The Last Time I Cried Your Name novel Chapter 69

Hans was absolutely livid. He swung his fist, his voice raw with anger. “You really have the nerve to call yourselves a couple now? Where do you get off?”

Franco dodged him, but Hans wouldn’t back down, crowding in closer and closer.

“Franco, watch out!” Laura’s voice was tight with panic. She was terrified Hans would actually hurt Franco, her worry plain as day.

Jay stepped in front of her, blocking her path. “Laura, maybe you should head back,” he said quietly.

But Franco would never want outsiders getting involved in something like this.

Laura pushed Jay’s hand away, her voice sharp. “How could you even ask me to leave right now?”

Franco had drunk too much tonight. Laura had been worried, so she’d asked her driver to follow Franco’s car home. She never expected Hans to show up and ram Franco’s car on purpose.

Right after she spoke, Hans’s fist swept by, just missing Franco’s jaw.

Laura’s heart jumped straight into her throat.

Her hands tightened on the arms of her wheelchair. The moment Hans kicked out at Franco, she shoved her wheelchair forward, trying to block the blow.

Jay’s eyes went wide. He never imagined Laura could move that fast.

Hans was going in for the kill.

Jay tried to intercept, but he was already too late.

Suddenly, a figure darted in front of Laura’s wheelchair.

The next moment, the heavy thud of a blow echoed through the air.

Everything went quiet, as if the world was holding its breath.

Not far away, Petty’s face went ghostly pale, like all the blood had been drained from her in an instant.

Franco’s voice came out low and cold, like it was echoing off a glacier. “What did you say?”

Petty’s lips trembled. Bitterness welled up in her throat. Her heart felt like it had stopped, her breath caught somewhere she couldn’t reach. But she forced herself to speak, every word slow and clear, slicing the air like a blade.

“I said I’m done. Franco, listen to me. I don’t want that house anymore.”

Her eyes glistened, the corners trembling. “It was the last thing connecting me to my family, and you wouldn’t even give me that. I fought so hard for it, and what did it get me? Just made me look like a fool. My family’s gone. What difference does it make if I have a home or not?”

Her hand clenched at her side, the veins standing out stark and angry beneath her skin.

Franco stared at her, his eyes going dark, shock and disbelief flooding his face as Petty’s words hit home.

“Anything Laura’s touched, anywhere she’s lived, any man she’s been with—I don’t want any of it. I hope you two are happy together. You’re perfect for each other.”

“And as for the divorce, I don’t care if you sign the papers or not. Don’t think you can keep me trapped with a marriage certificate. It’s just a stupid piece of paper. If I pretend it doesn’t exist, then it’s nothing to me.”