Chapter 266
Chapter 266:
“You can’t,” Anson said smoothly. “The storm’s knocked out the phone lines in this part of the building. And you look like you’re about to faint. Just sleep at the estate for a few hours. Go home in the morning when you’re fresh. Dallas will understand — it’s an emergency p>
Eliza wavered. Her body felt like lead. The thought of finding a taxi, the long ride into the city, the inevitable conversation with Dallas — it was too much.
“Just a few hours,” she conceded. “I need to call him the second I get there p>
She went back to the Hyde estate. She collapsed onto the bed in the guest room, fully clothed, and was asleep before her head reached the pillow.
She forgot to try the landline.
Anson stood in the hallway. He looked at the closed door for a long moment, then took out his phone and texted a contact saved as Suki.
𝖱𝘦𝘢𝗱 𝗍𝘩𝖾 l𝖺𝗍𝗲s𝘵 𝘵reո𝗱𝘀 оn
Stand by.
He pocketed the phone and walked away, leaving the small, powerful signal jammer he had placed in the hallway outlet still plugged in — ensuring her digital prison remained intact.
Three days later, the S&D office was a blur of activity. Eliza sat at her drafting table, staring at the blueprints for the Lynn Institute restoration. Her eyes were rimmed with red, dark circles bruising the skin beneath them.
She felt like a zombie.
Bella Rose dropped a coffee cup onto her desk with a loud thud.
“You look like death,” Bella said bluntly, leaning against the partition. “Did Dallas drain the life out of you, or are you fighting dragons at night p>
Eliza wrapped both hands around the warm cup, grateful for the heat. “I haven’t seen Dallas in three days p>
Bella raised an eyebrow. “Trouble in paradise p>
“He’s working late,” Eliza said. The lie tasted stale even as she said it. “And I’ve been at the hospital with Victoria. Or at the Hyde estate because it’s closer. When I go back to the penthouse to change, he’s either gone or asleep — in the guest room p>
It wasn’t bad timing. Dallas was avoiding her. Since the night at the hospital, he had become a ghost, answering her texts with single words. Busy. Fine. Meeting.
He was punishing her.
“You need to fix that,” Bella warned. “Men like Dallas Koch don’t do ‘space’ well. They do resentment p>
“I know,” Eliza sighed. “I’m going to video call him tonight. I’ll make him talk to me p>
That evening, the Hyde estate was quiet. Victoria had been discharged and was resting in her wing of the house, demanding constant attention. Anson had made it clear — in a voice threaded with false concern — that any undue stress, such as Eliza suddenly leaving, could trigger another episode. It was a veiled threat, a gilded cage, and Eliza could feel its bars closing in. That was why she had stayed one more night. Just one more.
She sat on the bed in her old room, freshly showered and changed into cotton pajamas. She studied her reflection in the phone screen, trying to look less exhausted, and dialed Dallas on FaceTime.
It rang. And rang. And rang.
Just as she was about to give up, the screen connected.