Rising from the Ashes (Andrew and Lauren) novel Chapter 1145

"Y-You actually dared to kill someone?" Chantelle stormed up to Andrew, her chest heaving with rage as she shouted, "You do know that murder is a crime, right?"

Andrew replied flatly, "Then go ahead and arrest me. But you saw it too—this dead mutt barged into my company with a gang of thugs and trashed the place. He kidnapped my secretary, tortured her, and tried to get away with it."

Chantelle fumed. "You had every right to fight back, but you had no right to kill him, do you understand?"

Andrew's voice sharpened with impatience. "Ms. Garcia, that's enough! So what if I killed him? The guy came stomping into my space, and I'm supposed to just roll over and play dead?"

Chantelle let out a bitter laugh and hissed, "Andrew, Mr. McCormick favored you. You've got incredible medical skills, and in Blumedale, you were this close to making your mark.

"You had a bright future ahead of you—respect, success, everything within reach. But why would you throw it all away like this? Don't you see you're ruining yourself?"

Andrew stared at her coldly. "The Haywoods? To me, they're nothing. And I don't need you telling me how to run my life. Oh, and by the way—remember back at my house? Weren't you hoping I'd lay a hand on you so you could kill me and call it self-defense?"

Chantelle snapped, "That was in the past! Why bring it up now?"

Andrew's voice dropped. "No reason—just wanted you to understand something. If I ever had laid a hand on you, you wouldn't have walked out. You would've been pinned beneath me and left with nothing.

"So don't think that being Mr. McCormick's secretary makes you untouchable. If I wanted to deal with you, you wouldn't end up much better than Seth."

Chantelle was shaking now, furious and humiliated. "You bastard! I was trying to help you, and this is how you repay me? You wanna fight?"

Andrew scoffed. "Fight you? I'd break you."