《37 Times You Called My Name 》全部章節：第 41 章 - 第 50 章

Mia POVThe garden smelled like dirt and roses, but I couldn’t focus. My mother was humming some old song while she watered the lavender, her movements slow but steady now. I knelt beside the rose bush, clippers in hand, but my mind kept replaying Ryder’s words from last night.*Marry me.*I had said yes in the moment, swept up in the relief of no more secrets. But in the cold light of morning, doubt had crept back in. The proposal felt too fast. Too perfect. Like he was trying to lock everything down before the next storm hit.Ryder showed up at noon like always, carrying a picnic basket and that easy smile that still made my stomach flip. He kissed my mother’s cheek first, then tried to kiss me. I turned my head at the last second. His lips brushed my cheek instead.“Everything okay?” he asked, eyes narrowing.“Fine.” I forced a smile and grabbed the basket. “Let’s eat.”Lunch was awkward. My mother kept glancing between us, sensing the tension. Ryder tried to fill the silence with

Mia POVThe hospital room smelled like antiseptic and regret. I lay in the narrow bed, leg elevated in a cast, ribs aching with every breath. The pain meds had dulled the physical hurt, but nothing could touch the emotional wreckage Ryder had left behind. The image of that woman on the bed, legs spread open like she belonged there, kept replaying in my mind. Ryder had sworn it was nothing. A business meeting. A scar she was showing him. But the doubt gnawed at me like a living thing.He had stepped out twenty minutes ago to take a call, promising he would be right back. I stared at the ceiling, counting the tiles to keep my thoughts from spiraling. When ten minutes turned into fifteen, I couldn’t stay still. I grabbed the crutches the nurse had left and hobbled out of the room, ignoring the nurse’s protest from the station.The hallway was quiet. I followed the sound of his voice around the corner to a small waiting area near the elevators. He was on the phone, back to me, speaking

Mia POVThe street was cold and unforgiving. I lay there among the trash bags and discarded boxes, my body screaming from the impact of the car, my leg throbbing in the cast, my ribs burning with every shallow breath. The world spun around me in a haze of pain and betrayal. Ryder’s voice from the phone call echoed in my head: *She believed it. Fell for the whole thing.* The woman’s legs spread open on that hotel bed. The way he hadn’t pushed her away. The way he had looked at me when I ran. It all crashed down on me like a wave I couldn’t swim out of.I had crawled away from the hospital after the accident, refusing the ambulance, refusing help from anyone connected to him. My crutches had been lost somewhere in the chaos. I had dragged myself block after block, tears streaming down my face, until I couldn’t go any further. I had collapsed here in this alley, waiting for Jake — my ex from college — to come. He had called again after the first warning, promising he would get me som

Mia POVThe alley was a nightmare of rotting garbage, broken glass, and the stench of urine and despair. I lay among the overflowing trash bags and discarded cardboard boxes, my body a battlefield of pain. The cast on my broken leg felt like a cage of concrete, every tiny movement sending sharp stabs up my thigh. My ribs burned with every shallow breath, the bruises from the car impact blooming dark and ugly across my side. The scrapes on my arms and hands stung from the rough asphalt and the filth I had crawled through to get away from the hospital. The world spun in a hazy fog of tears and betrayal, the image of that woman in the hotel room burned into my mind like a brand — her legs spread open, heels still on, laughing at something Ryder had said. The way he had stood there, not pushing her away. The phone call I had overheard. The way he had spoken so casually about me believing his lies. It all crashed down on me like a wave I couldn’t swim out of, pulling me under until I co

MIA POV The phone call I had overheard in the hallway about me believing his lies so easily. The way he had manipulated me for years, pulling strings from the shadows. The child we had lost. The way I had believed him when he swore he had changed. The way he had sworn the woman was nothing, just a business associate showing him a scar from an accident. Jake listened without interrupting once, his face darkening with every painful detail, his hands clenched into tight fists on his knees, knuckles white with the effort of holding back his anger.“He’s dangerous, Mia,” he said when I finally finished, his voice low and urgent, eyes locked on mine with an intensity that felt safe rather than suffocating. “He always has been. I tried to warn you back in college, but you were already under his spell by then. He killed his own sister, you know. To keep her from exposing what he did to you in high school. She was going to tell everyone the full story — the rumors, the stalking, the way he