Beastly: Sequel to "Mr. Perfect"

Chapter 41: Donations and Outages

✨Evan (P.O.V.)

The alarm buzzed again.

7:00 am.

I groaned into my pillow, not moving.

My eyes felt like they were glued shut. My limbs were heavy, and my ribs throbbed with every breath.

I'd only gotten, what, maybe four hours of sleep? If that. I'd been up till 3 am, digging through whatever I could on Keisha.

When we called it a night, I spent another hour browsing the shelter's website and was genuinely amazed by the work they have done to save the lives of hundreds of women. That shelter has saved lives, and it's essential to the community. I respect this shelter for everything it does for girls and women, with or without Keisha, so I completed the online paperwork and set up a recurring online donation.

After I was done, I thought maybe once I lay down, my brain would shut off. But it didn't. It kept spinning, locked on Faith's expression, on Keisha's name, on Tybalt Anderson.

I knew I couldn't afford to stay in bed, though. Not today. My team had a pre-launch meeting scheduled at the office. It's something we'd been building towards for months.

I forced myself to sit up, every muscle protesting. My ribs gave a sharp jab, making me wince. I stayed still for a second, grounding myself with a slow breath. Then I pushed through it and got to my feet.

I went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face to shake off the fog, and brushed my teeth.

The hot water in the shower helped loosen the stiffness in my back and shoulders and dull the ache in my ribs. For a few minutes, I stood under the stream, eyes closed, letting the water run over me while my mind replayed the last note from Keisha's file—left with a man, identity unknown.

My jaw clenched automatically. I didn't need a name to know who the bastard was.

After getting out of the shower, I dried off and grabbed the medical tape and gauze from the counter, and peeled back the old bandage on my ribs. The bruising was worse today, deeper, spreading in an ugly shade of blue and purple. But I'd had worse.

I cleaned it carefully, then pressed the new dressing in place and wrapped it tightly.

Back in the bedroom, I pulled on my black slacks and white dress shirt. I buttoned the shirt slowly, tucking it in, careful around the ribs. Then, I reached for the black tie and tightened it around my collar.

I dried my hair with a towel and combed it back neatly.

As I strapped on my watch, I saw that it was already 7:40 am, so I quickly slipped on my black dress shoes and laced them up.

I finished getting ready by shrugging into my black trench coat and grabbed my briefcase from the closet.

On my way out, I adjusted the coat's collar in front of the mirror and grabbed my keys and wallet from the counter.

This game—this launch—it wasn't just work. It was a part of me. Something I'd help build from the ground up with people who trusted me to lead.

We were close. Almost there. And as much as my mind was buried in Faith, Keisha, and the hell Tybalt Anderson dragged into our lives, I owed it to my team to show up.

The teaser drops in two weeks.

Until then...I just had to hold everything together.

One day at a time.

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The door clicked shut behind me as I stepped into my office, the quiet settling in.

My mind was already ahead—thinking through today's rollout discussion, teaser adjustments, and the final tasks that needed to be locked before we hit the two-week countdown.