Page 177 of Bound By Crimson
Her baby came first now. His safety, his future. He didn’t ask for this. He deserved a mother who was strong.
No one could see her break. Not yet. Not here.
She’d act fine. Smile if she had to. Pretend nothing was wrong.
Now she’d sleep.
And when she woke up—
She’d figure out how to run.
She let her eyes close.
Just for a minute.
Just to stop the noise.
Just to breathe.
Chapter Sixty-Four
For Your Own Good
She woke to stillness.
The light through the curtains had shifted—grayer now, flatter.
Late afternoon, maybe.
Her body ached as she sat up, one hand instinctively cradling her belly.
The air in the room felt different. Off.
She couldn’t place it, but something…
She turned to the dresser.
Her phone was gone.
She blinked.
Frowned.
It had been there. She remembered tossing it down.
Right there— right next to the vase of dried roses he’d given her. Once romantic. Now withered, brittle… like everything between them.
She stood too quickly. Her back twinged as panic spiked through her chest.
She checked the floor. The blankets. Under the pillow. The nightstand drawer.
Nothing.
Panic clawed at her throat.
Gone.
She sank to the edge of the bed, one hand gripping her belly, the other sweeping under the mattress. Her movements were clumsy, frantic.
