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Chapter 0276
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Chapter 0276
“I don’t think that,” Alexander replied, his tone unnervingly calm. “But I need to get to work and handle this situation before it escalates. You’re upset, but I don’t have me
“To what?” I cut him off, my voice rising. “To talk to me? To tell me the truth? Just how much are you hiding, Alexander, that you don’t have time to confess?”
“This is ridiculous,” he said sharply, his calm demeanor cracking as he turned away from me. Without another word, he answered his phone.
I stood there, shaking with rage, every nerve in my body screaming at me to lunge forward and knock the phone out of his hand. But I held back.
Instead, I spun on my heel and marched to the bedroom.
Once inside, I threw myself onto the bed, pressed my face into the pillow, and screamed at the top of my lungs.
I had tried to convince myself that Alexander was entitled to his secrets, that it didn’t matter to me. But it was a lie. I wanted to know everything about him, to unravel the mystery he carried, but deep down, I knew that would never happen.
Our connection wasn’t real–not entirely. The distance between us would always remain.
But this was different. My life could be on the line, and whatever he was hiding from me couldn’t stay hidden
anymore.
“Ella,” Alexander called from the doorway, his voice low.
I hugged the pillow tightly to my chest and didn’t answer.
“I’ll be back in a few hours,” he said softly. “I promise.”
“Fine,” I said weakly, my voice barely audible.
He hesitated, standing there for a moment as if he wanted to say more. Then, with a resigned sigh, he turned and walked away. I held my breath, listening to the sound of his footsteps fading across the apartment. A moment later, the door clicked shut.
Once he was gone, I sat up in the bed, my chest tight with frustration. I had to do something–I just didn’t know what. The helplessness clawed at me, making me feel angry and miserable.
“I’m not powerless,” I whispered, as if saying it aloud would make it true.
If Alexander wasn’t going to tell me what was going on, I’d have to find out for myself.
I got up from the bed and walked back into the living room. The space felt cold and impersonal, offering no clues to the man I’d married. Alexander’s apartment was as guarded as he was–no family photos, no sentimental keepsakes, nothing that might hint at who he really was.
My eyes landed on a tall, slim bookshelf in one corner of the room. It was the only thing that seemed out of place in the sleek, minimalist decor. I approached it, scanning the spines of the books.
Each was in pristine condition, their covers uncreased, as if they had been bought but never read.
On the top shelf, just out of my reach, was a small box. It caught my attention immediately. It was cardboard with wear around the edge of the lid. It wasn’t like anything else in the apartment.
I stood on my tiptoes, stretching as far as I could, but my fingers barely grazed the edge. I hopped up, trying to get
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Chapter 0276
a grip.
The box moved slightly closer to the edge. I jumped again, this time I knocked the box off balance and it fell off of the shelf, toppling onto the floor and spilling its contents ross the ground.
1 looked down at box with a guilty feeling growing, but I forged it down. This could be a matter of life and death. I had to know what was going on. I had to know what he was hiding
With one deep breath, 1 steeled my nerves and bent to search through the contents of the box.
