Shattered Glass Unbroken Soul Chapter 04
Drew stood behind me, his voice dropped low.
“She won’t actually leave.”
I didn’t know if he was saying that to comfort Piper, or to convince himself.
I took a cab back to my apartment alone.
I leaned against the seat and closed my eyes, taking deep breaths. The suffocating tightness in my chest and the ringing in my ears finally began to fade.
When we arrived, the driver helped unload my suitcase. He asked if I needed him to take it to the elevator.
I told him no. Cradling my broken laptop in my left arm, I dragged my suitcase inside with my right.
Once inside, I went straight to the study to look for my backup drive.
It was still shoved in the very back of the drawer.
I let out a breath of relief. Then I walked over to my nightstand to grab my pill bottle.
The plastic bottle had just hit my palm when the front door unlocked.
Drew stood in the doorway. His face was a thundercloud.
“You actually came back.”
I shoved the hard drive into my suitcase’s inner pocket.
“Get out.”
He didn’t move. His gaze landed on the pill bottle in my hand.
The next second, he lunged forward and snatched the bottle right out of my grip.
“Avery, are you done throwing your tantrum? I told you I’d buy you a new laptop. I’ll even make Piper apologize. How much longer are you going to punish us with this silent treatment?”
I reached out to snatch it back.
“Give it back.”
Drew raised his arm high above my reach. Fury burned in his eyes.
“Piper is crying downstairs. She can barely breathe, and you haven’t shown an ounce of concern. When did you become so cold-blooded?”
“The moment you turned my life into a betting game.”
“Don’t be so dramatic.” He gritted his teeth. “One competition, one laptop, one trip. Are you really going to throw away all our years together over this?”
I looked straight at him.
“Drew. We’re breaking up.”
He froze. Then he laughed.
There was zero joy in that laugh. Only the sheer absurdity of someone who felt insulted.
“Break up? You’re trying to threaten me with a breakup?”
“It’s not a threat.”
I didn’t want to waste another breath on him. I grabbed my suitcase and lunged for the pill bottle again.
Drew quickly dodged to the side. He clamped his fist tightly around the bottle.
“Fine. You want to calm down? I’ll help you.”
He stepped backward out the front door.
My chest suddenly clenched.
“Drew. What are you doing?”
The apartment door slammed shut right in my face.
The deadbolt clicked loudly as it shot into the frame.
I rushed forward and wrenched the handle. It wouldn’t budge.
This old apartment had a double-cylinder deadbolt. Since he took my key, I couldn’t even unlock it from the inside.
Drew’s voice drifted through the heavy wood.
“Piper and I are making one last bet. Four hours. Stay in there for four hours, and you’ll realize exactly how out of line you’ve been today.”
I slammed my hands against the door.
“Open the door!”
“I’m keeping your pills so you can’t use your little panic attacks to guilt-trip me.” His voice was cold and hard. “Call me when you’re ready to talk to me properly.”
His footsteps faded down the hall.
The elevator dinged. The doors slid shut.
The entire apartment went dead silent.
I stood in the entryway. Pressed my palms against the door. My breaths suddenly grew short and shallow.
The cramped hallway. The locked door. The stolen medication.
Everything piled on top of me. An invisible hand reached right into my chest and crushed my lungs.
I spun around and tore through the drawers.
No backup pills.
The contents of my bag were in complete chaos from the crash at the airport.
My phone had slipped deep into the torn lining of my backpack. I dug it out with shaking hands. My fingerprint failed to unlock the screen three times in a row.
Piper’s text popped up on the lock screen.
*Avery, just calm down. Drew is doing this for your own good.*
I stared at those words. I couldn’t even force a bitter laugh.
They actually believed that locking me in a cage was for my own good.
My heart hammered faster and faster.
The edges of my vision turned black.
Just before I lost consciousness entirely, I crashed into the entryway console table.
I grabbed a heavy brass ornament that had fallen to the floor. Mustering every last ounce of strength in my body, I aimed for the living room’s floor-to-ceiling window. And I smashed it.
Crash.
The glass exploded with a deafening roar. Shards flew everywhere, biting deep into my forearm. Blood instantly poured out.
My phone screen lit up again.
It was a message from Drew.
The lock screen preview showed a single sentence.
*It’s just four hours. Stop playing the victim.*Â