Chapter 151 151

Chapter 151 151
CHAPTER 151

RYAN

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

For a moment, everything else around me disappeared beneath the weight of that single realization; even the reason I'd driven all the way here seemed to fade into meaningless background noise.

Emily.

She was standing only a few yards away, leaning lightly against a black SUV with one hand resting on the strap of her handbag. 

The afternoon breeze stirred a few loose strands of her hair across her face, but she made no attempt to brush them away. Instead, she simply looked toward the entrance of the station with an expression so calm that it almost didn't seem real.

I hadn't seen her since she'd ended that phone call.

The one where she'd asked me to look after Zara before hanging up without giving me the chance to explain myself.

For three days now, I had replayed that conversation over and over, wondering where she was, whether she was safe, or whether she hated me enough to never want to see me again.

Now she was standing right in front of me and made me forget why I'd come here.

Without thinking, my feet carried me toward her.

Each step felt strangely heavier than the last, as though my own body wasn't convinced this was actually happening. 

By the time I reached the SUV, I had slowed almost to a stop, searching her face for some sign that this wasn't another cruel trick my mind had decided to play on me.

"Em..."

My voice caught in my throat, and I swallowed hard before trying again.

"Emily?"

She finally looked me over.

There was no surprise in her eyes, no anger, and certainly none of the warmth that used to appear whenever our gazes met. She regarded me with a quiet composure that somehow hurt more than if she'd screamed at me.

"It's nice to see you again, Ryan."

The words were polite.

Her tone wasn't.

There wasn't a trace of emotion behind them, and before I could think of anything to say, she pushed herself away from the vehicle and walked past me without waiting for a response.

I turned instinctively.

"Emily..."

She didn't stop.

She continued toward the entrance of the police station, her pace steady and unhurried, as though I'd simply been another stranger she'd happened to pass on the sidewalk.

I remained standing exactly where I was.

The silence she left behind felt louder than the traffic surrounding the station, and that was broken when my phone vibrated inside my pocket.

The sudden sound pulled me back to reality.

I blinked, looked down at the screen, and saw Aaron's name flashing across it.

I answered almost immediately.

"Aaron."

"We're with Zara already," he said before I could ask anything. "Morgan and I just got back to the apartment, so you can stop worrying. Your daughter is lying comfortably on my girlfriend's chest watching cartoons like nothing happened."

A dry laugh escaped me despite everything.

"That sounds about right."

"I figured you'd want to hear that before your imagination started making things worse."

"I appreciate it."

There was a brief pause.

"How are things over there? What is going on?"

I looked toward the station entrance where Emily had disappeared only moments earlier.

"...Emily's here."

Silence answered me.

Not the kind that came from a bad connection, but the kind that followed complete disbelief.

When Aaron finally spoke again, his voice had dropped several degrees.

"What did you just say?"

"Emily's here."

Another pause followed.

"At the station?"

"Yeah."

"Are you serious?"

"I wish I wasn't."

I ran a hand through my hair as I watched officers moving in and out of the building.

"I have no idea what's going on anymore."

Aaron let out a slow breath.

"Did you talk to her?"

"I tried."

"And?"

I laughed quietly, although there wasn't anything funny about it.

"She told me it was nice to see me."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"There wasn't anything behind the words."

I closed my eyes briefly.

"It was like she was talking to someone she'd met once at a grocery store."

Aaron didn't respond immediately.

"I don't think she's over what happened."

"I know."

"No, Ryan... I mean I really don't think she's over it."

His words settled heavily inside my chest because they echoed everything I'd been trying not to admit to myself.

"I don't know if she'll ever forgive me for leaving like that."

Before Aaron could answer, someone called my name.

"Mr. Thompson?"

I turned toward the voice.

A woman in a charcoal-gray suit stood several feet away, holding a leather folder beneath one arm.

She offered me a polite smile.

"Mr. Thompson?"

"I'll call you back," I said quietly into the phone.

Aaron didn't argue.

"Take care of yourself."

The line disconnected.

I slipped my phone into my pocket before walking toward the woman.

"You must be Miss Jones."

"I am."

She extended her hand.

"I'm representing your mother's interests while she's here today."

I shook it briefly.

"Thank you for coming."

"Shall we?"

I nodded.

"Lead the way."

She pushed open the heavy glass doors, and together we stepped inside the station.

The atmosphere changed immediately.

Outside had been noisy.

Inside was controlled.

Officers moved briskly between offices carrying files and paperwork while telephones rang somewhere deeper inside the building. Conversations were kept low, giving the entire place an air of quiet urgency.

Miss Jones exchanged a few words with the officer at the front desk before another detective approached us.

"This way."

We followed him through a long hallway lined with interview rooms.

The farther we walked, the more uneasy I became.

The detective eventually stopped outside one of the rooms and pushed the door open.

I stepped inside…then stopped walking altogether.

Emily was already there.

She stood on one side of the room, both hands resting lightly on the back of an empty chair.

Across from her stood my mother.

Neither of them spoke.

Neither of them even seemed to notice anyone else entering.

They simply stared at each other across the room.

The silence between them wasn't empty.

My mother's expression remained composed, but I knew her well enough to notice the tightness around her jaw.

Emily looked different.

Calmer.

There wasn't any visible anger on her face.

What the hell was going on?