Chapter 1186:
“You’re insane,” she retorted, her voice raw with emotion, chest rising and falling, tears streaming unchecked. “Frankly, a slap is getting off easy.”
No words escaped Collin, his gaze locked on her with a look impossible to decipher.
A heavy, suffocating silence pressed in on the room.
Linsey saw no point in dragging the confrontation out any longer. Escape was still on her mind, but the bodyguards formed an unyielding wall, refusing her passage.
On the edge of panic, she lunged for a bodyguard’s holster, snatching the weapon and raising it to her own head.
“Move aside,” Linsey scoffed through trembling breaths, tears glistening in her eyes but her posture unyielding. “One more step and I’ll end this right now!”
Shock rippled through everyone except Collin, who remained in his wheelchair, coolly observing her with a strange hint of amusement.
The gun shook in her grasp, the trembling a dead giveaway—she didn’t truly want her life to end, only hoped the threat would force his hand. For someone terrified of dying, she had been willing to risk everything for Felix—someone Collin deemed utterly worthless. Her loyalty to that man over him piqued his interest.
A faint, cold smile curved his lips, and something fierce flashed in his eyes.
“Let her go,” he instructed, his voice low but commanding.
Relief swept through Linsey as Collin finally relented.
The weapon slipped from her grasp, and her skirt gathered in her hands as she dashed from the room, panic urging her onward.
Collin’s voice rang out, clipped and heavy with intent. “Linsey.”
The sound rooted her to the spot, anxiety coiling tight in her chest. Every instinct screamed that he might go back on his word, trapping her after. She stood there, frozen, unable to summon the courage to face him.
Eyes never leaving her retreating form, Collin spoke in a voice that brooked no argument. “You’ll come back to me, begging.”
That sentence made her glance over her shoulder, just once.
Ridiculous.
She would have to be utterly deranged to ever return to him.
Even so, she kept the thought to herself. A man as unpredictable as Collin wasn’t someone to antagonize—she knew better than to risk his temper and jeopardize her escape.
With that, Linsey gathered herself, bottled up every stray emotion, and quietly slipped away.
Once she stepped out of the church, Linsey’s first instinct was to reach for her phone and try Felix’s number. Three attempts later, the call still went unanswered.
A crease formed between her brows as she muttered under her breath, “Why won’t he answer? Did something go wrong?”
After a few moments of troubled thought, she waved down a taxi and slid inside.
“Starwood,” she said to the driver, determination lacing her voice.
The ride sped by, and before Linsey knew it, the car pulled up to her destination in just under thirty minutes. After settling the fare, she stepped out, brushing off the curious stares from nearby residents, and hurried across the lobby—her wedding gown drawing even more attention. The elevator doors slid shut behind her, carrying her upward.
