Page 171 of Bound By Crimson
Her chest felt too tight.
“Lyric, oh my God… are you okay?”
“I—”
Her lips moved, but the words stalled.
“I just got signal. I don’t know what’s going on. Everyone’s been calling…
Callie was weird, Kat’s scared… What is happening?”
There was a pause.
Rowan’s voice lowered, almost cautious. “You really don’t know?”
“No,” she whispered. “Please. Just tell me.”
A breath. A crackle of silence.
“Kai was at some kind of red-carpet event. A reporter stopped him and asked where you were….”
Lyric blinked.
“…he said… you left him. That you faked the pregnancy. That you ran off to Europe.”
The air around her vanished.
“What?” she breathed.
“I saw it with my own eyes,” Rowan whispered. “He said you lied to him. That the baby was a story you made up. Your name is everywhere. The media’s calling you a con artist. A gold digger. They’re twisting everything.”
“…and Lyric, there was a woman on his arm, they seemed close.”
Lyric didn’t respond.
The words just hung there—rotten, impossible.
She pressed a hand to her belly.
Nine days ago, she was folding laundry for Kai.
Planning dinner.
Texting himI love you.
Nine days ago, she believed he was coming back.
Now—
“He’s lying,” she said softly—then blinked in disbelief. “Is he really saying this?”
“Yes, but I knew you’d never do something like that,” Rowan said. “I know you, Lyric.”
Lyric’s stomach twisted. Her body shook.
“I can’t believe this. I gave him everything,” she said quietly. “I loved him. I would’ve done anything for him. And he knew that.He used me.”
Her voice broke.
