My Great Escape Led Me to You (Emily Blair) novel Chapter 1293

Right after he finished speaking, Tristan’s phone lit up with a video call from Benjamin Gomez.

Tristan took a slow, shaky breath and answered.

The screen filled with an image that almost knocked the air out of him. Emily was hanging from a tree, her whole body battered and broken. Her hands hung limply, her hair was tangled, her skin looked ghostly pale. Blood had soaked through most of her clothes. She looked worse than he’d ever seen her. It was the kind of sight that would break anyone’s heart, even a stranger’s.

Emily didn’t look up. Maybe she was too weak, or maybe she just couldn’t bear to face the camera. All he saw was the top of her head, her face hidden.

Tristan’s eyes stung. He could feel his vision blur as tears threatened to fall.

This was Emily. His Emily. The woman he loved more than anything in the world.

Elizabeth was there too, crying quietly as she looked at Emily’s image.

Tristan tried to speak. His voice came out low and rough. “Emily...”

Emily barely moved, just the slightest nod.

A tear slid down Tristan’s cheek.

He tried again, voice breaking. “Emily...”

Again, she nodded, just a little.

That was too much for Elizabeth. She couldn’t hold it in anymore. She leaned toward the phone and cried out, voice trembling, “Emily, does it hurt? Are you in pain?”

Emily hesitated.

Elizabeth’s voice was thick with tears. Emily wanted to say something to comfort her, to tell her it didn’t hurt, but she knew there was no way she could make that lie sound believable. Saying it would only make Elizabeth feel worse.

So Emily stayed silent, pretending she hadn’t heard.

Tristan stood there, his face tense, pain buried deep in his eyes. Only the tiniest shifts in his expression gave away how much he was hurting inside.

He wanted to say so much. His lips moved a few times, searching for words. In the end, all that came out was a quiet, “Emily, I miss you.”

Benjamin held the phone a little ways back, so Emily could barely hear the words.

Tristan hadn’t raised his voice, so his words reached her softly, much quieter than Elizabeth’s desperate cries.

But that simple sentence hit Emily harder than anything else. Her resolve, the strength she’d been holding onto all this time, suddenly wavered.

She knew exactly how Tristan felt.

She could only imagine what he must be going through right now.