Semua Bab Familiar Strangers : Bab 31 - Bab 35

I stood barefoot in the kitchen, silk robe slipping off one shoulder, staring at the city lights that refused to care. My mother’s words from yesterday kept looping in my head like a broken record. Stage four. Not much time left. The way she tried to smile through it, like cancer was just another secret we could bury with the rest of them. My chest felt hollow, like someone had scooped everything out and left only this heavy, aching void.I gripped the marble counter until my knuckles turned white. Tears slipped down my cheeks again, hot and silent. I thought I had cried them all out in the hospital, but apparently my body had an endless supply.*Why her? After everything she sacrificed, after all the lies and the blackmail and the Vegas mess… this is how it ends?*I didn’t hear Damian come in. One second I was alone with my thoughts, the next his bare chest was pressed against my back, warm and solid, his arms sliding around my waist like he could hold the pieces of me together.“I k

The hospital corridor smelled like bleach and lilies. I clutched the tiny USB drive in my fist so hard the plastic edges dug into my palm. My mother’s words kept echoing: 'Watch it alone first.' I could still feel the weight of her hand in mine, the way her fingers had trembled when she pressed the drive into my palm.I stepped into the elevator alone. The doors slid shut and I leaned against the mirrored wall, staring at my own reflection. Eyes red. Lips pressed tight. The woman looking back at me looked like she was one breath away from breaking.'What the hell is on this thing?'When I stepped outside, Damian was waiting exactly where he said he would be, leaning against the car, arms crossed, eyes scanning every face that left the building until they landed on me. The second he saw me he straightened, opening the passenger door before I even reached him.I slid in without a word. He got behind the wheel, started the engine, but didn’t pull away. Instead he turned to me, one hand r