Chapter 240
He closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the leg of the desk. “The Vance curse. We don’t die of old age. We die because our bodies forget how to survive, and our minds shatter from the fear of it.”
A pang tightened Skye’s chest. In her past life, in the asylum, she had screamed until her voice was gone. She had clawed at the walls. She knew the noise he meant.
Without thinking, she shifted closer and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
Julian stiffened. His entire body went rigid. He held his breath.
Skye didn’t let go. She just held him, anchoring him to the floor, to the present, to reality.
Slowly—agonizingly slowly—the tension left his frame. His shoulders slumped. He leaned into her, his forehead resting against her shoulder. He didn’t hug her back, but he allowed himself to be held. It was the most vulnerable thing Skye had ever seen a man do.
Knock. Knock.
The sound was soft, polite, but it shattered the moment like a hammer striking glass.
“Master Julian?” The butler’s voice came from the hallway. “I heard a noise.”
In a split second, Julian was gone.
He pushed Skye away—gentle, but firm. He stood, smoothing his shirt, wiping his face with a hand that had stopped shaking. He kicked the bloody handkerchief under the desk and pointed toward the hidden alcove behind the bookshelf.
“Hide,” he mouthed.
Skye slipped into the shadows just as the heavy door creaked open. Through a crack between the books, she watched a transformation that was terrifying in its perfection.
Julian sat behind his desk, opened a file, and looked up with an expression of mild annoyance.
“I dropped a reference book, Alfred,” Julian said. His voice was steady. Cool. Arrogant. “Go back to bed. And bring me some tea in the morning.”
“Very good, sir.”
The door closed.
Julian sat there for a moment, the mask still in place. Then he slumped forward, burying his face in his hands.
Skye stepped out of the alcove.
He didn’t look up. “You saw nothing.”
сomр𝗹𝗲te 𝘤𝗵а𝘱𝗍еrѕ 𝗈ո 𝘣e𝗹𝗇𝘰𝘷𝘦𝗅s.𝖼𝘰𝗆
“I saw everything,” Skye corrected. She walked to the desk and placed the pill bottle, which had rolled onto the floor, squarely in front of him. “And it stays in this room.”
He looked up then. The gratitude in his eyes was fleeting, quickly covered by his usual cynicism.
“A secret for a secret,” he said. “You keep my weakness. I help you finish what you started at the board meeting. I know Arthur sided with you to oust Liam, but don’t mistake survival instinct for loyalty. My analysts flagged a series of encrypted transfers from the Sterling accounts initiated two hours ago. He’s not celebrating your victory, Skye. He’s liquidating the company before the auditors get in.”
“Deal,” Skye said, a cold resolve settling in her stomach.
She turned to leave. Her hand was on the doorknob when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.
She pulled it out. The screen lit up the dark room.
Liam: Skye, please. I know you’re there. Talk to me. I can’t breathe without you.
Liam: I’ll change. I swear.
Liam: Answer me!
Skye stared at the messages. They meant nothing. They were just digital noise.
She pressed the power button and held it down until the screen went black.
“Goodnight, Julian,” she said.
“Goodnight, Skye,” he replied from the darkness.
Skye walked back to her room, listening to the rain slow down. The storm was passing outside, but inside her, a new one was brewing.