CHAPTER 3 EPISODE 2
2835 Words
THE MAN WHO WANTED HER BACK
“Celine, don't move!”
George's voice thundered through the phone.
But before he could ask another question, the call ended.
“Celine?”
He stared at his phone, his heart pounding.
“Damn it!”
George slammed his hand against the steering wheel and increased his speed. For three months, he had searched for his missing wife. Three months of sleepless nights, unanswered questions, and anger that had slowly turned into unbearable pain.
Now he had finally heard her voice.
And someone was threatening her.
“Daniel!” he shouted into his Bluetooth headset. “I need you to trace that call immediately.”
“I'm already working on it, sir.”
“Then work faster!”
There was a brief silence.
“Sir, are you sure it was Mrs. Williams?”
George's jaw tightened.
“I would recognize my wife's voice anywhere.”
His wife.
The words hurt.
Celine had disappeared on their wedding night, leaving him standing in a reception hall filled with confused guests and cruel whispers. He had searched everywhere, convinced that someone had forced her to leave.
But what if she had left because of him?
The thought had haunted him for months.
And now, hearing the fear in her voice, he knew one thing.
Whatever had driven her away was still out there.
And it was dangerous.
---
Celine pressed her back against the cold wall of the abandoned building.
Her hands trembled as she stared at the disconnected phone.
She had made a terrible mistake.
She had promised herself never to contact George again. Yet, after three months of hiding, she had allowed loneliness and fear to weaken her resolve.
She had wanted to hear his voice.
Just once.
She had wanted to know whether he still cared.
Now she regretted everything.
“Who were you talking to?”
The man's voice came from behind her.
Celine quickly slipped the phone into her pocket.
“No one.”
He laughed without humor.
“Do you think I'm stupid?”
She said nothing.
He stepped closer, and Celine instinctively moved backward.
“Was it George Williams?”
Her heart nearly stopped.
“How do you know that name?”
“Because your husband is making life difficult for people who should never have become involved with him.”
Celine swallowed.
“What do you want from me?”
“The truth.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
His expression hardened.
“Then perhaps you need a reminder of what happens when people refuse to cooperate.”
Celine's hand moved protectively toward her stomach.
She couldn't afford to be careless.
Not anymore.
She was no longer protecting only herself.
There was a future growing inside her, a tiny life she had kept secret from the world—even from the man who had helped create it.
George.
Her eyes stung.
She remembered the night before their wedding, when he had held her face between his hands and promised that nothing would ever separate them.
She remembered his lips against hers, the tenderness in his voice, and the way he had looked at her as if she were the only woman in the world.
She had believed him.
She had loved him enough to imagine a lifetime together.
But love was not always enough to survive the truth.
“Please,” she whispered. “I don't know anything.”
The man studied her for a moment before glancing at her stomach.
“Interesting.”
Celine froze.
He noticed.
A slow smile spread across his face.
“Now I understand why you're so desperate to stay alive.”
“No.”
The word escaped her before she could stop it.
His smile disappeared.
“Is the child George Williams's?”
Celine couldn't breathe.
She had spent months protecting her secret, and now one careless reaction had placed everything at risk.
“Answer me.”
She shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes.
“Please leave me alone.”
He reached for her arm.
Celine pulled away.
“Don't touch me!”
For the first time, her fear gave way to anger.
“You have already taken enough from me. Whatever you want from George, go to him. Leave me out of it!”
The man stared at her.
Then he laughed.
“Oh, Mrs. Williams. You have no idea how much you're already involved.”
---
George arrived at the location Daniel had traced less than twenty minutes later.
The building stood at the end of a narrow road, surrounded by abandoned warehouses and overgrown grass.
He jumped out of the car before it had fully stopped.
“Celine!”
His voice echoed through the empty compound.
He ran toward the nearest entrance, his eyes searching every corner.
“Celine, where are you?”
Then he heard something.
A woman's voice.
His wife's voice.
He rushed toward it.
And there she was.
Celine stood near the far wall, her face pale and her eyes filled with tears. A strange man stood between her and the exit.
George's expression changed instantly.
“Get away from her.”
Both Celine and the stranger turned.
For one breathtaking second, George and Celine simply stared at each other.
Three months.
Three months without seeing her face.
Three months of wondering whether she was alive, whether she was safe, whether she ever thought about him.
Now she was standing only a few feet away.
She looked thinner. Tired. Frightened.
But she was alive.
“Celine,” he whispered.
