His Wicked Obsession (Archer and Virginia) novel Chapter 155

Archer's fingers stalled on his cufflink, a momentary stiffness flashing across his jaw.

He didn't answer. He simply gave Valentin a dark, calculating look before turning on his heel and walking away.

Valentin watched him go, then leaned in close to Virginia. "What a buzzkill. Ready to head out? I'll drive you back."

With such a suffocating presence crashing the party, staying any longer felt pointless.

Virginia lowered her eyes and didn't object.

After bidding farewell to Chairman Preston, the two of them slipped out early.

...

Three days later, at six in the morning, on a flight bound for the United Kingdom.

Virginia dragged her carry-on through security, walked down the jet bridge, and stepped into the business-class cabin.

To her sheer shock, she immediately spotted a familiar face—

Archer.

She was heading to the UK to meet an old friend and client who was also a psychotherapist.

They met annually, either to discuss academic research or to jointly evaluate a patient. This trip had been on her schedule for months, and she had booked her ticket a week in advance.

She never expected to run into Archer here.

He was in a window seat, an open laptop resting on his tray table, displaying documents entirely in French.

He was wearing a light gray turtleneck. The watch on his left wrist was a model she didn't recognize—likely some limited edition gifted by Chloe. His right wrist remained unchanged, still adorned with his familiar wooden prayer beads.

Virginia gripped her boarding pass and hesitated for a few seconds, genuinely debating whether to ask a flight attendant to switch her seat.

But Archer looked up and met her gaze.

They stared at each other in tense silence for several seconds.

Giving up, she tightened her grip on her briefcase strap, sat down in the seat next to him, buckled her seatbelt, and immediately slipped on her noise-canceling headphones, closing her eyes to feign sleep.

Two or three hours into the flight, Virginia actually dozed off. Seven or eight hours later, just as they were nearing their descent, the cabin intercom crackled to life.

"Ladies and gentlemen, due to a severe blizzard at our destination, the runway has been temporarily closed. This flight will be diverted to the nearby Solna Airport to await further instructions. We apologize for the inconvenience..."

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