Chase.
Her lungs locked.
His name formed in her mind before she could stop it, before she could protect herself from what seeing him would do. He stood in front of a row of cameras, hands buried in his pockets, shoulders slightly tense beneath the weight of something unspoken. His head tilted slightly, his brow furrowed—not in anger, not in irritation, but in exhaustion.
A bone-deep kind of exhaustion. A kind she recognized.
“Shit,” Mallory murmured, barely above a whisper.
But Savannah barely heard her. She barely heard anything over the dull, rushing sound in her ears.
Something about a state project. A contract. Logistics.
None of it mattered. She only cared about him. The way he looked. How tired he seemed. How the dark circles under his eyes told her that sleep had been just as cruel to him as it had been to her.
And then—
A reporter’s voice cut through the air.
"Mr. Montgomery, some concerns have been raised regarding the previous company that relinquished the contract. Do you have any comments?"
Chase’s response was smooth. Effortless. "You hear a lot of Whispered Echoes about backing out when things get tough, but with Montgomery? We make sure to see it through."
Savannah’s stomach plummeted.
Her breath hitched.
Because she knew. She fucking knew.
That wasn’t about the project.
That was about her.
That was him, standing in front of a camera, telling the whole fucking state of North Carolina, telling her what he couldn’t bring himself to say before.
He wasn’t waiting anymore.
Her fingers curled around her phone.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
She was too late.
Chase wasn’t hers anymore.
44
Low-Tide Revival
Chasesatonhisdock, his elbows resting on his knees, the dim glow of his phone illuminating his face as he replayed the interview that had aired earlier that evening.
At the time, it had been just another statement—just another job, just another project, just another day. He’d stood there in front of the cameras, professional, collected, delivering his usual no-nonsense responses.
But now?
Now, watching himself, hearing the words fall from his own mouth, he felt the weight of them.
"You hear a lot of Whispered Echoes about backing out when things get tough, but with Montgomery? We make sure to see it through."
