Chapter 94 Fury And Forbidden Kisses

• Rachel POV
• The hospital’s fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting a harsh glow across the cafeteria as I stood in line, my hands clenched around a paper coffee cup, the heat searing my palms but doing nothing to thaw the cold knot of frustration in my chest. Bonnie was awake, surrounded by Gabriel and her parents, their laughter and relief a warm cocoon I’d left behind to grab a moment alone, to breathe. But the absence of Jeremy gnawed at me, a betrayal that stung deeper with every passing minute. I’d woken to find him gone, no note, no text, just an empty chair where his steady presence had been my anchor through the nightmare of Bonnie’s accident. That bastard, I thought, my jaw tightening, my eyes burning with unshed tears. Couldn’t he stay, just this once, when I needed him most? Was I not enough to keep him here?
• I paid for the coffee, the cashier’s voice a distant hum, and turned toward a corner table, my sneakers scuffing against the linoleum. The cafeteria smelled of burnt coffee and disinfectant, a sterile reminder of the hospital’s relentless reality, and I sank into a chair, my backpack—still heavy with the evidence against Celine—slung beside me. I sipped the coffee, its bitterness mirroring my mood, and let my thoughts spiral. Jeremy had been my rock, his arms around me last night a promise that we’d face this together, but he’d vanished while I slept, leaving me to wake alone, to face Bonnie’s recovery and my own fears without him. I pouted, a childish gesture I didn’t bother to hide, my frustration bubbling over into a full-blown tantrum in my mind. What the hell, Jeremy? I wanted to scream, to demand answers, to shake him until he understood how much his absence hurt.