The MC President's Forsaken Wife (Zara and Knox) novel Chapter 530

Chapter 261-1

The engine hum outside my studio window belongs to Mayhem’s truck.

+25 Points

I set my teacup in the sink, smooth down the front of a thick, deep–rust knit sweater that softly stretches over my bump, and grab my coat. Xena is already standing by the door, wriggling happily. At this point, she knows the sound of my brother’s exhaust before he even turns onto the block

When I pull open the door, Mayhem’s already standing on the narrow landing, filling out the fame in his heavy leather cut and dark jeans. He doesn’t say anything right away. He just looks at me – taking in the shadows under my eyes, the quiet fatigue in my posture – and steps inside us enough to shut out the damp draft.

He reaches out to give my shoulder a firm, supportive squeeze. It isn’t an overprotective check–in or a heavy–handed pity gesture. It’s pure brotherly support.

“Ready, Zarabug?”

“Ready. Thanks for driving over.”

“You don’t thank me for picking you up. Jade’s been in the kitchen since four. If we’re five minutes late, she’ll have my head, and Stitch is coming by later to grab Xena so you get a full night’s sleep without worrying about walking her.”

He grabs my purse before I can even reach for it, locking up the door behind us with one hand while keeping his other hovering near my elbow as we head down the steep stairs, Xéna bounding

ahead.

The drive is quiet, filled only with the rhythmic swish of the windshield wipers and the warm heater blowing against my ankles.

Mayhem doesn’t force conversation. He knows when my head is full, and after the long,

suffocating hours spent alone in my studio last night, just sitting in the passenger seat of his truck feels like being slowly hauled back to solid ground.

“Dad said you spent about seven hours at the office yesterday,” he says quietly, keeping his eyes on the glistening asphalt ahead. “Didn’t take a single break.”

“I needed to keep my hands moving,” I say. “If my hands are still for too long, my head starts filling up with ghost noise.”

Mayhem nods. “I get it. But you don’t have to wear yourself out to prove you’re surviving, Zara. The club isn’t going anywhere. Neither are we.”

When we pull into the driveway of Mayhem and Jade’s place, the sight alone loosens a tight knot in

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