Page 79 of Vetted for Vengeance
Not stressed.
Not chaotic.
Alive.
People are moving faster, talking louder, smiling more. Even the phone ringing nonstop doesn’t feel like pressure anymore. It feels like momentum.
Like something is building.
And somehow…
I’m in the middle of it.
“That’s… good, right?” I say, even though I’m not sure if I’m asking him or myself.
Rhys watches me for a moment, as if he’s trying to figure out what’s going on in my head before I say it out loud.
“It’s very good,” he says finally. “It means we stop surviving and start choosing.”
Choosing.
That word sits oddly in my chest.
I’ve never really had that.
At the farm, everything was a reaction. Fix this. Feed that. Stop that one from dying.
No time to choose.
Here…
I glance through the open door. Louise is laughing with Chloe while prepping feeds. Tree is talking a client through aftercare as if she’s got all the time in the world. Danielle walks past with a coffee in one hand and a patient file in the other, completely unbothered by the noise.
No one looks like they’re drowning.
No one looks like me… back then.
“This is because of the show?” I ask.
“Partly,” Rhys says. “People like seeing what we do.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
His gaze sharpens slightly.
I hesitate, then force it out. “They like… seeing me.”
It sounds stupid the second I say it. But it’s true.
They’re filming me sorting drawers. Feeding pups. Talking.
Just… being here.
Rhys doesn’t laugh. Doesn’t dismiss it.
“Yes,” he says simply.
My stomach flips, and not in a good way. Not bad either. Just… too much.
