked directly at Cole. “What do you want p>
Cole stood and walked around the table until he was in front of her, close enough that she could smell his cologne — the familiar scent that had once meant home and now meant nothing at all.