Love's Redemption (Chris and Maddie)

Chapter 713

"Yuna..." I called out, desperate to say something anything

But she didn't even look back. She just ran

Wade, who was rushing after he, paused shot me a pained, almost pleading glance.

"Don't just stand there-go after her!" I snapped. "If something happens to her, that's on you forever."

That lit a fire under him. Without another word, he took off.

I let out a shaky breath before heading back to the private dining room.

As soon as I stepped inside, Xander's piercing gaze locked onto me. "If you hadn't come back soon, I was about to come looking"

Normally, I'd throw out some sarcastic comeback, but now? I didn't have it in me.

I hesitated, then muttered, "Yuna found out..."

I laid it all out, every messy detail. Xander didn't say a word. He didn't have to-the way his expression darkened said everything. Anger, shock, guilt-it was all there.

He'd known Wade back when he was Hayden. Trusted him with Yuna. And now this? It was clear Xander was beating himself up just as much as Wade probably was. "Xan "I started, hoping to cut through the tension, but he suddenly stood.

For a second, I thought he was about to storm out and find Yuna-or Wade. But instead, he looked at me. "Let's go.

"Wait, what?" I blinked.

He held out his hand, waiting.

I hesitated for a beat, then slid mine into his. He pulled me up and led me out of the restaurant without a word.

At first, I figured we were going to help find Yuna, but once we were in the car, I realized how wrong I was.

"Wait you're not going after Yuna?" I asked, completely thrown.

"Why would I?" he said.

I blinked at him, stunned. Was he serious?

Then he added, "I'm not that deep in the role."

The way he said it-so calm, so detached-felt like a gut punch. He was reminding me he

+25 BONUS

Chapter 713

was Xander now, not Hayden.

But that was a lie. He was Hayden. He had to be

The guilt I felt for Yuna, the weight of everything I hadn't let myself say-it all exploded at once. I grabbed his arm, my voice shaking. "There's no one else here, okay? Can you just stop pretending for five seconds?" His jaw clenched. When he finally spoke, his tone was sharp. "You're so obsessed with your boyfriend, you're spiraling. But just because you're losing it doesn't mean you get to use me as some replacement. It was like he'd slapped me.

In the rearview mirror, I caught his eyes-focused on the road, hard and distant. No cracks, no warmth. Nothing.

I started to glance over my shoulder, wondering what he was looking at so intently, but his voice sliced through the silence.

"Don't turn around."

Something about the way he said it-low and commanding-made me freeze. I clutched my seatbelt tighter, swallowing back the urge to argue, and stayed silent as he drove, tension thickening with every mile. We hadn't gone far when we spotted them-Wade clutching Yuna as she struggled to break free by the side of the road.

Xander slowed down, his gaze flicking toward the scene. I couldn't tell if he was giving me a moment to process or just sizing things up.

But with cars zipping past, he couldn't crawl along without attracting attention. Eventually, we passed them, leaving Wade and Yuna behind.

I shut my eyes, trying to block it all out-Wade, Yuna, and the man sitting next to me.

The car hummed along, steady and quiet, until a loud honk shattered the silence.

My eyes flew open just as a car swerved, barely missing ours.

"Seatbelt," Xander said.

I scrambled to click it into place. The second it locked, the roar of an engine behind us filled

the air.

Then came the sound-metal grinding against metal. My head whipped toward the noise, and I saw it: sparks flying as one car scraped viciously against another.