Chapter 69
Blake’s POV
Audrey tumbled down the stairs before I could react. Her slight frame hit each step with sickening thuds that echoed through the marble halls, finally coming to rest in a crumpled heap at the bottom.
In that split second, it felt as if I didn’t know how to breathe. Without conscious thought, my body was already moving toward her, driven by an instinct I couldn’t understand.
But just as I had descended two steps, a voice came from behind me.
“Blake darling…” Laurel slumped to the ground, clutching her neck, her voice filled with misery. “It hurts… I can’t breathe…”
I froze mid–stride, torn between the woman lying at the bottom of the stairs and the one currently on the ground, one hand pressed dramatically to her neck. The sound of Laurel’s labored breathing filled the silence.
“I can’t breathe… Blake… please…”
Her cancer. As I thought this, my eyes drifted to where Audrey lay. She was already pushing herself up, using the banister for support.
The weight of my promise from five years ago pressed down on me like a physical thing,
I let out a sign, turned back, catching her just as her knees buckled. “Laurel? Are you alright?”
Her skin felt cold and clammy as I lifted her into my arms. She curled into me immediately, her body trembling. ‘It hurts… everything hurts…”
I didn’t respond but stared at Audrey downstairs. The sight of her managing on her own helped ease the knot of guilt in my chest. She was fine. She had to
- be.
Audrey’s POV
The world tilted and spun as I struggled to push myself up from the floor. Each movement sent waves of agony through my body.
Compared to the physical pain, the grief welling up in my heart at this moment swept over me like a tidal wave. Here I was, having just tumbled down an entire flight of stairs, while Laurel played the victim in Blake’s arms.
I gripped the banister tighter, forcing my trembling legs to hold my weight. A small, bitter laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it.
“Blake darling…” Laurel’s voice drifted down. “Don’t worry about me… check on Miss Sinclair… she looks hurt…”
‘She’s fine, don’t worry about her.”
Fine? The fall could have easily broken every bone in my body – the fact that I was even conscious was nothing short of miraculous. The height of those stairs… I should consider myself lucky to be alive at all.
‘I didn’t mean to push her…” Her voice cracked, the picture of regret. “She was choking me… I couldn’t breathe… I just reacted…”
The lies rolled off her tongue so easily. I watched as Blake pulled her closer, his protective instincts fully engaged by her masterful performance.
‘I know, he murmured. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Blake darling…” Laurel’s voice quavered. ‘I need to hear it from Miss Sinclair herself… I need to know she forgives me…”
I stared up at them, disbelief warring with fury in my chest. After pushing me down a flight of stairs, she had the audacity to demand forgiveness?
‘Audrey.” Blake’s voice carried that familiar edge of command. “Come up here and tell Laurel you don’t blame her.”
“Don’t blame her? Blake, are you out of your mind?” I forced myself to stand straighter, ignoring the protest from every bruised muscle. Across the distance-
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Chapter 69
of the staircase, I met their eyes – Blake’s cold stare and Laurel’s deliberate distress.
“She pushed me down these stairs. If I hadn’t been lucky, I’d be dead right now.” My voice came out steady. She hasn’t shown an ounce of remorse, and now you want me to tell her it’s all forgiven?”
Laurel pressed a trembling hand to her chest. ‘I knew it… she hates me… Blake darling… I can’t breathe…”
Blake’s eyes darted to Laurel’s increasingly pallid face. Within seconds, his phone was at his ear. Michael, bring the car around. Now.”
He pulled Laurel closer. “She’s unwell, and you attacked her first. She just defended herself. That makes you even. Would it kill you to say a few words?”
Something inside me cracked at his words. Last night’s intimacy, that brief flicker of hope I’d foolishly allowed myself to feel it all turned to ash in my mouth. A laugh escaped me, brittle as frozen glass.
“You know exactly why I grabbed her.” I said calmly. “She saw me desperate to find Snow, then deliberately said those words.”
“Yes, I snapped. My voice hardened. ‘But it was barely a touch, and you know it.”
My eyes locked with his. “Look at her neck. Show me these terrible marks I supposedly left.”
The change was subtle but unmistakable. Laurel’s hand flew to her throat. But Blake had already seen. His grip gentled as he moved her hand away, eyes narrowing as they traced the flawless skin of her neck.
Something shifted in his expression as realization dawned.
“Now you see, I didn’t actually hurt her,” I continued, my voice steady despite the pain. “But she made sure I hit every step on the way down. You want me to forgive her? Dream on!”
With that, I walked towards to the door. There was no point staying here to watch their romantic performance – not when Snow was clearly gone.
The sudden creak of the front door froze me mid–step, accompanied by a familiar meow. Snow?
‘Mrs. Parker? What happened?” Michael stood in the doorway, a cat carrier dangling from his hand. His eyes widened as his gaze flickered between me at the
bottom of the stairs and the tableau above.
–
There, in the carrier he held, was my beloved Snow the cat I’d spent the entire day searching for.
“Snow!”
The pain in my legs forgotten, I rushed forward, practically snatching the carrier from Michael’s hands. My fingers trembled as I opened it, gathering Snow into my arms. Her familiar warmth against my chest felt like coming home.
“Michael.” Blake’s voice cut through the moment as he released Laurel and stood. His eyes narrowed dangerously. “Explain yourself. Why is the cat with
you?”
Michael met Blake’s penetrating stare carefully. “The timing was unfortunate, sir. All grooming services were closed when you gave me the instructions, so I had to keep her at my place overnight.”
“Yesterday afternoon, between meetings, I managed to get her to the groomer’s. By the time I could get back, they were closing. They offered overnight care
services.”
His
gaze flickered upward, taking in the scene on the stairs. “About your call regarding Miss Rose, sir…”
‘Not necessary anymore.” Blake’s voice was ice cold as he studied Laurel. Something dangerous lurked behind his neutral expression.
I could see Laurel’s practiced smile turning brittle as she remained silent.
“Michael… I bit my lip as I secured Snow’s carrier, emotion making my voice rough. “Thank you.”
With that, I walked towards the door. My legs shook with each step, but I forced them steady. Snow was safe. Nothing else mattered now,
Chapter 69
“Sir? Michael’s voice followed me. “Should I…”
“Take her home. Blake’s voice carried something I couldn’t identify.
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