Just Before My Wedding: Trapped By My Ruthless Boss novel Chapter 122

Chapter 122

KISAREL

Nessa unlocked her phone with a swipe, her thumbs moving quickly across the screen. I watched her scroll, my pulse already climbing.

“After the man died—the one who bumped into you at the park–I couldn’t let it go.” She didn’t look up. “I paid someone else to pull footage from the motel. Someone who owed me a favor”

She found what she was looking for and turned the phone toward me.

For a second, I didn’t want to see whatever she had. I wanted to stand up, walk out of the diner, go back to Jace’s house, and pretend I had not seen that ring or dragged Oceans into this mess by force.

But my curiosity got the best of me.

The clip was short. Maybe thirty seconds. The quality was better than the vendor’s, even though it was still terribly grainy: the lighting was a bit stronger.

It was an indoor footage of a narrow corridor with a row of identical doors and a flickering light at the far end that the camera kept trying to correct for. The timestamp in the corner had been cropped out, but the cheapness of the place came through anyway.

At the end of the hallway, a figure stood outside one of the rooms.

“Where is this?” I asked.

“The room.” Nessa kept her voice low, even though the diner had emptied out around us. “Where he was found dead.”

My stomach dropped so fast.

I leaned closer, and she tilted the screen so the light from the window stopped bouncing off it.

The figure lifted his hand to knock, and I stopped breathing.

The ring.

Matte black, with that thin silver line cut clean across the top. The camera caught it for less than a second, the same way the first clip had, like the universe kept showing me this exact detail and refusing me everything around it.

“This was the last person to enter that room while he was still alive,” Nessa said quietly.

“I can’t see his face,” I whispered.

“No.” Nessa took the phone back, but she didn’t put it away. “Neither could the cameras. He knew where they were. Every single one.”

My mind was spinning.

I leaned back in my seat, doing my best to reject the image that was popping up in my head.

I looked at Nessa’s soft eyes, her calm face, and the assuring aura, and I knew for sure she was someone I could trust. She was helping me

Good thing I didn’t allow Elgin’s suspicion of her to make me push her away.

I could really use a confidant right now.

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Chapter 122

“I’ve seen that ring before,” I said.

Nessa went still. “Where?”

“My boss’s head of security.” I went on, a little bit agitated. “His name is Reeves. He works directly for Oceans Stark. He stopped at my desk a few days ago, and I noticed the ring when he placed his hand on my table.”

Nessa didn’t react immediately. Her expression stayed neutral, almost blank.

“You’re sure?” she asked.

“I’m not sure of anything.” I pressed my palm to my forehead. “The footage is blurry. It could be anyone. But the ring… looked the same. Exactly the same. I mean… Take a look… Oh, God.” I palmed my forehead, already feeling a splitting

headache.

“Arel…” She called.

I rubbed my palms over my face and took in a shaky breath. “God. I don’t even know what I’m saying.” I dropped my hands “Why would Reeves be there? Why would someone from Oceans‘ world be near the man who hurt me? It doesn’t even make

sense.”

Nessa was quiet for a moment. Then she reached across the table and covered my hand with hers.

“Okay. Calm your nerves,” she said. “If you suspect something, then we don’t ignore it. We don’t pretend we didn’t see it.” Her thumb moved across my knuckles. “But we also don’t run ahead of what we actually know. The face is hidden. The footage is bad. A ring is not a confirmation. It could be anyone at all.”

I nodded, desperate for her to be right.

It could be anyone…

“So, we start by finding out who Reeves really is,” she continued. “What he actually does. Whether he was acting alone or on his boss’s orders.”

“No…” I shook my head. “Oceans wouldn’t-”

“Wouldn’t he?” Nessa’s voice was soft as she asked me. She didn’t sound accusing, even in the slightest. But the question caught me off guard.

“Well,” She said, pulling me back to reality. “You know him better than I do. Would he order someone to hurt you?”

No…

He wouldn’t…

I was certain of that.

But somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to answer that question, maybe because I didn’t want to look too foolish and too

eyes. trusting in Nessa’s

“I see you’re scared.” She held my gaze. “I’m not going to let you carry this alone, Arel. I’ll help you get to the root of it all Every bit. I promise you that.”

I released a breath.

“I truly am scared,” I admitted, and the moment I said it, the rest came loose. “I’ve been scared for a while now, even though I’ve been pretending I am not.” I pressed my fingertips to my forehead. “Everything started going wrong around the same time. All of it. And I keep telling myself it’s a coincidence, but it’s too much to be a coincidence.”

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Chapter 122

“What do you mean, everything?”

I hesitated. Some last, careful instinct in me buzzed, but I quieted it. I could confide in Nessa. She wasn’t a bad

person.

“Elgin’s grandfather,” I said. “Gerald. He’s the one who took me in once, years ago, when I had nowhere to go. He was a good man. He was kind. Doesn’t ask for anything back.” My eyes stung. “He died suddenly. The night he died, someone had called him from a number we couldn’t trace. A burner. And he was fine, and then he just – wasn’t.”

Nessa had gone completely still again. But her stillness this time was a bit different. It seemed more like she dame more alive.

“When was this?” she asked softly.

“Before Luna Park. Before the stranger started texting me. Before any of it.” I shook my head. “I’ve never been able to find out what happened to him. There were no cameras around the house. Nothing. The trail just stopped.”

“Arel… Take a deep breath…” She held my palm, “Breathe…” She let me breathe. “You’re saying too much at a time, and I am losing the whole point.”

I took in a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

Her thumb brushed my knuckles one more time. “Tell me everything about that night, Arel. Start from the very beginning.”

And God help me,

I did.

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