Chapter 0359


    I spend the rest of the afternoon pacing back and forth, trying to create some semnce of normalcy


    after everything. I try to upy myself with reading, but I can’t focus on the words on the page. I try


    following a workout video, but I feel too tired. And I try to cook, but my hands shake as I try to chop the


    vegetables.


    With a sigh, I nce at the clock. It’s only four o’clock, but I need something to take the edge off, to


    quiet the constant buzz of anxiety in my head.


    I spot a bottle of red wine on the kitchen counter, and without a second thought, I grab it and a ss.


    Pouring myself a generous portion, I take a sip, savoring the warmth that spreads through me.


    With a ss of wine in hand, I decide to distract myself with a movie. I flip through N*****x, searching


    for something lighthearted. Eventually, I settle on an old romanticedy that always manages to


    make me smile.


    As the movie ys on the screen, I let myself get lost in the story, allowing the familiar dialogue and


    cheesy plot to transport me to a different world. The wine has its intended effect, and I start to feel a bit


    tipsy, the tension in my body slowly melting away.


    But as the movie progresses, my thoughts keep drifting back to Karl. The memory of our earlier


    conversation tugs at me, the abrupt way I hung up on him gnawing at my conscience. I wish he was


    here, too, to share this movie and this bottle of wine with me.


    And in my tipsy state, I want more than that. Our previous arrangement keeps floating through my


    mind, and I can’t help but think about how we felt together that night that he stayed here.


    Without thinking clearly, I reach for my phone on the coffee table and unlock it.


    For a moment, I contemte just putting the phone down and forgetting about it, but my need to talk to


    Karl overrides my hesitation. I hit his number on speed dial and hold the phone to my ear, listening to


    the ringtone.


    It goes on for longer than I expected, and just as I’m about to hang up, it goes to voicemail. I let out a


    sigh of frustration but decide to leave a message anyway.


    “Hey,” I begin, my voice slightly slurred from the wine. “I just…”


    I pause, not sure what I’m even nning on saying. What can I even say? “I want you here, because,


    well, I want you?”


    No. I can’t.


    “I… wanted to tell you about what happened earlier,” I continue cautiously. “The footage was tampered


    with. Listen, it’s a whole story, but… they think it was another Alpha and his Beta who plotted it. I don’t


    know why. But they’re working on it, so that’s good, I guess.”


    I take another sip of wine, trying to steady my nerves. “It might get a little dangerous here,” I add. “But


    I’m okay. Sorry for hanging up on you earlier.”All rights ? N?velDrama.Org.


    With that, I end the call and ce my phone back on the coffee table, my hand shaking slightly.


    Co?tent оf NovelDrama.Org


    And maybe it’s for the best.