Page 61 of Bound By Crimson

Chapter Sixty-One

Erased

She stared at Rowan’s name on the screen like it might disappear.

Her thumb hovered.

Then pressed.

It rang.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then—

“Lyric?”

Just her name. Soft. Breathless. Unsure.

Lyric couldn’t speak. Her throat clenched.

Her chest felt too tight.

“Lyric, oh my God… are you okay?”

“I—”

Her lips moved, but the words stalled.

“I just got signal. I don’t know what’s going on. Everyone’s been calling…

Callie was weird, Kat’s scared… What is happening?”

There was a pause.

Rowan’s voice lowered, almost cautious. “You really don’t know?”

“No,” she whispered. “ Please. Just tell me.”

A breath. A crackle of silence.

“Kai was at some kind of red-carpet event. A reporter stopped him and asked where you were…. ”

Lyric blinked.

“…he said… you left him. That you faked the pregnancy. That you ran off to Europe.”

The air around her vanished.

“What?” she breathed.

“I saw it with my own eyes,” Rowan whispered. “He said you lied to him. That the baby was a story you made up. Your name is everywhere. The media’s calling you a con artist. A gold digger. They’re twisting everything.”

“…and Lyric, there was a woman on his arm, they seemed close.”

Lyric didn’t respond.

The words just hung there—rotten, impossible.

She pressed a hand to her belly.

Nine days ago, she was folding laundry for Kai.

Planning dinner.

Texting him I love you.

Nine days ago, she believed he was coming back.

Now—

“ He’s lying ,” she said softly—then blinked in disbelief. “Is he really saying this?”

“Yes, but I knew you’d never do something like that,” Rowan said. “I know you, Lyric.”

Lyric’s stomach twisted. Her body shook.

“I can’t believe this. I gave him everything,” she said quietly. “I loved him. I would’ve done anything for him. And he knew that. He used me .”

Her voice broke.

“He knows the baby is real. I think he got me pregnant on purpose. He pretended to love me—us—then I found out he is my—” She choked, stopping herself before the truth slipped free— Uncle.

Tears streamed down her face.

“And now… he’s telling the world I never even existed.”

Silence.

Rowan’s voice wavered. “What do you mean, Lyric? What’s going on?”

Lyric made a sound—part sob, part breath, part collapse .

“Nothing…” Lyric whispered, realizing she carried a secret she could never reveal. She had to protect her son from any future backlash. This was a secret she couldn’t even tell Rowan.

“I didn’t sign anything,” Rowan added quickly. “They offered me a lot of money to stay away from you. I didn’t take it.”

Lyric couldn’t breathe.

She couldn’t think.

Her head throbbed, and her heart—her heart was gone.

She didn’t mean to hang up. But she did.

She sat there frozen.

The garden blurred.

The world—the whole world—felt upside down. Tilted and wrong.

Kai had erased her.

No.

Not just erased her.

He’d destroyed her name. Her story. Her future. Her world.

He told the world she was a liar. That her baby wasn’t real.

That she was nothing.

She rocked gently, one hand on her stomach, the other over her mouth.

This couldn’t be real.

This couldn’t be happening .

But it was.

And she had to be smart now.

For her baby. For whatever future they had left.

She picked up her phone and called Rowan again.

“Lyric?” Rowan answered, rushed. “Are you okay?”

“I didn’t mean to hang up,” she whispered.

“I figured.”

There was a pause.

Lyric exhaled shakily. “How much money?”

“What?”

“How much did they offer you?”

“A lot,” Rowan said. “But I’m not taking it. I’m not leaving you like this.”

“You have to,” Lyric said .

“No—”

“You have to,” she repeated, louder. “Rowan, I’m trapped here. I don’t even know how bad this is yet. I just know it’s big. Bigger than me. I can’t protect you. I can’t worry about you.”

Her voice broke again.

“If I have to fight this alone, I need to know that you’re safe. I need to know you’re far away. Taken care of. Not being followed. Not being threatened.”

“But Lyric—”

“I’m asking you because I love you. I need to protect my child right now. There is no other way you will be safe.”

Silence.

Then Rowan’s voice, barely audible. “I’m kind of scared.”

“I know,” Lyric whispered. “I am too.”

Another pause.

“Tell Velora I’m okay. I never wanted this to happen,” she said. “Also, tell her I’m sorry—and that she needs to take the money too. Neither of you can try to help me.”

“I’ll tell her.”

“Promise me you’ll take the money. Go to L.A. Or somewhere far. Start over—and don’t call me again.”

“I—”

“Promise me.”

A beat.

“I promise.”

“Thank you.”

The call ended.

This time, Lyric didn’t cry.

She closed her eyes, one hand over her heart, the other over her belly.

And she sat in the silence, listening to the wind move through the garden like it didn’t care who she used to be.

For the first time she realized what Kai had truly done.

He was gone.

He hadn’t just ruined her name.

He had erased her .