Page 138 of Bound By Crimson
She had nothing in her name. Not the boutique. Not the money. Not even a phone plan.
Every dollar she had made—every safety net—had been handed to Kai.
How could I have been so foolish?
Even if she wanted to leave, there was nowhere to go.
Kai stepped closer. His voice softened.
“I don’t want this to be us. I love you, Lyric. I know this has been hard. But we’ll get through it. Okay?”
She nodded before she could stop herself.
And when he opened his arms, she stepped into them.
Not because she believed him.
Not because she trusted him.
But because she was so tired of holding herself up alone.
Because it hurt too much to keep standing without anyone to lean on.
Because for one desperate second, even lies felt softer than silence.
He kissed her temple. “I’ll see you in a few days.”
She nodded again, even though her heart was screaming.
And when he left the room, closing the door behind him—
The silence rushed back in.
Only now, it wasn’t quiet.
It was roaring.
Chapter Forty-Six
Sanctuary in Stone
Lyric didn’t want to be in the house.
The walls pressed too close. The rooms echoed too loud.
The air itself sagged with judgment—so heavy, it was hard to breathe.
So she slipped outside.
She didn’t know where she was going.
She only knew she had to move—anywhere away from polished floors, from tight-lipped maids, from the ghost of Kai’s fading touch.
The garden greeted her with a hush. The air was cooler here. Wilder.
She followed the stone paths without thought, her steps tracing old routes through the hedges. Past the maze. Past the manicured edges of everything she no longer recognized.
And still, she walked.
