Chapter 616:
His hand, resting carelessly at his side, betrayed him with a subtle tremor. When he had first returned from Proidan, shock had numbed him completely, leaving him drowning in a sea of confusion and rage. But now, terror gripped him with icy fingers.
Fear—real, bone-deep fear—consumed every rational thought.
Millie had accepted Myron’s proposal, and they were now engaged.
Despite her crystal-clear rejection of him, despite watching her choose Myron right before his eyes, Brandon still clung to the desperate belief that she belonged to him.
He had secretly secured an apartment in her neighborhood, positioning himself like a phantom observer, confirming that she remained alone—that she hadn’t moved in with Myron yet.
He’d whispered reassurances to himself, telling himself that they were merely dating, that relationships crumbled all the time. But an engagement? That changed everything.
Seven years they had shared together. And all those secrets he’d never dared confess to her.
The image of her sleeping peacefully beside another man nearly shattered what was left of Brandon’s sanity.
He squeezed his eyes shut, desperately trying to banish the torturous vision. The vehicle slid into the parking structure of a towering building.
“Brandon, we just received word that Myron’s vehicle is stationed here, but they haven’t emerged yet,” Darden’s voice lowered to a near whisper. The engine had died, and the driver had already left. So why hadn’t they stepped out?
Were they having some intimate conversation in the parking garage?
Darden couldn’t bring himself to meet Brandon’s gaze.
Brandon’s expression remained perfectly blank, but a soft crack echoed through the silence as his phone screen spider-webbed under the crushing force of his grip. Darden saw the destruction and inhaled sharply.
Ⲟⲛ𝓵𝔂 𝓿𝓲𝓪 𝓬𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓲𝓽𝓮: g⍶𝓁𝓃𝗈ν𝓮𝗅𝓈⦚ⅽ𝗈𝗺
Brandon’s fury had crushed the device in his bare hands.
Darden bit back any further words and gunned the engine toward the coordinates his surveillance team had provided. The solitary vehicle waited in the shadows, and Brandon launched himself from the car the instant they stopped, striding directly toward his target.
Brandon’s hand hovered at the car door, uncertainty paralyzing him before he could knock. But fate intervened—the door swung open, and Myron stepped out.
Brandon seized the moment to peer inside, discovering Millie fast asleep, her body curled against the opposite window.
As Myron carefully eased the door shut, Brandon spotted the telltale creases on Myron’s shoulder. In that devastating instant, understanding crashed over him like a tidal wave. They had remained in the parking structure because Millie had drifted off while resting against Myron’s shoulder.
Millie had always struggled with sleep, her traumatic past transforming her into the lightest of sleepers. Throughout their years together, Brandon had witnessed her nightmares tear through the darkness on countless occasions. During those dark hours, he would stroke her back with infinite tenderness, whispering reassurances that the past could no longer hurt her, that he stood sentinel over her dreams.
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