Chapter 40 No Turning Back
The sound pulled me out of sleep slowly, persistent and sharp enough to cut through the fog in my head. A phone rang.
I shifted under the covers, reaching blindly across the bed before my hand slid off the edge and down to the nightstand.
Nothing. The ringing continued, louder now, insistent.
I pushed myself up with a groan and leaned over the side, fingers brushing against my bag on the floor until I finally found the phone inside.
I blinked at the screen, trying to focus. Amy.
I answered, my voice still heavy with sleep. “Hello…?”
“Oh my God, Ashley, are you okay?” Amy’s voice came fast and loud through the speaker. “I saw the video.”
I blinked, trying to pull myself fully awake. “What video…?”
“The one from outside Sinclair. The cup. You and Knox. It’s everywhere,” she said, words tumbling over each other. Then, more pointed, “Are you hurt? Did it hit you?”
“No,” I said, rubbing my face and pushing myself up against the headboard. “I’m okay. It didn’t hit me.”
“Are you sure? No dizziness, no headache, nothing weird?”
“I’m fine, Amy,” I said softly. “Just tired.”
She exhaled, the tension in her voice easing just slightly. “Okay. Good. Just… good.”
A beat.
Then the shift.
“But you need to see what’s happening online.”
I closed my eyes for a second. Of course.
“It’s everywhere,” she went on. “Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, the news. People are reposting it, slowing it down, zooming in. You and Knox are basically the internet’s new favorite couple right now.”
I straightened a little, trying to focus.
“And get this,” she added, her tone sharpening with interest. “Internet sleuths already figured out who threw the cup. Apparently she’s some hardcore Apple fangirl. Like, obsessive.”
“What…?”
“Yeah. She posted on some forum last month about how much she hates you. Said you ‘stole the Apple guy.’”
I made a face.
“She admitted it too,” Amy continued. “Said she threw the smoothie because she was angry. Claims she didn’t mean to hurt anyone. That it was just a cup.”
I let out a slow breath. “A cup that hit Knox.”
“Exactly,” Amy said. “People are tearing her apart online. But seriously, are you okay? Did you faint?”
“I’m fine. Just tired.”
There was a pause on her end, softer now. “Ash… you sure?”
My gaze drifted toward the doorway, half expecting Knox to appear, and my hand settled over my stomach without thinking.
“Yes,” I said quietly.
Amy exhaled, the sound easing through the line. “Okay. And… Ashley?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad you’re safe.”
I closed my eyes for a moment. “Me too.”
When the call ended, I let the phone fall onto the blanket beside me and stayed where I was, staring up at the ceiling, listening to the quiet settle back around me.
Then the phone rang again.
I sighed under my breath and reached for it, already expecting Amy to have remembered something else she needed to add, but the name on the screen made my breath catch.
Brandon.
We hadn’t spoken since that last call. Since I’d told him exactly what I thought about him for marrying that witch. There weren’t many places to go after words like that.
The phone kept ringing.
For a brief second, another thought pushed through the hesitation.
What if it’s about Evan?
I stared at the screen a moment longer, then answered, pressing it to my ear. “Hello.”
“Ashley. Are you alright?” He asked immediately. “I saw a clip on the news.”
I rubbed my forehead, pushing myself up a little straighter against the headboard. “I’m fine.”
There was a pause on his end.
“Good,” he said quietly. “I’m glad.”
Silence settled between us. I shifted slightly, pulling the blanket higher over my legs, my fingers curling absently into the fabric.
He cleared his throat. “I know you probably don’t want to hear from me,” he said. “But you’re still my daughter. I needed to know you were safe.”
The words settled somewhere between us, awkward and unresolved.
“I’m fine,” I repeated, flatter this time.
Another pause, longer now.
“There’s… something else,” he said.
I stilled, my fingers tightening in the blanket. “What is it? Is Evan okay?”
“He’s okay,” my father said quickly. “He’s with me. I’ve got him.”
Relief loosened something tight in my chest, but it didn’t last.
Evan’s face surfaced anyway. The last time I’d seen him was just before my attack, when I’d flown in for a short weekend visit, barely a day. He hadn’t said much, just stayed close, quiet and watchful like he always was. I had promised I’d come back soon.
With everything that followed, I hadn’t.
Guilt pressed in, heavy and sharp.