Her lips parted.
“George?”
He took one step toward her.
She immediately stepped back.
The movement struck him harder than any physical blow.
“Don't,” she said.
George stopped.
“Don't come near me.”
He looked at her in disbelief.
“Celine, I've been searching for you for three months.”
“I never asked you to.”
“Do you think I care about that?”
His voice cracked.
“I thought you were dead.”
For a moment, the anger disappeared from her face.
She looked at him as though she wanted to run into his arms, bury her face against his chest, and forget every terrible thing that had happened.
Then she remembered the sealed letter.
The secrets.
The warnings.
And the people who wanted her silent.
Her expression hardened again.
“You shouldn't have come here.”
George stared at her.
“Someone threatened you. What was I supposed to do? Stay home and pretend I didn't hear it?”
“You should have stayed away!”
“Why?” he demanded. “Tell me why, Celine!”
The stranger slowly moved toward the exit.
George noticed but refused to take his eyes off his wife.
“Who is that man?” he asked.
“Nobody.”
“Don't lie to me.”
Celine flinched.
George immediately regretted his tone.
He took a breath and lowered his voice.
“Please. Just tell me what's happening.”
For one second, she almost did.
She almost told him everything.
That she had been afraid. That she had discovered something terrible about his family. That every time she closed her eyes, she remembered the warning that had made her flee their wedding reception.
And that she was carrying his child.
But the stranger suddenly spoke.
“Touching reunion.”
George turned.
“Who sent you?”
The man smiled.
“You should ask yourself why your wife ran away from you.”
George's eyes narrowed.
“What do you know about my wife?”
“More than you think.”
Before George could reach him, the man rushed through the doorway.
“Daniel!” George shouted.
His security chief appeared seconds later from the opposite entrance, but the stranger was already gone.
“Follow him!” George ordered.
Daniel ran outside.
George turned back to Celine.
She was trembling.
He wanted to hold her, but he remembered how she had stepped away from him.
So he stayed where he was.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“Did he do anything to you?”
“No.”
“Celine, look at me.”
Slowly, she lifted her eyes.
George's chest tightened.
“I won't let anyone hurt you.”
A bitter smile touched her lips.
“You can't promise that.”
“Watch me.”
“You don't understand!”
“Then help me understand!”
His words echoed through the building.
Silence fell between them.
Celine wiped her tears.
“You always want answers, George. You want everyone to tell you everything, but what happens when the truth comes from your own family?”
His expression changed.
“What does my family have to do with this?”
She stared at him.
For the first time, she realized he might genuinely not understand the danger surrounding them.
Or perhaps he was simply a better liar than she had believed.
“Ask your mother,” she whispered.
George went still.
“My mother?”
Celine nodded.
“Ask her what happened to my family. Ask her why she was so determined to make sure I married you.”
He stared at her, struggling to understand.
“Celine, my mother wanted this marriage because—”
“Because of the agreement between our families?”
George stopped speaking.
The silence was answer enough.
Celine let out a shaky breath.
“I knew it.”
“Listen to me. Whatever you think you know, there's more to the story.”
“Then tell me!”
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Celine laughed sadly.
“That's what I thought.”
She turned toward the exit.
George caught himself before reaching for her.
“Where are you going?”
“Somewhere you can't find me.”
“Not again.”
She stopped.
His voice was quieter now.
“Please, Celine. Don't ask me to go through that again.”
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then she turned to face him.
“You want me to stay? You want me to trust you?”
“Yes.”
“Then answer one question.”
“Anything.”
She looked directly into his eyes.
“If you discovered that your family had destroyed the people I loved, would you still choose me?”
George didn't hesitate.
“Yes.”
Her lips trembled.
“You say that now.”
“I will say it tomorrow. I'll say it when everyone turns against me. I'll say it when the whole world tells me to let you go.”
He moved one step closer.
“Celine, I don't care about my family's money, their reputation, or their precious secrets. I care about you.”
She looked away, fighting the tears threatening to fall.
“Don't make promises you can't keep.”
“Then give me the chance to prove them.”
His voice softened.
“Come home with me.”
Home.
The word almost broke her.
For months, she had dreamed of hearing it from him again.
But she couldn't return to the life she had escaped without knowing whether it would destroy her.
“I can't.”
George's face fell.
“Why?”
“Because I'm afraid of what will happen when you discover everything.”
He searched her face.
“Celine, what haven't you told me?”
She opened her mouth.
