Chapter 10
“She collapsed. Chest pain. I don’t fucking know what’s wrong.” My voice was rough. I hated admitting I didn’t have control.
The doctor came out, calm as hell while my insides were on fire. “She had an anxiety and stress-induced episode. Her body simply shut down temporarily. She needs complete rest and
care.”
I shoved my hands into my hair, teeth gritted. Stress. Anxiety. How the hell did I let her get to this point?
Grandma turned her glare on me. “This is on you, Austin. Yvette is a sweet, gentle child. She should not be suffering like this. You didn’t take care of her.”
Grandpa added, cold as steel, “She is meant to be your wife. Treat her as such. Protect her.”
clenched my jaw, fighting the guilt clawing up my throat. “I’m doing my best. Don’t put this shi
all on me.”
The doctor left us, and soon Yvette stirred awake in the hospital bed. Her voice was soft, fragile ike she was breaking but trying to stay strong.
Austin…” Her eyes met mine, glassy with tears. “I’m sorry Dahlia left you. I know you love her But I’ll stay. Even if I’m not her… I’ll stay with you.”
That hit me in the chest like a fucking knife. She thought I didn’t see the way she sacrificec herself for me. The way she kept giving even when she was breaking.
sat on the edge of her bed, leaned close, and took her hand in mine. “No, Yve. Don’t say that You’re the one I love. I won’t leave you. Ever.”
Her lips curved into the sweetest smile, tears rolling down her cheeks. She looked like an ange allen right into my arms. I brushed those tears away with my thumb, kissing her knuckles.
She whispered, “Thank you, Austin. That’s all I need.”
And right then, I swore to myself. Whatever it took, whoever I had to crush, I wasn’t letting he slip away from me.
What I didn’t see, though, was the flicker in her eyes. The victory hidden under all that innocence
But me? I was blind as hell. All I knew was that I had just promised her forever.
Yvette was asleep, her face pale against the hospital pillow, chest rising slow and shallow like she was made of glass. I sat there for hours, hand over hers, watching the way her lashes trembled. She looked like a goddamn angel. Fragile. Breakable. And yet my head… my head was
a mess.
I slipped outside when the sun was nearly crawling up, lit a cigarette, and leaned against the hood of my car in the parking lot. Smoke burned down my throat, but it didn’t calm the itch under my skin. I pulled out my phone, dialed Dahlia.
No answer. Just the fucking dial tone that pissed me off more with every second. I clenched my jaw, hit redial. Still nothing.
That was when Allen showed up, stiff like he always was around me. He cleared his throat.
Chapter 10
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“Boss… about Miss Dahlia.”
My eyes cut sharp at him. “Spit it out. Don’t fuckin’ stall.”
He swallowed and held out his tablet. “CCTV caught her at the airport. She boarded a plane… destination Santorini, Greece.”
I stared at the footage playing on loop. Dahlia, dragging her suitcase, passport in hand. Boarding like she didn’t give a shit she was walking out of my life. Something stabbed deep in my chest, a pain I couldn’t name. Guilt for Yvette lying half-dead upstairs. Anger. Hurt. The kind of mess that makes a man wanna break something.
I flicked my cigarette away, crushed it under my shoe. “Track her down. Don’t come back alive unless you’ve got a report.”
Allen bowed his head. “Noted, boss.”
By sunrise I was in my office, whiskey in my glass but untouched. Ten men were guarding Yvette at the hospital. I should’ve been relieved. I wasn’t. The silence was loud as hell.
The door opened. Allen again. He looked like he’d swallowed poison. “Boss… you need to see
this.”
He set an envelope on my desk. My gut twisted before I even touched it. I opened it, pulled out the first photo.
Photo 1. Dahlia at the pier, Santorini sun at her back, staring at the ocean.
Photo 2. Her by the railings, hair whipping in the wind.
Photo 3. Her shoes were abandoned at the edge.
Photo 4. A security cam caught her jump, body mid-air.
Photo 5. Coast guards pulling her lifeless body from the sea.
Photo 6. A morgue sheet, covering her face, tag on her toe.
My hand went numb. The photos slid out of my grip, scattered on the floor like broken glass. I grabbed the desk, knuckles white, because my knees wanted to fucking give out.
Allen’s voice was faint. “Boss… I’m sorry.”
I couldn’t answer. Couldn’t breathe. My chest was caving in, fire and ice eating me alive.
Fuck it was her.
It was always her.
Not Yvette. Never Yvette.
I just lost the only woman I ever loved.
And I’d never get her back.
I slammed the glass against the wall and watched it shatter into a thousand fucking pieces. Whiskey dripping down the wallpaper like blood on a corpse. My fist came down hard on the desk, once, twice, until the wood split and my knuckles tore open. The pain didn’t even matter. “Out!” I roared at the men outside. “Every last one of you. Out before I put a bullet between your eyes!”
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The whole office froze. No one even breathed. Chairs scraped, footsteps scrambled, and the place cleared in seconds. Everyone knew better. Everyone except Allen.
He stood there, stiff as stone, not even blinking at the storm I’d become.
“Bring her back,” I growled, my voice low, dangerous. “I don’t care if she’s in a coffin or ashes. want her with me. If you fail, Allen… don’t fucking come back alive.”
:23 pm.
