Chapter10
Lydia Rivers found the whole thing absurd.
Her disappointment crumbled into nothing but ash.
She turned to leave–only for Chase Rylan to clamp a hand around her wrist.
“What are you doing? I’m not apologizing.” Her voice shook despite herself, but her eyes were frozen over.
Chase stared into that steady refusal, something like pained conviction settling over his face.
“Lydia, you’re eighteen. When you do something wrong, you take responsibility and learn from it, or life will hit you harder next time. So… I called the police.”
The words struck like lightning. Lydia went still.
Officers arrived quickly. With Chase claiming to be an eyewitness, they booked her on suspicion of intentional injury and placed her in Westbridge County Holding for seventy–two hours.
The cramped, dim cell pressed hard against her claustrophobia.
Her breath hitched; cold sweat beaded her skin. The walls felt like they were closing in.
Pain and panic gnawed at her mind until she was hollow.
Three days later, she stepped out, pale and unsteady.
Chase was waiting.
Seeing how drawn she looked, his eyes softened with guilt.
“Lydia, you’re out. I’ve been thinking… Maybe I handled it wrong, but I only-”
She ripped her hand free, staring through him like he
was
sa
stranger.
The look cut him, yet he kept trying.
“I know it’s rough in there. I just wanted you to understand-
Lydia didn’t want to hear a word. She slid into a taxi and gave the driver her address.
Chase followed in a rush, apologizing, coaxing, talking at the closed door between them.
When they pulled up to the Rivers Estate, a moving truck idled at the curb. Workers carried labeled boxes up the steps.
Chase blinked and climbed out after her.
“Your parents… leaving for London already?”
“Yes,” Lydia said.
Understanding dawned and he shifted into an easy smile as Elaine Rivers and her husband approached.
“Mr. and Mrs. Rivers, safe travels. I’ll take Lydia to visit you in the UK whenever I can.”
They both looked startled.
“Chase, you mean you don’t know
11
“Mom,” Lydia cut in, cool and sharp. She turned to Chase. “I’m home. You can go. I need to rest.”
He assumed she was still angry about the holding cell. He sighed.
“Fine, Rest up. Orientation’s the day after tomorrow. I’ll pick you up—we’ll head to Northbridge together.”
Chapter10
Dreame–Read Romance Stories
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Lydia didn’t answer. She walked inside.
Watching her back disappear through the door, Chase felt a flicker of unease–but told himself that once school started, she’d come
around.
She couldn’t live without him.
The door shut. Elaine turned immediately.
“Lydia, you didn’t tell Chase you’re flying out with us tonight?”
Lydia shook her head, exhausted.
“No need. He’ll figure it out when I’m gone.”
That night, Lydia boarded a red–eye to London with her parents.
Before the plane taxied, she blocked and deleted every trace of Chase Rylan–phone, messages, everything.
A clean cut. No looking back.
On orientation morning, Chase packed his car for campus. The driver automatically pulled toward the Rivers Estate.
“Pick up Sienna first,” Chase said instead. “She can’t manage move–in alone.”
The driver hesitated.
“Sir… Miss Rivers is still your girlfriend. Maybe you should check on her–things seem strained lately.”
Chase’s face cooled.
“Since when is my business yours?”
Silence. A quiet sigh. The driver turned the wheel toward Sienna Quinn’s place.
Sienna climbed in, delighted, scooting close in the backseat, chattering and nudging for his attention. Chase answered absently, the driver’s warning echoing despite himself.
As they neared the Rivers Estate, Chase rehearsed how this would go. Would Lydia still be distant–or had she cooled off? How should he coax her?
It didn’t matter. She loved him. A little coaxing and she’d fold.
“Wait here,” he told Sienna, then jogged up to the familiar door and rang.
No answer.
He frowned and keyed in the code Lydia had once given him.
The door swung open onto an empty hush. Sheets draped the furniture like ghosts. Dust motes drifted where sunlight fell. “Lydia?”
He bolted down the hall, threw open her bedroom door–
Empty closet. Clean desk. Not a scrap of her life left behind.
Panic seized his lungs. Cold swept his limbs.
He stumbled back outside and spotted Mrs. Beaulieu next door carrying out trash. He rushed over, grasping at air. “Ma’am what happened to the Rivers family? Why is the house empty?”
She blinked at him.
“You didn’t know? They emigrated. To the UK. Left two days ago. Said they’re settling there for good–won’t be back.”
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