Chapter 10%
Jaxon’s fists landed like thunder.
“Even when she nearly died giving birth,” he yelled, voice raw, “you bastard flew off to Finland with Sabrina to chase the damn northern
lights!”
Every word hit harder than the last. Still, Jaxon didn’t stop.X
“I stayed. I was the one who stood by her. Who waited. Eamed her trust inch by inch. And now that she finally gave me a chance, you show up, like always, to ruin iL“I
I didn’t stop him.!
I didn’t say a word.
I just watched.
Every punch felt deserved. Jaxon didn’t pull back. Brandon didn’t fight after the first few hits. He just took them.&
Minutes passed, both of them bruised and bloodied, but it was Brandon who finally gave out. He dropped to the sand, soaked in sweat clutching his chest like he could hold himself together by force.
Then his phone rang.
It had fallen nearby during the fight, and even from where I stood, I recognized the ringtone.
Sabrina.
Brandon didn’t move. He wasn’t going to answer it.
But Jaxon did.
He picked it up, hit the speaker and turned up the volume.
Sabrina’s voice cracked across the beach, frantic. “Brandon! Help me please! My parents showed up, and they dragged me to the hospital! They’re trying to make me get an abortion. They said they’ll take my uterus. I won’t be able to have kids again! Please tell them you want this baby! Tell them he’s going to inherit your company. Say something!”
She was sobbing Screaming.E
And Brandon? He looked at me.
Not on the phone. Not at Jaxon.
Just me.{
Searching for something. Guilt. Jealousy. Anger.
I gave him none of iE
Just silence. The same silence I lived in for years.
And the moment he saw that same emptiness, which once left me staring back at him, his whole body deflated
He exhaled, slow and hollow, and said, flat into the phone, “Sabrina, you’re not my wife. Even if you have that baby, he’ll never be my heir. Do what your parents want. Get the abortion.Z
There was no answer on the other end. For a second, I thought she might’ve fainted.
But then I heard Sabrina snapping back, screaming, and hysterical.
“You bastard, how dare you use me? Are you only saying this because Camilla told you something?”
Continuing, she hastily admitted, “Fine. Fine, I admit it! I had Camilla kidnapped. I was the one who sent her to that mine. But I didn’t mean to hurt her. I just wanted to scare her! Make her back off! I did it because I love you!”
Now, frantically, she cried out, “Brandon–they’re coming in! They’re taking me—!“}
Click R
The line cut off.
Silence E
Brandon didn’t move. Didn’t even blink.
He just looked at me, voice barely there. “Why didn’t you tell me she hurt you?”!!
I stared at him and asked, “Would it have mattered? Would you have believed me?”
He didn’t answer because we both knew the truth
I thought back to Lyra’s one month celebration
It only took one sentence
Sabrina, all fake sweetness and wide–eyed innocence, leaned in and said, “Brandon, don’t you think the baby doesn’t really look like you?” That was it!
No follow–up. No questions. No hesitation
He just snapped and locked me and our newbom in the attic for a week.
No sunlight. No airflow. No food that wasn’t cold and stale. No one came to check if Lyra was crying. Or if I was.
And when the patemity results came back, proving she was his, beyond a doubt, he didn’t apologize K
。
2:41 PM c c·
Not even once
Now, the sun was setting, spilling gold across the sand.
It should’ve been beautiful. Instead, Brandon crawled toward me, pale, shaking, broken.
He grabbed the hem of my shirt, his voice cracking. “Camilla, I’m sorry. I mean it. I’ll believe you. Always. No more doubts. Please forgive me. Even if it’s for Lyra.”
The second he said her name, I slapped him hard &
His head snapped sideways. Eyes wide. Tears spilled before he could stop them.
I met his pleading eyes and said coldly, “I wish it had been you who died back then.”
Then I turned around. Jaxon was already there, waiting for me. I took his hand, and together, we walked away.
Behind us, Brandon gagged. Then, he vomited blood onto the sand.
When I glanced back, he was already down, collapsed, motionless, and sprawled out under the fading light like a man watching his own ending unfold.
But this wasn’t the end. Not yet.
When Brandon opened his eyes again, the world was pitch–black. He was gagged, tied, and locked inside a room with no windows. This time, he wouldn’t be the one in control.
I was. E
