Just Before My Wedding: Trapped By My Ruthless Boss novel Chapter 73

Chapter 73

KISAREL

mca M

“Take a deep breath, Arel. You need to be smart about this.” Elgin kept telling me until we got home and were ready to go to bed.

I called Jace more than a dozen times, but he wasn’t answering. My stomach turned to liquid. I didn’t want to believe something fishy was going on behind me.

“Go to his house tomorrow.” Elgin said as he patted my back soothingly. “Talk to him face to face. Don’t do this over the phone.”

I nodded, wrapping myself up in the duvet as we sat down quietly.

“Elgin…”

“Mhm?”

“There is something I’ve never told you about. And I think this is the right time,” I sat up and rested my back on the headboard.

“Talk to me, chérie.”

“The other night… The night I was to travel to DC with my boss. I went to see Jace, and I somehow fell asleep and missed my trip with Oceans…”

“I recall, Arel. You couldn’t stop telling me about how pissed your boss was.” Elgin replied.

“Something strange happened that night.” I narrowed my brows as the foggy, choppy memory struggled to swim to the surface, “I could swear Jace made me sign some papers. I don’t know… It’s not clear but… I was deep asleep, and…” I massaged my temple with both hands, feeling the exhaustion of trying to recall something that almost wasn’t there.

Elgin went very still.

“I know how that sounds,” I said quickly. “I know it sounds like I dreamt it. Jace told me I dreamt it. He was very convincing about it. He asked if I saw penguins too.” I let out a short, humorless breath. “But I keep coming back to it. Fragments of it. A pen in my hand. Paper. His voice saying something I couldn’t fully hear. And then nothing.”

I turned my head to look at Elgin. “I’ve been telling myself for weeks that it wasn’t real. That I was exhausted, and I imagined. it.” I paused. “But tonight I watched my fiancé walk into my father’s estate attorney’s office with my uncle.” My voice cracked. “And I don’t think I imagined it anymore.”

“Arel.” Elgin’s voice was very quiet. “You need a lawyer.”

“Elgin-”

“No. Listen to me.” He turned to face me fully, the duvet pooling around him. “I don’t trust Jace. I haven’t trusted him for a long time. But this-” he shook his head, this is beyond just not trusting him. Think about it. Who introduced you to Jace

in the first place?”

I stared at him.

“Fred,” I said.

“Fred” He repeated it like the word was doing its own work. “Your uncle. The same man who has been managing your father’s estate for fourteen years. The same man who has made sure you don’t get to see your father’s will.” He held my gaze. “That is not a coincidence, cherie. That has never been a coincidence.”

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16:37 Fri, May 22 d M

Chapter 73

The liquid feeling in my stomach got worse.

I pulled my knees to my chest and stared at the wall.

“I used to love him,” I said quietly.

Elgin was still.

“Jace. I used to genuinely love him.” I frowned at the wall. “I don’t even know when it stopped. Or when he became someone I couldn’t trust. Or if he was always this person and I just-” I stopped. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t.” Elgin put his hand on my knee briefly. “Don’t do that to yourself tonight. Tonight, we focus on what’s in front of us.” He paused. “Ask Oceans for help with an attorney. He has the resources and the connections to-”

“No.”

Elgin looked at me.

“I can’t…” I exhaled slowly. “I need to start putting some distance between us.”

“Arel…”

“You also said it earlier, remember? I need to step back. We’re both engaged. We’re both getting married in three months. Whatever this has become – it was never meant to become this. And the longer I let it continue-”

“The harder it gets for both of you,” Elgin finished.

“Yes.”

Elgin scoffed, “And yet tomorrow you are moving into an apartment he arranged for you. Two streets from his house.” The corner of his mouth pulled up slightly.

“And that’s why I’m not moving in anymore.” I countered.

“Arel…”

“He told me he has fallen for me, Elgin.” I looked at him. “And I’m supposed to move into a house he chose, two streets from his own, and call it professional?” I shook my head. “That’s not me pulling back. That’s me walking deeper in.”

Elgin was quiet for a moment. Then he exhaled and nodded slowly. “Okay. That’s actually the right call.”

“I know.”

“But…” He shifted to face me properly. “Men like Oceans are not predictable when something they consider theirs starts moving away from them. I have studied that man like a textbook from all you’ve told me about him.” His voice was careful, “You’ve seen how he operates. The cameras. The blocked contacts. The house. The car. He made you stop wearing your glasses, Kisarel.” He scoffed and gestured into the air. “How are you going to tell such a man you’re not moving in without-

“I’ll tell him I need some time,” I said. “That’s all. I’m not explaining myself beyond that.”

Elgin nodded slowly.

We sat quietly for a moment.

“I also need you to help me with something else.” I pulled my knees tighter to my chest. “I’ve been thinking about it all evening. I need to update my resume. There are a few companies I want to apply to.”

He stared at me “You’re leaving SSC

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16:37 Fri, May 22 M

Chapter 78

“I’m being smart,” I said. “Like you keep telling me to be.”

“Good. I like the way you think, Arel.” He stood up, pushing the duvet aside. “I’ll get your laptop.”

He was halfway to the door when my phone lit up on the nightstand.

I picked it up, and it was Nessa. My new acquaintance.

I felt the small, uncomplicated warmth and smiled at the thought of her as I swiped my phone open to see her text. “How’s your night going? Coffee tomorrow?”

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