Chapter 41
“Thanks,” I said, my voice barely audible, husky from fatigue and something heavier I didn’t care to name.
I mimicked his motion, placing the cigarette between my lips, though I’d never smoked a day in my life. It wasn’t about nicotine. It was about pretending I wasn’t on the verge of falling apart.
The sound of a lighter broke the stillness. Then his hand appeared–lean, strong fingers and a flickering flame illuminating the shadows of the stairwell.
I hesitated, then leaned down, lighting the cigarette from his.
The first drag hit my lungs like fire.
I coughed violently, doubling over, the taste of nicotine and ash clawing down my throat. I spat the smoke out quickly. blinking away tears.
He arched a brow. “You don’t smoke”
1 shook my head, trying to steady my breath. “Just figured I’d try it… seemed fitting.”
He didn’t reply. Just leaned back against the wall and stared into the silence like he belonged to it.
I sank down onto the stairs, the concrete cold beneath me. The cigarette trembled between my fingers as I forced myself to take another drag–shallower this time.
Didn’t help.
Didn’t ease the ache in my chest or the weight in my bones.
It was the kind of silence that didn’t need words. The kind that swallowed sound, leaving behind only questions no one wanted to answer.
He smoked in silence too. When he finished, he crushed the butt beneath his heel and rose.
Step by step, he ascended the stairs, boots echoing like a war drum.
And just before he reached the exit, he turned back.
He looked at me–really looked. At the hunched shoulders. The gauntface. The spark at my fingertips that barely passed for fire anymore.
Then he walked away.
And I sat there for a long time.
Eventually, I stood. My body felt like stone. I just wanted to lie down. To not feel anything anymore.
But when I opened the door to my hospital room, any hope of rest was obliterated.
He was there.
Maddox.
Sitting by the window, sunlight casting a halo around him like some divine lie. His tailored clothes. His clean–cut face. That soft, familiar scent that used to bring comfort.
Now it made my stomach twist.
He stood the second he saw me. “Riley-”
1 stepped aside, letting him reach out, and then brushed past his hand like it meant nothing.
His hand hovered in the air for a beat, then curled into a fist. “Where did you go?”
Letoutes us the best and turned my back to him.
“Tho
te met agam “Do you want fruit? I can peel you an apple
+8 Pearls
My laugh was humorless “The honorable Judge Maddox is a busy man. If you’re here, it’s not to peel fruit. Just get to the
That but him I didn’t care
He sighest “Did you pushy Scarlett down the stairs?”
Estibald’ve known.
Not a word in five years. Not a visit during my sentencing But now that Scarlett had a scratch on her porcelain skin, suddenly he had done for me.
1 lookest at bins, voice cold. “Yes, I did it.”
e reeled slightly. You’re not even going to deny it?”
Why should I? You’ve not here for the truth. You never were.” I gave him a flat, bitter smile. “So what’s next? Another sentence? Five years? Ten? Just tell me how long this time, and I’ll pack my bags”
He stared at me, stunned silent. “Riley.. you are my mate and I’d never want to hurt
Inearly laughed.
But it wasn’t funny
“You’ve already done worse,” I
Is
dangerous. You rejected me as your mate. And now you want to talk about what you would never do?”
id souly. “You stood on the witness stand and let them cage me like a beast. You called me
His jaw clenched. “I came to check on you.”
I turned my back, “I don’t need your concern.
His voice cracked. “What do you want from me. Riley? You think I haven’t suffered too? I’ve been trying to reach you ever since you were released, but you won’t even look at ine. What do you want me to do?!”
I finally looked at hun eyes like ice. “I want you to understand what it means to be falsely accused. To be betrayed by the people who were supposed to protect you
He froze
I didn’t stop. “You talk about pain like you invented it. But I lived it. Maddox. Every minute of those five years, And you want me to move on! Let it go? Just because it’s convenient for you?”
His eyes were red “Scarlett saved my life. She paid for my education. I owed her
“No” My voice was steel. “You repaid that dela by sentencing the wrong person. Don’t tell me
about honor. You weaponized the law to bucak me
He opened his mouth, then closed it.
I
1 stool. “If you’re not here to put me back in chains, then get out. If you are–well, I’m not afraid of prison anymore.”
“I’m not here to hurt you” he whispered
That you already have”
He stepped forward “Please, Riley-
+8 Pearls
He moved too fast.
His hand clamped over my mouth. His weight crushed me into the mattress. I thrashed, trying to break free, but he was
stronger.
He was always stronger.
His hand shifted, covering not just my mouth–but my nose.
Panic exploded in my chest.
I couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t scream.
The world spun, stars bursting behind my eyes.
And then-
“LET HER GO!”
Mia’s voice.
A flash of silver.
The clang of a thermos crashing against his head.
He let go.
doll.
And in the same second–he snapped. Maddox whirled and kicked Mia across the room like a rag d She hit the wall with a sickening thud.
“MIA!” I screamed, staggering toward her, blood roaring in my ears.