My grip tightened. “Then what is it?”
His exhale came slow and heavy. “They found her.”
“Who?”
“Ashley… they found Elena’s body.”
“Where?”
“In a wooded area outside the city,” he said. His voice faltered slightly. “She’s been dead for weeks.”
I closed my eyes.
Poor Evan. He was just a child.
“...DNA confirmed it this afternoon,” he continued.
I didn’t say anything.
The bedroom door opened softly. Knox walked in. He didn’t interrupt. He just sat on the edge of the bed, close enough that the mattress dipped under his weight.
“I thought you should know,” my father said. “Before you heard it somewhere else.”
“Do they have a suspect?” I asked.
Knox’s hand stilled slightly, but he stayed silent.
There was a pause on the line.
“They’re investigating,” my father said carefully. “No arrests yet.”
I swallowed. “I see.”
Another silence stretched, thinner this time.
“There’s something else,” he added. “I filed for divorce from Marissa.”
That pulled my attention back fully.
“It’s done,” he continued. “I should have done it a long time ago.”
I didn’t respond.
“I’m sorry,” he said after a moment. “For everything. I know I can’t fix the past. But I… I want to try to do better.”
Too late.
“I’m tired,” I said, cutting through it before he could say more.
A quiet exhale. “…Alright,” he said. “Rest. We can talk another time.”
“Goodnight,” I said, ending the call before he could respond.
For a moment, I stayed still, the phone resting loosely in my hand as the silence settled around us. Then Knox’s hand moved, covering mine.
“Who’s dead?” he asked quietly.
I stared at the dark screen for a second before answering. “Elena.”
His brows drew together. “Evan’s mom?”
I nodded. “They found her in the woods. She’s been dead for weeks.”
He didn’t respond right away. He shifted closer instead, his shoulder brushing mine, his thumb moving slowly over the back of my hand in a quiet, grounding rhythm. His gaze dipped to my wrist, lingering on the bracelet as his fingers traced the delicate metal, slow and deliberate.
“I’m sorry,” he said after a moment, his thumb brushing once over the clasp before returning to my hand.
I swallowed. “Yeah.”
The silence returned, heavier now, and I let my gaze drop to our hands, his fingers still wrapped around mine.
“We should talk about this,” he said.
I knew what he meant.
The baby.
I didn’t look at him. Just stared at where his hand held mine.
“You are pregnant.”
I nodded slowly. “I guess I am.”
His hand slipped away, leaving mine suddenly empty. For a second I felt the loss of it before he reached into his pocket and pulled something out.
A ring.
My breath caught.
Simple. Elegant. A diamond set in platinum.
Before I could react, he took my hand again and slid it onto my finger like it had always belonged there.
“We’re getting married,” he said.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Knox—”
“This isn’t negotiable.”
His fingers closed around mine again, firm this time, holding my hand in place as his gaze locked onto mine.
“You’re carrying my child. You’re not doing that alone.”
Emotion tightened my throat, making it hard to breathe.
“This isn’t just because of the baby,” he added, his voice lower now. “I would have asked you anyway.”
My pulse stumbled.
“I’m not going anywhere. I take care of what’s mine,” he said. “And you’re mine, Ashley.”
I didn’t know what to say. My thoughts felt scattered, tangled between shock and something warmer, something that curled low in my chest and refused to be ignored.
“The ring stays on your finger,” he continued, his thumb brushing once over the diamond. “Take the time you need to catch up to me.”
His gaze didn’t waver.
“But this is happening.”
He leaned in slowly, giving me time to pull away.
I didn’t.
His lips met mine, softer than I expected, his hand sliding up to cradle my jaw as his thumb traced lightly along my cheek. The kiss deepened just enough to pull a breath from me, and I leaned into him before I could stop myself.
When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against mine.
Neither of us spoke.
Between us, my hand rested against his chest, the ring catching the soft bedroom light.
“I guess we’re getting married,” I murmured.
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
A part of me wanted to panic. This was too fast. Too much. Everything I had spent years avoiding.
In another life, I had trusted someone completely. I had believed in forever. In promises. In love that was supposed to protect me.
And it had destroyed me.
I had died because of it.
I had sworn I would never let anyone get that close again. Never give someone the power to break me. Never hand over my heart like that.
But the truth was…
I wanted this.
Wanted him.
Even if it terrified me.