Chapter 6 She Cornered That Man Like a Storm
Chapter 6 She Cornered That Man Like a Storm
Zacharias pulled up behind her and laid on the horn.
Once. Twice. A third time. Anneliese didn’t even look back.
She kept walking, head low, her steps fast and steady like she was trying to outrun something.
He hit the brakes hard and got out. He caught up to her in just a few strides.
“Get in the car.”
“I get carsick. I feel like throwing up. I just want to walk.”
Anneliese kept moving, her arms swinging hard at her sides like she was trying to shake off every name and every face in that house. Being the family punching bag had worn her out.
The looks Zacharias and Selina had shared over dinner still made Anneliese sick.
Those quick glances, the silent messages passed between them–everyone at that table saw it. No one said a thing.
How could people talk about letting go like it was easy? Like you! everything you felt?
just switch off
She told herself to be strong. She told herself to move on, but her heart dragged behind like a tired animal too scared to let go of a dying thing.
She was trying. She was fighting to heal, but why couldn’t he just leave her alone?
“Let me go! Don’t touch me!” she yelled, wrenching her arm free.
However, before she could step back, her feet left the ground.
Zacharias scooped her up without a word. He carried her to the car, shoved her into the passenger seat, buckled her in, and slammed the door shut.
Inside, everything went still except the rough sound of their breathing.
“Anne, what are you even doing right now?”
His voice finally broke through the silence.
Anneliese didn’t answer. She kept her face turned toward the window and stared outside.
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Chapter 6 She Cornered That Man Like a Storm
His fingers clenched around the wheel. His knuckles stood out. His jaw tightened.
She didn’t flinch.
Zacharias ripped off his tic, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her closer.
“Anneliese!”
She turned her head. His breath hitched.
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Her face had gone pale. Her skin looked paper–thin under the soft lights. Her eyes were wide and dark, but blurred by tears she hadn’t let fall.
The edges of her lashes were red. Her checks held a fragile flush, like she was one blink away from breaking.
And somehow, Zacharias felt like she already had.
Something squeezed in his chest. His whole face shifted with guilt.
Anneliese tried to pull away. “Let go of me! What am I doing? I’m hurt. My whole body’s in pain, and I can’t even lose my temper?”
She stared right at him. “Zacharias, ask yourself this–do you even care about me anymore?” The look in his eyes shifted. His guilt turned desperate. He reached over and rubbed her back.
“I’m sorry, honey. I’m so sorry. It’s my fault. I didn’t know the soup was that hot. Let me take a look at the burn, alright?” He reached for the hem of her shirt.
She slapped his hand away. He didn’t snap. His voice stayed soft.
“Okay. Okay. Let’s go to the hospital.”
He leaned in to kiss her forehead. She turned her head and let it miss.
He gave her hair a light ruffle and started the engine..
They hadn’t made it far before his phone started going off again and again. He ignored the first call, then the second. After a third, he slipped in his earpiece and picked up.
His face shifted in a flash. The worry vanished, replaced by a polite, tight smile.
“I’ve got an emergency at work. Can you get out here for a bit?”
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Chapter 6 She Cornered That Man Like a Storm
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Anneliese didn’t say anything. She opened the door and climbed out. Then, she slammed it shut behind her.
“I’ll have Jackie pick you up right away. Just wait right here, okay?” he said through the window.
She didn’t respond. She stood in the wind with her arms at her sides, her dress billowing softly.
Her face looked like a calm sheet of glass.
Zacharias stared at her. Something in him faltered.
She looked like she was already gone.
He hesitated, but Coral’s crying voice filled his mind. He remembered the accident she mentioned.
He remembered how Anneliese had followed him since she was nine. He remembered her at
eighteen, walking away from the Whites just to live with him in that damp basement. He
remembered how much she used to love him.
He stepped on the gas and drove off.
She loved him. He’d always be her world.
He’d make it up to her someday.
Anneliese stood where he left her and watched the luxury car disappear into the road ahead. Her lips curved into a thin smile.
Zacharias, no one stays in the same place forever, she thought. You think a moment of genuine love‘ can keep someone around forever?
The Whites‘ estate sat high in a gated
road was clean. There wasn’t a cab,rhood built into the hills. The air was still. The
sight.
She called Jessica, then started walking downhill alone.
