Bound by the Past, Locked by the Heart novel Chapter 88

"You knew exactly who was tracking me. Why didn't you tell me?"

Randal's brow furrowed heavily. "You believe her?"

Willa's eyes reddened. "I want to think she's lying, but I have no choice but to believe it."

"What good would telling you do? Were you going to throw him in jail, or drag him out into the street and beat him?" he asked with unwavering self-righteousness.

"So you just kept me in the dark?"

"Yes." Randal answered without hesitation.

Willa couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You knew perfectly well this man is connected to my father's case."

Randal met her gaze, a cold smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth.

"I told you, I kept it from you for your own good. I also told you I'd handle your father's case. It's one thing not to appreciate it, but you're actually coming here to interrogate me?"

His sheer, unabashed arrogance felt like a knife twisting in Willa's chest. She couldn't even keep her voice from trembling.

"For my own good? Randal, you knew this was the most important thing in the world to me, and you intentionally hid it."

She took a step forward, forcing him to meet her tear-filled, defiant glare.

"You just want me to hit rock bottom so I'll blindly come begging for your help. You want me to trample on every last shred of my dignity so you can humiliate me, don't you?"

It was as if an insurmountable wall had dropped between them, and with every word, they pushed each other further away.

Randal's face darkened completely. He grabbed her wrist in a vice-like grip, his fierce, predatory intensity entirely undisguised.

"You really don't know what's good for you!"

"I protect you. I watch Silas Zeller's every move to make sure he doesn't lay a finger on you, and all you see is me sitting back to watch you fail?"

He let out a bone-chilling laugh. "Willa, do you honestly think I have nothing better to do with my time?"

He stepped forward, trapping her against his body again, his gaze turning terrifyingly grim.

"Who the hell are you to say we have nothing to do with each other?"

Willa looked up at him with unyielding stubbornness, refusing to speak.

After a long silence, he stared at her, each word dripping with ruthless venom. "Fine. Starting today, you're on your own. Let's see how long you survive in Norvale without me!"

"Get out. Don't ever show your face to me again. Because if you do..." He paused, his voice dropping dangerously low, the violence practically radiating off him. "I can't guarantee what I'll do to you."

With that, he let go of her abruptly. The inferno of rage that had burned inside him for five years suddenly seemed to extinguish.

He turned around, pulled the car door open, and got in without looking back.

The Maybach sped off into the distance.

Willa stood frozen until the car was completely out of sight. Only then did she stumble over to a streetlight, clutching the pole as she began to violently dry heave.