Chapter 1061:

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Andrew stripped off his jacket and tore his shirt away, but the heat only intensified, burning from the inside out.

Kyla had shed everything down to her underwear. She pressed close and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Hold me — it’ll pass.”

With what remained of his clarity, Andrew shoved her back. “Get away from me!”

Kyla reached for his belt. “Stay with me. You’ll feel better.”

Andrew seized her hands, stopping her. The veins in his eyes had gone a vivid, alarming red. “Open that door,” he ordered through gritted teeth.

Kyla shook her head. “You won’t make it out like this. Let me help you.”

The drug tightened its grip on him, crowding out every other thought. His mind filled with a single, burning image — Cathryn.

He looked at Kyla’s face and slowly, haltingly, raised his hand toward her.

“I’m willing,” Kyla breathed, gazing up at him. She rose onto her toes and brought her face toward his.

Just as Kyla leaned in, her lips hovering a breath from Andrew’s, something inside him snapped awake.

P𝗼𝗽𝘶𝗹a𝗿 𝗌𝗍𝗈ri𝗲𝘀 𝘰𝗇 g𝘢𝗹ոо𝗏𝗲𝗅ѕ.𝖼𝗈m

A single thought blazed through the haze — he had already made this mistake once. He could not make it again.

Andrew shoved Kyla aside and snatched a fruit knife from the coffee table. Without hesitation, he drew it across his own arm. Blood welled up at once, and the sharp, clean pain cut straight through the fog clouding his mind, scattering the drug-induced desire like smoke.

“Mr. Brooks — what are you doing?” Kyla cried out. She stood frozen, hand pressed to her mouth, staring at the blood streaming down his arm.

Andrew didn’t look at her. He staggered to the bathroom and wrenched the shower knob to cold. The freezing water crashed over him, and he stood beneath it, jaw clenched, forcing his thoughts back into place.

Outside, Kyla hammered on the door. “Suppressing it will only hurt you! Let me in — I can help you—”

“Get the hell away from me!” Andrew roared.

Fear rippled through her. She pressed her lips together, bitterness pooling in her eyes. With that drug coursing through his veins, he had to be in agony — and yet he had chosen to wound himself rather than touch her. It told her everything she needed to know about how completely his heart belonged to Cathryn. No wonder he had remained unmoved when she tried to use the child as leverage.

Kyla lowered her gaze to the clothing scattered across the floor — Andrew’s shirt and jacket, her own dress and undergarments — and a slow, calculating smile curved her mouth.

She arranged herself across the sofa and lifted her phone, taking several carefully angled photographs. Then she composed a caption: We were so lost in each other that we didn’t even make it to the bedroom. Looks like we found ourselves a much better place. She added a bashful emoji and posted the photos.

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