NovelEnglishChapter 85
He kept his head down. Not because he was ashamed in front of
the nurses or security. But because he couldn't bear the thought of glancing back.
They were finished.
And that truth would haunt him more than any punishment
Chole or the world could ever deliver.
Olivia's POV
| didn’t sleep that night.
| heard the quiet shift of fabric when Ethan stood. | felt the
weight of his gaze-heavy, sorrowful-as he hovered near me,
maybe wanting to speak, maybe waiting for a sign. But | gave
him none. | just lay there, still as stone, staring at the ceiling
with eyes wide open, too numb to cry, too exhausted to feel
anything else.
That was how our story ended. Not with a fight, not with a kiss,
not even with a word. Just silence.
And that silence hurt more than any shouting match we ever
had.
Chapter 85
In the morning, Ava checkedout of the hospital. She was
quiet too, gently wheelingout while the nurses processed the discharge papers. My bruises had faded into a
deep purple
mosaic across my body. | could walk again, but slowly. My
mind, however, wasn’t limping-it was running. It had been
running all night, retracing every step of the last eight years
with Ethan.
| wasn’t joyful. | wasn’t devastated. | just felt... clean. Hollow.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtLike someone had taken a rag and wiped away every emotion
that had once stained my chest. All that remained was the echo
of too much happening too fast.
Before we left, | told Ava | wanted to visit Alexander. He was in
the shospital, still recovering from the stab wound. He'd
saved my life, again. | felt | owed him something—if not a thank
you, then at least a moment,
But when we passed his ward, | paused. His room was crowded
-nurses coming in and out, a doctor with a clipboard, a few
suited men | assumed were from Green Group. His assistant
Mike stood near the door, arms crossed, looking like he was
guarding the Alpha himself.
| didn’t want to cause trouble. Rumors, whispers, unnecessary
attention. So, | turned away.
| would wait. | would thank him later-properly, privately.
From the hospital, Ava and | drove straight to the police station.
The statement was long. Exhausting. | recounted the
kidnapping from the moment | noticed the tail, to the pain in
my neck, to waking up tied and drenched in gasoline. They
showedphotos of the man in black-the sman I'd seen
loitering by the service stop.
He had been caught. Arrested late last night after a brief chase.
“He says he wasn’t hired,” the officer told me, flipping through a
report. “Claims he was ‘doing a favor’ for a friend. No money
changed hands.”
Of course. A dead-end alibi.
“And Chole?” | asked, voice brittle.
“She's... playing the victim,” he muttered. “Feigning memory loss.
The Windsors are trying to push a mental health narrative
again. But this time, the stabbing charge complicates things.”
| signed the final page of my statement. “She stabbed Alexander.
She planned to burnalive. Let's not pretend she just
snapped.”
He nodded. “We won't.”
After that, | just wanted to go home. Not to rest. Not to cry. | just
wanted stillness.
Chapter
And for a moment, | had it-until Ava re-entered my room
holding her phone.
“Ethan,” she said simply, handing it to me. “He sent word.”
| stared at the screen for a long moment. My fingers hesitated,
then tapped it open.
Ethan wasn’t calling. He had sent a message-short, formal.
“If it's really what you want... I'll sian:
I've informed he eyes. Fhe’
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You'll receive the settlement. 300 million. Let's do it tomorrow.
10 a.m. Courthouse.”
| read it twice. Then again.
No apology. No long paragraph of regret. Just surrender.
And that was what I'd wanted, wasn't it?
| turned to Ava and gave a small nod. “Tell him I'll be there.”
She looked atcarefully. “Are you sure?”
| smiled. Or something like a smile.
“It's done. Let jtendhvkere'it The
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should.”
Ava didn’t say anything more. She just pulledinto a brief
hug and left the room.
As the sun dipped behind the buildings of New York, | stood by
Chapter RS
the window, staring out over the city |
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Eight years.
And tomorrow, | would sign his naway like it meant
nothing.
Except, of course, it had meant everything.
| wrapped my arms around myself and whispered to the quiet,
“10:00. Tomorrow. Let it be done.”
Olivia's POV
Ava glanced atfrom the driver's seat. “You gave it your all.
Eight years isn’t nothing.”
| didn’t answer. What was there to say? Her sigh filled the
silence between us.
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