32. Briar – Chapter Summary and Analysis

Spoiler Notice

This chapter contains depictions of self-harm, passive suicidal ideation, and intense emotional distress. This summary and analysis reveals major plot points from Chapter 35 of Bulletproof. Proceed only if you are comfortable with spoilers and the themes addressed.

Summary

Four weeks after waking from surgery, Briar lives underground with Callum and Grahm. She has abandoned the name Chloe entirely, refusing to answer to her former identity. Callum now calls her Briar and treats her with the gentle familiarity of their Seattle days, though she suspects it is a mask. Too exhausted to probe his motives, she simply exists.

She plays chess with Grahm, slicing a smiley‑face into a scar on her stomach — one of many self‑inflicted aggravations of her healing wounds. Callum interrupts to invite her on a trip to dump “dead weight” at a lake. She agrees without question.

At the lake, while the men unload frozen corpses, Briar strips off her clothes despite Grahm’s protest. Callum stops him and tells her to be back in twenty minutes. She wades into the icy water, chasing the rush of adrenaline and the numbness that follows the sharp cold. She swims to the center, floats on her back, and deliberately empties her lungs, letting herself sink. As her consciousness begins to fade, Roman’s voice calls her name — a hallucination that pulls her back to the surface. Gasping, she scans the empty lake and admits to herself that she cannot stop caring about him, even though she tells herself she hates him. The aching in her chest remains, only briefly numbed by the freezing water.