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CHAPTER NINETY-NINE

last update Last Updated: 2025-10-18 00:56:59

ISABELLA.

The air outside Bruce's mansion carried a different kind of silence. I felt it immediately as I drove through the wrought-iron gates—the quiet pressure and the shift in gravity that came with his presence.

I told myself that I wasn't nervous, that this was just another calculated move in a long, dangerous game. But as I alighted from the car, slamming the door shut behind me, I began to feel unsure. I had imagined this reunion differently—one where I would have the upper hand, and where I would have Bruce in my debt for owing me his freedom. But now, walking beside him, I realized that I was wrong. As we stepped into the building, the sound of my heels echoed with confidence, betraying none of the unease tightening in my chest. Bruce walked calmly beside me, his movements calm and unhurried. He didn't speak, didn't even look at me and somehow, that unsettled me more than anger or anything else would have.

When we finally got into the living room, the hush followed us like a
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