Page 215 of Bound By Crimson

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A whisper.

Faint. Male.

From the other side of the wall:

“Hello?”

Lyric froze.

Her blood went cold.

She turned her head slightly, barely breathing.

Silence.

Then again:

“Is someone there?”

Panic surged.

She ran.

Didn’t stop to listen again.

Didn’t dare answer.

She darted back across the grass, into the house, locked the door behind her, and leaned her back against it.

Her chest heaved. Her hands shook.

She didn’t sleep that night.

Not because she was afraid of being caught—but because if they found out, they’d lock her door again.

She wouldn’t get to hold Noah—wouldn’t get to feel his little fingers wrap around hers.

That thought gutted her.

And now… someone else knew she was out there.

And now, her secret wasn’t hers alone.

Chapter Seventy-Nine

Still More to Lose

She didn’t go back the next night.

Or the one after.

The thought of the voice haunted her too deeply.

She didn’t know who he was. Didn’t know how he’d known she was there.

Had she spoken out loud? Stepped too loudly? Breathed too hard?

What exactly had he heard? And worse—would he tell someone?

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