He Gave Me Hearing, Then Taught Me What Silence Really Means novel Chapter 18

She practically leaped to her feet. "I need to take this."

As she moved away, she heard Eleanor's voice behind her. "Why must you always pick on her? You're just as childish as you used to be!"

"How exactly am I picking on her?"

It was a conversation Juniper had heard a million times back in Oakley.

The private room door clicked shut behind her, cutting off their voices.

Her phone was still ringing. Leaning heavily against the wall, she tried to pull herself out of the suffocating atmosphere she had just escaped.

She dropped her head, taking several deep breaths until the tightness in her chest finally eased.

When she hit answer, Caleb's voice came through the speaker.

"Juniper, the Saint family took back the dowager's painting."

The piece had just been consigned. It definitely wasn't Eleanor's doing.

Caleb let out a heavy sigh. "Yvonne came and took it. That's when I found out she was Nelson's grandmother."

Calling right now meant he had more to say.

"Yvonne ordered me to fire you. She also told me to pass on a message: get out of Capital City within three days, or face the consequences."

Yvonne never made empty threats. The psychiatric ward incident years ago had her fingerprints all over it.

But Juniper couldn't understand why a titan like Yvonne would personally go out of her way to crush someone as insignificant as her over and over again.

Caleb's voice broke the silence. "The Saint family is too powerful. I can't afford to cross them. The Xavier family is already a mess, and if my mother finds out I defied the Saints, then..."

When Juniper had been desperate, Caleb had taken her in.

She would never drag him down with her.

"I understand."

She shook her head, a self-deprecating smile forming. She couldn't even remember the last time he had shown her genuine concern.

Sometimes, she desperately wanted to ask if he felt even an ounce of guilt for what he had done.

But he was the heir to the Saint empire, destined for a life of luxury and power. Destroying a girl's heart was nothing to him. That was exactly why he could sit in front of Eleanor and act so perfectly normal.

Juniper couldn't do that. For years, she had known she had absolutely nothing to her name; her heart had been the most valuable thing she possessed.

She had treated it like a treasure, only for him to carelessly trample it. Right now, there was no way she would bend her pride to beg Nelson for anything.

Yara had been right. Her stubborn devotion had made her an easy target.

She had foolishly thought that by throwing away that box of junk, she would finally be immune to him.

But his name had long since carved itself into her bones. He was a chronic illness—not fatal, but an agonizing, enduring ache.

Just standing in his presence required every ounce of her willpower to keep from falling apart.