Chapter 323
Dominic was trapped in a nightmare.
He saw Evelyn's slender fingers swiping across her phone screen, blocking his number with deliberate finality.
Not only would he never lay eyes on her again, but every attempt to call would meet digital silence.
An impenetrable wall had risen between them, severing all connection!
Dominic's chest constricted with visceral agony, as if someone had ripped out his still-beating heart.
He jolted awake, sheets clinging to his sweat-drenched body.
A haunted mist clouded his usually sharp gaze, the depths of his eyes churning with unbearable anguish.
Fumbling for his phone with trembling hands, he stabbed at Evelyn's contact.
7:03 PM glowed on the display.
After sleeping through daylight hours, she'd surely be home and alert now!
"The number you have dialed is currently unavailable." The robotic female voice sliced through the silence.
His fingers turned bone-white around the device.
The nightmare had manifested in waking reality.
Evelyn had actually blocked him!
No other explanation existed for the repeated failed connections.
Driven by desperate verification, Dominic threw off the tangled duvet.
He snatched up the landline receiver with violent urgency.
Each button press echoed like a gunshot in the silent bedroom.
Though unconfirmed, his gut twisted with foreboding.
The dial tone connected.
It rang!
The call went through!
Dominic's grip threatened to shatter the plastic handset.
Crimson fury flooded his vision.
The old Dominic would have either demolished the phone or stormed to Evelyn's residence.
But now? He swallowed the volcanic rage, waiting.
Evelyn's phone vibrated against her nightstand, one hand clutching her blanket.
She grabbed it blindly, voice thick with sleep. "Hello?"
"Evelyn Thorne!" Dominic's roar vibrated through the receiver. "Unblock my number this instant!"
Sleep evaporated.
Her stomach dropped—discovered so quickly?
Composing herself, she countered, "What difference would it make, Dominic? We should—"
"Unblock me!" The command sliced through her attempted reasoning.
Her eardrum pulsed from the decibel assault.
"Must you always—"
"Now, Evelyn!"
"No!" Flames licked up her throat. "I won't be ordered around like one of your subordinates!"
Her crystal-clear defiance struck Dominic mute.
In the sudden quiet, Evelyn became aware of her ragged breathing, her runaway heartbeat, the feverish heat spreading beneath her skin.
This wasn't how she wanted their last interaction to feel.
How... had they spiraled to this?
"So this is truly goodbye?" Dominic's voice emerged raw moments later.
The naked devastation in his tone stripped away all pretense.
The man who commanded boardrooms with unshakable composure now stood emotionally exposed.
Evelyn's vision blurred. "Zoe's carrying your child," she whispered around the lump in her throat. "Build that life with her."