I Rejected My Obsessive Werebeast novel Chapter 88

Chapter 88

??Aurora’s POV

The date for the public hearing was set. One week until the courtroom. All case files and evidence had been transferred to the judicial division, and for the first time in what felt like months, there was nothing I needed to do except show up when they called my name. The investigation was over. The waiting had begun.

I could finally go back to work.

It felt strange to stand in front of the mirror that morning and put on a blouse instead of a jacket meant for sneaking through industrial districts. I did my hair the way I always did before any ordinary workday, applied the same light makeup, slung my bag over my shoulder. The routine was so normal that it took me a moment to realize how long it had been since I’d done it without checking the locks three times first.

Silas insisted on driving me to the office. He said it casually, like it was no big deal, but I could see the concern underneath it-the same concern that had been sitting behind his eyes since the tunnel, the one that came out in small gestures instead of words. He parked at the curb across from the building and waited with the engine running.

Before I opened the door, he reached over and caught my wrist. His fingers closed around it gently, his thumb pressing once against the inside. “If anyone at the office says anything-anything at all-don’t carry it by yourself. Come home and tell me every word.”

His amber eyes were steady on mine, and I could see the worry there, unguarded and honest. I squeezed his hand back and nodded.

0.001

4

ORG

1537

Chapterse

The lobby was the same as always. The security guard gave me a nod, the elevator dinged on the same floor, the carpet under my feet was the same muted gray I’d walked across a hundred times before. But when I stepped into the open office area, something had shifted. It wasn’t dramatic-no one was staring, no one was whispering loudly enough for me to hear-but I could feel it in the way certain conversations paused when I walked past. in the way a few pairs of eyes flicked toward me and then quickly away. Some of my colleagues looked at me with something close to sympathy Others looked at me the way people look at a car accident they’re trying not to stare at.

I sat down at my desk, booted up my computer, and opened the first email in my inbox. It was about a client’s quarterly report. It was the most mundane thing I had read in weeks, and I was grateful for it.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify