Chapter 817
[ 525 words ]
Chapter 817:
The instant we stepped outside, his expression hardened. He struck a lighter, drew on a cigarette, and released the smoke into the chilly night. “How much longer are you going to let Melisa keep controlling this? She knows exactly how much Lianne means to you, and she’s squeezing every advantage she can out of it. Give her money, grant her requests, it won’t matter. Someone like her is never satisfied.”
“I already know.” I rested both hands on the railing, tension pulling tightly across my forehead.
Jeremy lowered his voice. “You need to make her believe you and Lianne are drifting apart, or convince her that Lianne’s safety isn’t your greatest concern anymore. Once she loses the leverage she holds over you, the balance shifts.”
I had actually considered that strategy, but this wasn’t a negotiation I could afford to lose.
My answer came without hesitation. “No. Melisa isn’t careless. Empty gossip won’t fool her. She’ll want proof, and the only proof she’d trust is stopping Lianne’s medication to see how I react. If anything goes wrong, Lianne’s body won’t survive it. I refuse to gamble with her life.”
Jeremy wasn’t convinced. “You don’t have to rush. Let the illusion build little by little. Make it seem like your marriage is under strain, maybe even appear closer to Melisa herself. Once she finally lets her guard down, force the antidote formula out of her. After it’s over, explain the truth to Lianne. She’ll forgive you.”
My gaze drifted through the glass doors to the living room, where Lianne laughed with Ruby and Silas. A painful weight settled in my chest.
She had only recently managed to heal from everything she’d endured. She had finally chosen to believe in me again.
𝘙o𝗆𝗮nсе ո𝗈vel𝗌 𝘰𝗻 𝗀а𝗹ոo𝘃𝖾𝘭𝘴.𝘤𝗼m
What we had rebuilt was painfully fragile, as delicate as fine china that could shatter from the smallest crack.
I couldn’t risk destroying it. I was terrified that pretending to betray her would become the final wound she couldn’t recover from.
I’d already assembled some of the finest medical specialists across the globe to recreate the antidote in complete secrecy. Yet every breakthrough came painfully slowly.
Without the original poison, proper testing couldn’t even begin.
To make matters worse, Melisa had intentionally designed the formula so every ingredient depended on an exact sequence. A mistake so tiny it could barely be measured would transform the cure into deadly poison.
Even a one-in-a-million possibility wasn’t worth staking Lianne’s life on.
Just when hopelessness threatened to swallow me whole, her cheerful voice echoed from inside the house.
“Ethan! Jeremy! Dinner’s ready. Stop talking and come inside!”
She stood beneath the golden light, smiling brightly as she waved us over.
I inhaled deeply, burying every trace of frustration and despair.
By the time I faced her, the darkness had already disappeared behind the familiar warmth she always saw in me.
“We’re coming.” Straightening myself, I walked toward her.
Until I found a way out of this impossible situation, I would continue standing between her and every danger.
Lianne’s POV
The trip home from Jeremy’s place passed in near silence, interrupted only by the steady sound of the engine.
Outside the window, the streets slipped past in a blur while my thoughts grew more tangled with every mile.
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