Chapter 26

Briar’s POV

My phone wouldn’t stop ringing. Over and over, the incessant buzz pulled at my fraying nerves. I ignored it at first, pacing through the mess of my dismantled apartment, but when the ringing started again, I snatched it up without checking the caller ID.

"What?" I barked, my voice tight with anger.

"Good to hear you’re still in one piece," Kai’s calm, low voice came through the line, immediately freezing me in place.

"Kai?" I asked, surprised.

"I heard about your... situation," he said, his tone clipped but careful. "I took the liberty of moving your important things. There’s a better place waiting for you."

His words hung in the air like a slap to the face. "Excuse me?" I snapped, my anger bubbling to the surface. "This is my house. I don’t want some ‘better place.’ I got this home with my hard earned money."

"But you weren’t able to keep it,"