“Did someone tell you something? Don’t listen to them. Whatever it is, I’ll explain when I get back.”
He sounded just as affectionate as he did in the beginning; there wasn’t the slightest hint of lying.
But the way he acted in front of Estelle? He was a completely different man.
Thinking about everything he’d done to me, I didn’t hesitate anymore. I finally asked, “When are you coming back? I have something to tell you.”
The moment he heard that, he simply said, “Wait for me,” and hung up.
A second later, a message from Estelle popped up.
[Did you really think calling him home like this means you’ve won? As long as I want him, all I have to do is curl my finger and Conrad will come running right back to me. You heard it yourself earlier. Neither Conrad nor his buddies like you. If I were you, I wouldn’t even want to keep living.]
After everything I’ve been through, reading that message didn’t even stir anything in me anymore.
I just closed my phone and waited calmly for Conrad to show up.
The trip should’ve taken thirty minutes. But he shoved it into ten. When he rushed up to me, he was even out of breath.
He came over like he always did, gently supporting me.