Then her hand instinctively moved to her stomach.
George noticed.
His gaze dropped to the gesture before returning to her face.
Something in his expression shifted.
“Celine…”
She immediately lowered her hand.
“Don't.”
He stared at her, suddenly remembering how she had looked when he first entered the building.
Pale.
Exhausted.
Protective of her stomach.
His heart began to pound.
“Are you sick?”
“No.”
“Then why are you shaking?”
“Because you won't leave me alone!”
The words came out harsher than she intended.
George fell silent.
She looked at him, and the pain in his eyes nearly destroyed her resolve.
“I need time,” she whispered.
“How much time?”
“I don't know.”
“Will you let me see you again?”
She hesitated.
That hesitation was all the answer he needed.
George nodded slowly, swallowing his disappointment.
“Fine. I won't force you to come with me.”
Celine looked surprised.
“But I'm not giving up on you,” he continued. “Not until I know you're safe. Not until I understand why you ran away.”
He paused.
“And not until you tell me why you look at me as if loving me is the most dangerous thing you've ever done.”
Celine's tears finally spilled over.
She turned away before he could see her cry.
But George had already seen enough.
He knew she still loved him.
And he knew someone had given her a reason to fear that love.
What he didn't know was that the truth was standing between them, growing more dangerous with every passing day.
---
Outside, Daniel returned with a grim expression.
“Sir, the man escaped. We found a vehicle abandoned behind the warehouses, but there's no registration plate.”
George's jaw tightened.
“Find him.”
“Already on it.”
Daniel glanced toward Celine, who stood near the entrance.
“Sir, we should get Mrs. Williams somewhere safe.”
“I know.”
George turned toward her.
“Come with me. You don't have to forgive me tonight. You don't even have to speak to me. Just let me make sure you're safe.”
Celine looked at him for a long moment.
Then she shook her head.
“I can't go with you.”
George closed his eyes briefly.
When he opened them, the billionaire who could command an entire boardroom was gone.
In his place stood a man desperately trying not to lose the woman he loved for a second time.
“Then tell me where I can find you.”
“I can't.”
“Celine, please.”
She stepped closer.
For one brief moment, she lifted her hand and touched his cheek.
George went completely still.
Her fingers were trembling.
“I missed you,” she whispered.
His breath caught.
“Then come back to me.”
She shook her head, tears running down her face.
“I don't know how.”
George gently covered her hand with his.
Their eyes met.
The distance between them disappeared for one fragile second, and he leaned closer, giving her time to pull away.
She didn't.
His lips brushed hers.
It was a brief, tender kiss, filled with all the words they had been too afraid to say. Celine's eyes closed, and for one moment, she forgot the secrets, the threats, and the fear.
She remembered only George.
The man she had loved before everything fell apart.
When they separated, he rested his forehead against hers.
“Come home,” he whispered again.
Celine's face crumpled.
“I can't.”
She pulled away before he could stop her and hurried through the exit.
“Celine!”
George followed her outside, but by the time he reached the road, she was already climbing into a waiting taxi.
She looked back through the window.
Their eyes met one last time.
Then the taxi disappeared around the corner.
George stood motionless.
Daniel approached him carefully.
“Sir?”
George didn't answer.
His fingers touched his lips, where her kiss still lingered.
Then his phone rang.
The caller ID showed a private number.
He answered immediately.
“Who is this?”
A cold voice responded.
“Stop searching for your wife, George.”
His expression hardened.
“Who are you?”
“Someone who knows what your mother did.”
George's grip tightened around the phone.
“What did she do?”
The caller laughed quietly.
“Ask her why Celine's father died.”
George stopped breathing for a moment.
Then the call ended.
He slowly lowered the phone.
For the first time in his life, George Williams wondered whether the people he had trusted most were responsible for destroying the woman he loved.
And somewhere across the city, Celine sat in the back of the taxi, one hand resting over her stomach.
“I'm sorry, my love,” she whispered to the child she was carrying.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
“Your father deserves to know you exist.”
She closed her eyes.
“But first, I have to find out whether he is the one person who can save us…”
She opened her eyes as her phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
One message.
YOU HAVE UNTIL TOMORROW TO HAND OVER THE LETTER. OR GEORGE WILL LEARN THE TRUTH IN THE WORST POSSIBLE WAY.
Celine's blood ran cold.
Because the letter was no longer in her possession.
Someone else had it.
And whoever had taken it knew exactly how to destroy them both.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD