All Chapters of Caught Between The REID Brothers : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Harper’s POVThe silence after Madison’s ultimatum felt almost unnatural.It wasn't quiet exactly, because people were still moving around us, distant conversations drifting from somewhere down the block, but all of it faded behind the pressure sitting between the three of us.Ethan looked like he’d forgotten how to breathe properly.Madison stood across from him with her arms at her sides now, no longer defensive, no longer angry in the obvious sense.There was something terrifying about the calmness in her expression, about the fact that she’d already reached the point where she no longer wanted explanations.She wanted clarity.And Ethan hated clarity when it cornered him.“You can’t seriously expect me to answer something like that right now,” he said finally, dragging a hand through his hair again.Madison’s expression didn’t shift. “Why not?”“Because this isn’t some game where I point at one person and suddenly everything becomes simple.”He frowned his face and kissed his teeth

Harper's PovThe first thing I noticed when I woke up was a soft blankets, a cool room, and the faint smell of coffee somewhere nearby.Just a few seconds in, I stayed still with my eyes closed, trying to understand why my body felt so much lighter than usual and why my brain seemed strangely quiet after everything that had happened.Then memory returned all at once. My eyes opened immediately.I pushed myself upright too fast and winced when a dull ache spread through my neck. The room around me slowly came into focus, dark walls, shelves cluttered with books and random electronics, a hoodie hanging over the back of a chair.This was definitely not my apartment. I stared down at myself and saw I had an oversized black hoodie on, which wasn't mine either.“Oh good,” Ashton’s voice came from the doorway. “You’re awake because I was about three minutes away from checking if heartbreak can medically induce a coma.”I looked up too quickly. Ashton leaned casually against the frame holding

Harper's Pov“Yes,” I said quietly as I wiped beneath my eyes quickly before he could comment on it. “Yeah, let’s go.”Ashton stared at me for a second longer like he was checking whether I actually meant it or whether I was just trying not to fall apart in a parking garage, then he nodded once.“I am glad,” he said lightly. “Because if I spent all that emotional energy supporting you just for you to change your mind now, I’d actually become unbearable.”“You’re already unbearable.”He shut the passenger door after me before walking around the front of the car, sliding into the driver’s seat with the kind of calm confidence that somehow always looked effortless on him.The silence inside the car wasn’t awkward this time around.Too much had happened in too little time for either of us to immediately know what to say next.Ashton started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot smoothly while campus buildings disappeared behind us one by one.I leaned my head against the seat quiet

HARPERI stared at Ashton in complete disbelief while half his weight leaned against me in the middle of a dim parking structure.He tried straightening again and immediately regretted it when pain hit him hard enough to visibly drain the color from his face.I tightened my grip around his arm automatically. “Okay, stop moving before you collapse again.”“I did not collapse.”“You folded like a lawn chair.”“That feels unnecessarily disrespectful considering I saved your life twenty minutes ago.”The Ashton I knew always had something sarcastic ready, always found a way to twist tension into humor before it settled in the room, now he just looked tired.The alarms upstairs still echoed faintly through the concrete levels while distant shouting bounced through the structure.“We need to leave before security gets down here,” Ashton muttered finally.“You need stitches, you need medical attention.”He looked at me steadily. “Harper.”Something about his tone made me pause.“I can’t go t

HARPERAshton took my phone from the counter again, replayed the video one more time, then locked the screen without saying anything.“You already know why this happened, don’t you?” I asked carefully.His jaw tightened slightly before he placed the phone back down.I folded my arms against my chest. “Ashton, somebody edited hundreds of videos before they spread online. That’s not normal rich-people scandal behavior anymore.”“You’d be surprised what becomes normal when enough money gets involved.”He leaned back carefully against the kitchen counter, one hand still pressed lightly against his ribs.“You need to stop looking at this like a random accident.”“That’s literally what I’m trying to figure out.”“No,” he corrected quietly. “You’re still trying to make it logical.”I frowned at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”“It means normal people hear ‘car crash’ and think recklessness.” His eyes stayed on mine. “People like my father hear ‘car crash’ and think of damage control.”“Y