My Great Escape Led Me to You (Emily Blair) novel Chapter 226

Emily Blair sat up, her sharp, clear eyes fixed steadily on Andrew Lane. There was a rare stillness in her gaze, something pure that seemed to cut right through him.

She spoke, her voice steady: “Andrew.”

“I thought, after all these years together with the Lane family, you’d know me by now. That you’d trust me. That you’d at least have some sense of my character.”

At first, her tone was calm, almost detached. But as the words left her lips, a flicker of pain crossed her eyes.

“I just don’t understand. I really don’t. What have I ever done to deserve this from you?”

She searched his face, confusion and hurt written openly in her expression—an ache that threatened to spill over.

Leaning ever so slightly toward him, Emily seemed desperate to catch every nuance of his reaction, to read some trace of kindness or regret.

There was one question she didn’t voice, though it hung heavily between them.

She wanted so badly to ask:

Was her love for him truly so shameful?

Or was it simply that Isabella Austin was so perfect, so untouchable, that any flaw Emily had became unforgivable by comparison?

Emily’s gaze didn’t waver from his, her lashes trembling.

She’d called him by his old name—Andrew—hoping to remind him of the past, of a time when he hadn’t been so cold. Hoping, maybe, that he’d show even a hint of mercy.

But nothing changed. Andrew’s face remained as indifferent as if he were looking at a patch of weeds by the roadside—maybe even colder than that.

Emily leaned back against the headboard, her hands hidden under the blanket, clenching so hard they trembled.

She’d learned her lesson, painfully, in another life. This time, she wouldn’t make the same mistake.

Emily folded her hands in her lap, eyelids lowered, her voice flat: “Don’t worry. From now on, I won’t have any feelings for you. Not in any way.”

“You and Isabella can both rest easy.”

When she looked up again, her eyes had cleared—any trace of emotion gone, replaced by calm resolve.

“I just hope you’ll wait for the police investigation before you pass judgment on me.”

“As for this hospital bed, I don’t know which one of you paid for my treatment, but send me the bill. I’ll reimburse you. I don’t owe either of you anything.”

She glanced at both men, taking in their unsettled faces, then raised a hand and pointed toward the door. “I need to rest now. Please leave. And don’t come back.”