Chapter 166

Kate POV

The moment I saw that car parked outside the diner, my stomach dropped so sharply it felt like the ground had shifted beneath me. Sleek black Audi. Clean, expensive, familiar in a way that made my chest tighten.

The same model I had paid for.

Marcus’s car.

For a second, I just stood there on the pavement, staring at it like if I looked long enough, it would change into something else, something harmless, something that didn’t mean what I already knew it meant. But it didn’t move. It didn’t disappear. It just sat there under the dim streetlights like it belonged.

My throat went dry.

He was here.

My fingers clenched around the edge of my tray. My heart pounded so hard it drowned out the chatter of the diner.

Finally, I found him.

For weeks, I had been looking. Calling disconnected numbers, asking people who only sneered at me. Now, he was right outside, sitting behind the wheel of the car I bought him like nothing h