Chapter 371

Chapter 363(revised)
Cassian’s POV
B+3 Bonus
I sit in the restaurant’s plush booth, the untouched steak congealing on my plate. My phone is a dark, silent slab next to my wine glass. I’m waiting for a reply that I know won’t come, and the silence is a physical torment.
My mind, a traitorous engine, is conjuring vivid, unwelcome scenes. William in her passenger seat. William following her into that building at Urban Lane. William on her sofa, the glow of a movie playing across their faces. The domesticity of the image is a hot knife twisting in my gut. The more I try to shut it down, the more detailed it becomes, and a corrosive, helpless upset tightens my chest.
“You’re going to snap that fork in half.”
The voice, small and matter–of–fact, yanks me back. Remy, my nephew, looks up from his meticulously organized plate of pasta, his young face a mirror of calm observation I don’t feel.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” I mutter, the reprimand automatic. I rarely bring him out like this, a momentary lapse in my usual guardedness, and now I can’t even manage basic civility.
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18:08
He shrugs. unperturbed by my chill. “No pretty lady is going to
< Chapter 363(revised) like you if you’re this grumpy all the time.” +3 Bonus The statement is so blunt, so utterly unexpected from a nine–year–old, that I just stare at him. Then I scowl. “You’re a child. What could you possibly know about it?” He puts his own fork down with a solemnity that’s almost comical. “I know plenty. At my school, if a boy likes a girl, he shares his dessert. He gives her the good swing at recess. He tells the other boys to leave her alone.” His eyes, so like his mother’s, sweep over me in a swift, critical assessment. “What have you done to chase her? ” I am completely, utterly speechless. Since when did elementary school become a training ground for romantic strategy? A hot flush of something like embarrassment creeps up my neck. “Just eat your food,” I grind out. “Or I’m taking you straight home.” Remy’s face scrunches in protest. He was trying to help, and I dismissed him, but I have no regrets. The rest of the meal passes in a tense, silent stalemate. I have no appetite, all of focus is split between the silent phone and the painfully slow progress of Remy’s dinner. Every few minutes, my impatience boils over. “Are you finished yet?” 18:08 Finally, after the fifth or sixth time, he slams his cutlery down 276 with a soft clink. “I’m done. You don’t have to rush me!” < Chapter 363 (revised) +3 Bonus Relief is immediate. I settle the bill with brusque efficiency, usher him into the car, and drive him back to his mother’s house with a speed that borders on reckless. The moment he’s safely inside, I turn the car around. I’m not going home. I can’t. The phantom images are back, more insistent now. I need to see for myself. I need proof that the scene in my head isn’t real. My hands are tight on the wheel as I point the car toward Urban Lane, driven by a sense of dread that I can no longer try to suppress. Gemma’s POV I towel off my damp hair, the quiet of the apartment a soft blanket after the day’s chaos. Padding into the living room, I’m about to sink into the sofa and lose myself in mindless scrolling when the doorbell rings–a sharp, impatient sound. Zina left an hour ago. She must have forgotten something. Again. I shuffle to the door in my slippers, muttering under my breath. “I told you to double–check before you left. You never listen, and now you’re dragging me from my—” I pull the door open, the rest of my complaint dying on my lips. It’s not Zina. Cassian’s tall, tense frame fills the doorway, the hall light casting a severe shadow behind him. 18:08 < Chapter 363 (revised) My face hardens instantly. “What are you doing here?” “You didn’t reply to my messages,” he says, his voice low, rough around the edges. “I was… concerned.” +3 Bonus A dry, humorless chuckle escapes me. He’s concerned now. “Well, as you can see, I’m perfectly fine. You can go.” I start to swing the door shut, a clean, swift end. His reaction is faster. His arm shoots out, wedging into the narrowing gap. The solid wood door slams against his forearm with a sickening thud. He sucks in a sharp, pained breath. The sound stops me cold. My heart lurches. “Are you insane?” I hiss, yanking the door back open. “You don’t want your hands anymore?” The memory of his previous injury, the surgeon’s grave warning about his pilot’s hands, flashes through my mind. He risked that without a second thought? Instead of looking chastened, he looks at my furious, worried face and a slow, utterly maddening smile touches his lips. He’s pleased. He thinks my anger means I still care. I stare at him, wondering if I missed some profound mental instability during our three–year marriage. “You have three minutes,” I snap, not inviting him in, but not closing the door either. I keep my body blocking the entrance. 18:08 < Chapter 363 (revised) +3 Bonus “Whose child is it?” The question comes out raw, stripped of any pretense. He’s still stuck on this. I didn’t expect that to be his opening line. A coldness settles over my features. “It’s not yours. That’s all you need to know.” I see the disappointment flash in his eyes, but he bulldozes past it. “It doesn’t matter. I think you misunderstood me before. Let me be clear. I don’t care who the father is. If you’re willing to come back, I will—” I don’t let him finish. The sheer, arrogant audacity of it is a fuse reaching its end. I push the door shut, the lock clicking with finality. “Your three minutes are up!” I call through the wood. I can’t listen to another word of his delusional bargaining, whose only purpose is to put his possessiveness on full display.The next morning, I pack my bag for a meeting at Dream International, determined to reclaim some normalcy. The encounter with Cassian feels like a fever dream. But as soon as I step out of my building’s lobby, reality in the form of Lydia and Kitty descends upon me, blocking my path. “Gemma!” Lydia’s voice is a shrill accusation. “You’re actually 576 18:08