When she rounded a corner, she saw three kids gathered under a tall tree, jumping and shouting. One of them, a boy no older than ten, was halfway up the trunk.
“Hey! That’s dangerous! Get down from there!”
The tree stood right beside the edge of an artificial lake. The boy lost his grip and slipped sideways, tipping toward the slope near the water.
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Chapter 6 She Cornered That Man Like a Storm
Anneliese bolted. Her feet hit the ground hard. She had to reach him in time.
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“No, we have to climb up! Our drone’s stuck in the tree! Can you help us get it down?”
A little girl with two bouncy buns clung to Anneliese’s sleeve, her voice high with urgency.
She couldn’t have been more than five. She looked like a puff of snow with huge blinking eyes that shimmered with worry.
Anneliese crouched down and gave her a gentle pat on the head. “I’m not great at climbing trees, honey.”
The girl puffed her cheeks and frowned.
Anneliese pointed at the controller she held in her hands. “But I’m really good at flying drones. How about you hand me that and I’ll try to fly it down?”
The boys crowded over, voices piling on top of each other.
“No way! It’s stuck! You’ll never get it out!”
“Pfft. I’ve been flying drones since before you were out of preschool. I already tried a hundred times. If you can’t climb, then back off and quit making things worse.”
The boy in the tree had his chin up and a smirk across his face.
Anneliese laughed softly. “Alright, let’s make a deal. If I can’t get it down, I’ll buy you a new one. But if I do, you have to shout, real loud, ‘Miss, you’re the best!‘ Deal?”
“You’re on! You’re gonna regret this! Lemon, give her the controller!”
“No, you’re the one who’s about to eat your words. Watch this.”
Anneliese took one glance at the drone, locked onto its position, and moved the control stick without flinching.
rit to slam into
The boy scoffed, arms crossed, waiting a branch.
But his smug look vanished in a heartbeat.
The drone, which had been jammed tight in the branches like a bug in a jar, suddenly buzzed
to life.
It twitched once, then zipped through the leaves with a clean break, slicing through the gaps like a silver arrow.
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Chapter 6 She Cornered That Man Like a Storm
It shot out of the tree with a sharp tilt, climbing fast as it soared into the open sky.
“Whoa!”
“It’s flying!”
“She really did it!”
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Anneliese stepped back and guided the drone into smooth dives and turns, racing it just above the lake’s surface before pulling it back up toward the clouds.
The kids cheered behind her, clapping and yelling like they had front–row seats at an air show.
Anneliese tilted her head back and watched it glide. With every loop, something heavy inside her felt a little lighter.
She stepped back again, her smile easy and wide, her lips parted as the wind touched her face.
Then, she bumped into something.
It wasn’t cold like a wall.
It was warm.
And it breathed.
She turned fast, startled, just as warm breath brushed past her ear.
It wasn’t a wall. It was a man. Her panic made her twist away, but she lost her footing and pitched backward. She crashed straight into him, knocking them both back a step.
His back hit the stone wall behind them.
Anneliese reached for anything to keep from falling. Her fingers clutched his tie and pulled it tight. They froze like that, bodies close, her hand still gripping the silk knot at his chest.
She looked up and saw the sharp line of his jaw, pale skin framed by the collar of a crisp white.
shirt.
His Adam’s apple shifted slightly. A small mole just beneath it moved with the motion, subtle but distracting.
A deep sound rumbled from his chest.
Anneliese blinked, realizing she still had him by the tie and had practically yanked it into his
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Chapter 6 She Cornered That Man Like a Storm
neck. A thin red line marked the edge of his collar.
She let go fast and took a step back. Then came the kids‘ shouts.
“It’s crashing! It’s going down!”
Her heart jumped.
The drone!
She looked down at the controller, fingers frozen. She had no idea what command to use.
She looked up, squinting through the branches… Then a warm hand slid over hers. His fingers wrapped around hers and pushed gently on the stick.
The drone came spiraling down, spinning toward the treetops.
But just before it hit, it twisted sharply and rose again, scraping past the branches in a clean
sweep.
The limbs shook, and golden blossoms rained down, fluttering through the air like gold snowflakes.
Lights flicked on around them, one by one, washing the yard in soft amber.
In the fading light and the scent of crushed petals, Anneliese looked up and met his eyes. They were deep and still, dark as the ocean at night.
