Page 106 of Broken Destiny

When the doors opened, we walked through the lobby and headed toward the waiting car outside. The driver stood beside it, ready for us.

“What about Liam? Is he joining us?” Caleb asked, opening the door for me.

“Yes,” I said, sliding into the back seat. “But he said he’d meet us there directly.”

“All right.” Caleb closed the door.

The driver pulled away from the building and headed toward the site.

I sat beside Caleb, aware of the small distance between us, painfully conscious of his presence.

There was a certain unspoken tension in the air, and I wondered if it had anything to do with the birthday message I had sent him.

Maybe I should not have sent it. Maybe it had blurred boundaries that should have remained clear.

The car came to a stop at a red light.

Trying to lighten the mood, I turned slightly toward him.“So, how was your birthday celebration?” I asked.

He kept his gaze fixed on the window before answering.

“It was good,” he said quietly.

The light changed.

The driver eased his foot onto the accelerator, and the car began moving through the intersection.

Then Caleb turned toward me.

“You know the?—”

His words cut off abruptly.

I saw his eyes widen.

His chest rose sharply as he sucked in a sudden breath, all the colour draining from his face as he stared past me through the opposite window.

The deafening blast of a horn shattered the silence.

And then I felt it.

32

CALEB

The car swerved violently out of control, tyres screeching against the road as we spun across the intersection.

The impact came out of nowhere.

Metal slammed into metal with an explosive crash that rattled through my bones.

My seatbelt locked brutally across my chest, jerking me backward while Jiya’s body snapped forward beside me before the restraint yanked her back just as hard.

Even with the seatbelt holding her, the force threw her sideways. Her head struck the window with a sickening crack.

“Jiya!” I shouted.

Instinct took over instantly.