جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

The employee gave him a polite look."Sorry, sir. We can't share passenger information.""She's my wife!" Colsen snapped, eyes red. "I need to talk to her!""If it's urgent, you can contact her directly.""Her phone's off!""I'm sorry, sir. We can't help you."Colsen stood in the packed airport, completely lost for the first time.He wandered around with no clue where to go, watching destinations flash across the flight boards.He had no idea where Elise was.Didn't even know where to start.Eventually, he drove home.Without Elise, the mansion felt freezing.No matter how late he used to come back, she always left a light on for him.Tonight, the whole place was dark.Colsen flipped on the lights.The harsh white glow only made the mansion feel emptier.He went straight to the liquor cabinet, grabbed a bottle, and drank from it.The alcohol burned all the way down.Didn't touch the panic.Halfway through the bottle, he stumbled into the bathroom and threw up.He st

The journal went quiet after that.The next entry was from the day she lost the baby.Her handwriting was a mess, some words smeared by tears.[The baby's gone. He said if I hadn't pushed Bella, he never would've locked me up. He said Bella has a blood-clotting disorder, and that one push almost killed her.][He said he could make it up to me.][Colsen, my love and my life never meant a damn thing to you.]The last words were pressed so hard into the paper, they almost tore through the page. The letters shook with despair.[I don't think I can do this anymore.]And that was it.Every page after that was blank.When Colsen flipped to the last page, a crumpled piece of paper slipped out.He picked it up and unfolded it.An ultrasound report.The date was the day she lost the baby.A tiny blurry shape showed on the scan. Beneath it:[Intrauterine pregnancy, approximately 12 weeks.]Dried tear stains marked the back. Under them was one shaky line, like she'd barely had the

Then she stood without another look, hailed a cab, and left.Colsen lay on the cold pavement, staring after her.His chest felt ripped open, the pain making his whole body shake.But his injuries were nothing compared to her words.For the first time, he'd risked his life for her.When he shoved her out of the way, he hadn't thought about himself.He only knew she couldn't get hurt.And she'd barely looked at him.His blood disgusted her.Even if he died for her, she still wouldn't come back.Colsen closed his eyes as tears mixed with blood and dirt ran down his face.His left arm was broken and put in a cast. His right leg was badly bruised, so he needed crutches.The doctor wanted to keep him for observation.Colsen refused.He checked himself out and hobbled back to the hotel on crutches.The next day, he was back outside Elise's office.His arm was in a sling. He could barely walk. His face was pale.Still, he stood there, stubborn as hell, staring at the entrance.

Colsen stayed there, completely still, with no idea how much time had passed.Eventually, his legs went numb and the cold sank deep into his bones.Only then did he brace his hands against the ground and try to stand.His injured leg had gone stiff.He tried once.Failed.Again.Failed.In the end, he nearly crawled over to grab his crutch.It took everything he had just to get back on his feet.Then he limped away, hunched over like an old man.The darkness swallowed him whole.***Colsen returned to Santoria.Gone was the broken mess he'd been in Europe.He was back to being Locke Corp's sharp, perfectly put-together CEO.But there was something ice-cold in his eyes now. Something dangerous.The second he got back to the office, he gathered everything they had on Bella—the security footage, fire report, witness statements—and sent it straight to her father, David Kirk.One message went with it.[Because our families go way back, I'll give her two choices.][One: H

Evan gripped the phone and looked toward the hospital room.Colsen was gaunt, his eyes hollow, living on nothing but memories and IV fluids.Evan's throat tightened. He couldn't speak.A year later.After crushing it at her job, Elise was transferred back to Santoria to interpret at a major international conference.It was held at the city's most prestigious convention center.Colsen was in a meeting when he got the news.Evan leaned in and whispered in his ear.Colsen's hand froze, his pen dragging a long line across the page.After a long pause, he motioned for the meeting to continue.But he was distracted the whole time, his eyes constantly drifting toward the window.Afterward, he locked himself in his office and smoked an entire pack of cigarettes.Then he bribed someone on the venue staff.On the day of the conference, Colsen sat in the far corner of the back row, hidden beneath a cap and mask.He didn't dare go near her. Didn't dare interrupt her.All he could do