Semua Bab The One I Can't Escape: Bab 41 - Bab 43

The scent of pine-scrub floor cleaner fills my lungs as I drag the brush along the grout lines. My fingers ache. My knees are bruised from hours on the tiles. My reflection in the polished oven door looks like someone else—someone worn down, scraped hollow, obedient.Perfect.I lean forward, scrubbing harder.And then—I feel him.A presence behind me, warm and close, and before I can turn, his hand slides over mine, stopping the brush mid-stroke.“Are you planning to die doing this?” Oliver murmurs, his voice low, rough with amusement. “Because if so, you’re doing a hell of a job.”I don’t move. I don’t look up.“It’s your call,” I say evenly. “You can either let me or stop me.”His fingers tighten just slightly. “You never ask for help,” he says, mouth closer now—too close. “You just punish yourself until you bleed. It’s such a turn-on, it’s honestly rude.”I almost laugh. Almost.But then his thumb brushes the inside of my wrist—just once—and the air leaves my lungs in a shaky breat

The door swings open with a sharp creak.Isabella steps inside, grocery bags balanced in both hands—but when she sees my mother sitting on the couch, her expression freezes. The bags fall to the floor with a dull thud, apples rolling across the tiles like dropped marbles.Her eyes lock onto my mom. “What are you doing here?”Calmly, my mother stands. “This is still my house,” she replies, chin slightly lifted. “Christopher and I made it 50/50. So technically, I should be asking you what you’re doing here.”I blink, stunned.That was news to me.All this time, I thought Dad got the house after the divorce. I didn’t know they still shared it.But what really gets me—the part that tightens my chest—is how Isabella knew who Mom was. To my knowledge, they had never met. Not once.Yet here they are, facing each other like bitter rivals who’ve done this before.Isabella doesn’t blink. She leaves the door wide open behind her as she steps closer, eyes locked on Mom, not even sparing me a glan