Chapter 73 Thread Of Autonomy

• Rachel POV
• The silence after Cody’s request was suffocating, as if the air in the room had thickened into something solid, impossible to cut through. The sound of my fork hitting the plate still echoed in my mind, a reminder of the shock reverberating through every corner of my being. My lungs felt too small, unable to draw in enough air to process everything: Cody’s unexpected presence, his outrageous request, Jeremy’s searing glare that seemed to burn the table between us. For a moment, time seemed to freeze, as if all the emotions I’d been holding back since Cody reappeared—fear, confusion, anger, a fragile but persistent hope—were crashing together inside me.
• My heart pounded erratically, a frantic drum echoing in my chest. I was at the center of a storm, with two men representing opposite parts of my life, and every word spoken felt capable of altering the course of everything I knew. I stared at the plate before me, the stroganoff now cold, the candles flickering with a light that no longer brought comfort. The night I’d planned so carefully—a refuge for Jeremy and me—had become a battlefield.