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NINETY ONE
publish date:
2026-06-20 02:05:20
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I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON 159
THALIAThe moment Caleb left and I heard the lock click behind him, I stopped pretending to be the woman he wanted me to be.I stayed where I was for a few seconds, listening carefully as his footsteps disappeared down the hallway. My heart was still pounding from the conversation we had just had, and the smile I had forced onto my face was still sitting painfully on my lips, but underneath it, my mind was already working.I looked down at my wrists, rubbing them slowly as I tried to get the feeling back into my hands. They were sore from being restrained for so long, and my shoulders ached from the position he had forced me to remain in, but none of that mattered anymore.I had spent the last two hours thinking about every possible way out of this room, and now I finally had the freedom to try.I got off the bed and immediately went to the door.Locked.Of course.I grabbed the handle with both hands and pulled as hard as I could, but it barely moved. I tried again, putting my weight
I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON 158
BRANDONI touched my cheek where Adrian's fist had landed, still trying to process what had just happened. The sting was spreading across my face, but it was the fury in his eyes that held my attention, because there was something almost frightening about the way he was looking at me.“What the fuck was that for, Vale?”Adrian didn't answer immediately. He stood a few feet away, breathing heavily, his hands still clenched into fists at his sides as though he was forcing himself not to come at me again.For a moment, the only sound in the room was the television behind Olivia, where Thalia's photograph remained frozen on the screen.Then Adrian lifted his eyes to mine.“What the hell did you do to her?”My brows pulled together.“What are you talking about?”He crossed the distance between us before I could say anything else.“You bastard.”His fist caught me across the jaw, and my head snapped sideways from the force of it. I stumbled backward, one hand instinctively going to my face
I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON 157
BRANDONI was still on the phone with the Commissioner of Police when I looked up and saw Thalia’s face on the television again.For the past several minutes, the news had been running the same report on repeat, and each time her picture appeared on the screen, something inside my chest tightened all over again. There she was, smiling in a photograph that had probably been taken on an ordinary day, completely unaware that her face would soon be plastered across television screens because the people who loved her were desperately trying to find her.Missing.The word sat heavily in my mind.I had spent the last few minutes listening to the Commissioner explain what they were doing, where they were looking, and the steps the police were taking, but none of it felt like enough. Not when every second mattered. Not when I had no idea where she was or what she might be going through.I turned away from the television and pressed the phone closer to my ear.“Please,” I said, and I hated how
I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON 156
THALIAThe bastard had been gone for two hours.I knew because there was a wall clock directly opposite the bed, and for the past two hours, I had done little more than stare at it and watch the hands move. Caleb had taken my phone, my shoes, my watch, basically anything he thought could help me escape from this room.I couldn't stop thinking about what he had said before he left.I've known you for a long time.I had almost scoffed when he said it.What a joke.I had never seen Caleb before in my life. At least, not that I could remember. Whatever connection he thought existed between us, whatever history he had built inside his head, I had no idea what he was talking about.The sound of keys rattling outside the door pulled me from my thoughts.I immediately tried to turn toward it, but the position he had left me in made even that difficult. The lock clicked.A few seconds later, the door opened, and Caleb walked into the room carrying a plate of food.He looked completely relaxed
I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON 155
BRANDONIt took almost everything we had to get Clara into the ambulance.She fought the paramedics from the moment they stepped into the house, pulling away whenever they tried to guide her outside, shouting that they were making a mistake and insisting that there was nothing wrong with her. At one point, she grabbed the doorframe with both hands and refused to let go, forcing two of the paramedics to carefully pry her fingers away while she screamed that they were taking her somewhere she didn’t belong.I stood a few feet away watching the whole thing unfold.I had known Clara for years. I had seen her angry, manipulative, jealous and unreasonable, but I had never seen her like this. There was something frightening about watching her fight so desperately against help, especially after seeing the bruises on Leo’s little body.“She’s lying!” Clara screamed as they finally got her into the ambulance. Her eyes found mine through the open doors. “Brandon, you have to believe me! Thalia
I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON 154
BRANDON“You hit him?”Clara opened her mouth, but no words came out.She stared at me, her lips trembling as she struggled to find something to say. For several seconds, she simply stood there, looking from me to Leo as though she had been caught in something she never expected me to discover.“It wasn’t me,” she finally managed.Her voice was barely audible.“What?”“It wasn’t me, okay?”She shook her head frantically, her words coming faster now.“It was Thalia.”I stared at her.For a moment, I honestly thought I had heard her wrong.“Thalia?”“Yes!” she cried. “It was her.”I moved toward her.Clara instinctively stepped back, but I kept walking until there was barely any space between us. I could feel my anger rising again, but I forced myself to keep it under control. Leo was still in the room, and the last thing I wanted was for him to see me lose control.“You hit a little boy repeatedly until his body was covered in bruises, and you’re standing here blaming Thalia?”“I didn’
I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON FIFTY
THALIAI stood just behind the stage entrance, my hands resting lightly against each other as I adjusted my grip, then released it again when I realized I was doing too much.“You’re good,” the event coordinator said quietly as she passed me. “It’s almost your turn.”I nodded once without respondin
I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON THIRTY FOUR
THALIABrandon gave a short scoff beside me, the sound low and dry, as though my anger was something he found mildly inconvenient rather than justified, and it made my frustration spike all over again.“What exactly are you talking about?” he asked, leaning back into the leather seat as if we were
I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON SIX
THALIAAcross the city, my new apartment still smelled faintly of fresh paint.Freedom had a strange scent.I stood in the middle of the living room, staring at the half-opened boxes scattered everywhere. The place wasn’t nearly as large as the Langford estate, but it felt lighter somehow. The sile
I LEFT WHEN HIS EX CAME BACK WITH HIS SON FIVE
BRANDONThe first thing I felt was anger.It sat heavy in my chest all afternoon, refusing to fade.I stood in my office at Langford Pharmaceuticals, staring through the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the city. Traffic crawled below like ants. People moved through their ordinary lives, wh
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