Bound by the Past, Locked by the Heart novel Chapter 92

The phone rang for a long time before it connected. The man's deep, frigid voice came through the receiver.

"What is it?"

Those three words made her entire body tense up.

Willa took a deep breath, her voice barely a whisper.

"Randal... I need to see you."

A brief silence stretched over the line before he let out a mocking scoff.

"Willa, what makes you think I'd ever see you again?"

She closed her eyes, forcing herself to swallow every ounce of pride.

"My dad was attacked in prison. He's badly hurt, and I..."

"What does that have to do with me?"

Randal's voice, thick with suppressed resentment, struck her chest like a physical blow, stealing her voice.

"Didn't you say your business was no longer my concern?"

"Didn't you insist that we were completely even?"

Every rhetorical question carried the weight of a man scorned.

"What do you think I am, Willa? Back then, you left without a second thought. I begged you, and you didn't look back. Do you expect me to just come running now?"

He lowered his voice into a predatory, ruthless register. "I gave you a chance, and you threw it away. It's too late."

The call ended abruptly. Willa stood swaying in the chilling wind.

Refusing to give up, she dialed again, only to be met with an automated message.

Randal had blocked her.

With no time to wallow in self-pity, she frantically hailed a cab and headed straight for the FN Club.

It was the same receptionist giving her the same rehearsed excuses.

She desperately hoped an assistant would suddenly appear and slip her a note, just like before.

But nothing happened.

She sat on the stone steps outside the club, waiting from dusk until the streetlights flickered on, not daring to move an inch.

She feared that if she left, she would lose her last remaining lifeline.

Finally, a familiar figure stepped out of the building.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify