Chapter 921

 921:
For several long seconds, the world around her seemed to grind to a halt—everything became motionless, smeared, and unreal.
“Linsey!” Collin’s voice cut through the chaos, firm and urgent, as he grabbed her shoulders with both hands, anchoring her in place. His voice snapped her back to reality.
Her breathing came in shallow bursts, eyes wide and dazed as she locked onto Collin’s face, completely stunned. When she tried to speak, the words came out in a dry rasp, barely a whisper. The sentence broke off in her throat, her gaze drifting and then fixating on one point as if the rest of the world no longer existed.
“Linsey, listen to me.” Collin’s voice lowered but didn’t lose its edge. Slowly, deliberately, he said, “It was Kylee who stabbed Gorman. You had nothing to do with it. Stop blaming yourself.”
Linsey’s chest rose sharply as she gasped for air, tears welling as she stared at him, her voice cracking. “How did it come to this? How is Gorman… gone? Didn’t they get him to the hospital in time? Why couldn’t they save him?”
Collin held her tighter, trying to still the tremor in her body. After a long pause, he finally replied, his voice grim, “The knife she used wasn’t ordinary. It was custom-made, razor-sharp. He lost too much blood. By the time they got him there, his breathing was already shallow. The bleeding was just… too much. They couldn’t bring him back.”
As the words sank in, Linsey’s strength vanished, and her body gave way, collapsing backward in a daze.
“Linsey!” Collin’s voice rose with urgency as he lunged forward, catching her just in time. Though his arm cushioned her fall, the jolt slammed his hand into the sharp edge of the headboard. Pain flared instantly, but he didn’t flinch. His entire focus was locked on her.
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“Did you hit anything? Are you hurt?” he asked, scanning her face with visible worry.
A blink brought her back to the present. Still disoriented, Linsey reached for his hand and drew it toward her. Her eyes immediately caught the angry red scrape along his knuckles, the bones beneath the skin stark and tense.
“Your hand,” she murmured, her voice trembling as she stared down at the mark, head bowed and vision swimming.
“I’m okay,” Collin assured gently, though a subtle furrow formed between his brows, the pain in his heart greater than any wound.
Without warning, a single tear slid down from Linsey’s lashes and fell onto the back of his hand. That drop, cool yet burning, made his fingers flinch slightly, a reflex born from emotion, not pain.
“Linsey…” Collin exhaled softly, the weight of everything pressing into his chest.
Without saying more, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Resting her head on his shoulder, Linsey allowed the last of her restraint to break. Her tears flowed freely now, blurring everything, and soaking into the quiet comfort of his embrace.
There had been a time when Linsey couldn’t even bear the sound of Gorman’s name; her hatred ran that deep. Never, not once, had she thought his life would end so abruptly. What devastated her more than the loss itself was the cruel irony that Gorman had died protecting her.
The truth gnawed at her until she buried her face in her hands, sobbing with her eyes squeezed shut.
After what felt like a lifetime packed into thirty seconds, she finally looked up. Her fingers wiped away the streaks on her cheeks, but her gaze remained intense, locked on Collin.
“How did Kylee get released?” she asked, her voice rough but steady. “Her sentence wasn’t even over.” Earlier, Collin had mentioned the blade Kylee used—one that wasn’t just ordinary, but custom-forged.
A detail like that gnawed at Linsey’s thoughts. Someone with power had to be involved, someone capable of pulling strings and arming Kylee with something so deadly.
She no longer doubted it—this wasn’t chance. Something darker was at work beneath the surface.
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