Doomsday Revenge: Payback Time (Josie) novel Chapter 66

Chapter 66

After her tears finally dried, Aubrey lay weakly on the floor. The chill seeped through her clothes, burrowing into her flesh, and strangely, it seemed to chase away the heavy gloom in her heart.

Minutes crawled by.

It took her the entire morning to calm her shattered emotions.

She finally pushed herself up from the floor, picked up the blanket, tossed it onto the bed, ran a hand through her tangled hair, and left the room.

When she walked into the living room, Ethan was still there, stretched out on the sofa, engrossed in his game.

She stood still, her gaze involuntarily drifting to Damon’s room, to the tightly closed door.

Ethan glanced up at her before his eyes flickered back to his phone screen, his fingers flying across the keys. He drawled, without looking up,“Don’t bother looking. After Damon stormed out of your room, he went into his own, changed, and left right away. I asked him where he was going, but he ust ignored me. He looked pissed.”

Aubrey walked dejectedly to the single armchair and sat down.

Did you two fight?” Ethan asked, looking up at her again. He saw her eyes were red and slightly swollen. He sat bolt upright, controller forgotten.“Were you crying?”

Aubrey pulled a throw pillow into her embrace, hugging it as she leaned sideways, closing her eyes and murmuring, “No.”

“Well, it sounds like you two really went at it,” Ethan said, extending a foot to gently nudge her calf.“Send me Damon’s contact on the Grid. I’ll go try to comfort him.”

Aubrey said weakly, “Damon’s already left. Why are you still here?”

I’m waiting for him to come back.”

He’s not coming back.”

Ethan tensed.“He said that?”

Aubrey didn’t know when, or if, Damon would be back; she just wanted to get rid of Ethan.“Yeah,” she mumbled.

Ethan stood up, turned off his game, and slipped his phone into his pocket.“Come on, I’ll take you out for lunch.”

I don’t want to eat,” Aubrey murmured, rolling over, pulling her legs up, and pressing the pillow against her cheek.

It’s past one,” Ethan pressed.“Aren’t you starving?”

‘Not hungry.”

Aubrey wasn’t hungry. Her mood had soured, killing her appetite, and she had no desire to move, no interest in anything at all. All she craved was quiet solitude.

‘Alright, I’m going. You take care of yourself.”

Mmm.” Aubrey gave a soft hum, eyes still closed, face buried in the armrest.

Ethan’s footsteps receded, and then the door clicked shut.

Her world fell silent in an instant.

Only the soft thud of her own heartbeat and the quiet rhythm of her breathing filled the void.

Sunlight poured in from the balcony, painting a long, slanted rectangle of light across the floor. Dust motes danced lazily in the warm, amber glow.

Slowly, as the rectangle of light began its crawl across the floor, time seemed to slip away.

The sunlight bled into a hazy red, and the sky outside began to darken. The room grew dim and indistinct, filled with a soft, ethereal mist as the cool evening breeze stirred the delicate white curtains.

Aubrey shifted her position on the couch, restless.

She turned her head, her gaze fixed blankly on the front door, utterly still.

As night fell, Damon still hadn’t returned.

1045

< Chapter 66

Aubrey hadn’t eaten all day, yet she felt no hunger.

But she knew her lack of appetite was a symptom of her emotional state.

Her stomach, however, wouldn’t withstand such neglect.

She got up and steamed two BBQ pork buns, washing them down with cold water.

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Having replenished her body, she retreated to her room, pulling out the files and evidence concerning her father’s case. She meticulously re–examined and sorted through them, searching for a breakthrough.

For years,

whenever she had a moment to herself, she would ceaselessly, obsessively, pore over her father’s case.

She wanted to save her father.

And she wanted to save herself.

From that day on, Damon never returned.

When she woke up for work in the mornings, she didn’t see Damon’s shoes, nor his car keys on the counter.

When she got home from work in the evenings, the house remained exactly as she’d left it.

Roughly three days later, she finally couldn’t hold back. She pushed open Damon’s bedroom door and stepped inside to look.

The bedding on the bed was neatly folded.

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