Next Man, Better Plan novel Chapter 2

Just as he was about to rip it off…

Bang—

A gunshot shattered the cold silence of the night.

Birds burst from the treetops, scattering into the darkness.

The kidnapper, who had been so brazen just moments before, was now a corpse lying stiffly on the damp ground.

A single shot to the head.

Blood splattered onto Stephanie’s cheek, adding a touch of tragic beauty to her excessively pale face.

Forgetting her fear, she instinctively looked toward the source of the shot.

A man in a military uniform stood ramrod straight, almost blending into the darkness. Under the bright moonlight, the medals on his shoulder glinted with a cold light.

Backlit, he walked toward her, step by step, the sound of his military boots crunching on dry leaves growing closer.

Suddenly, he stopped.

A fresh, cool scent of woodsmoke filled the air, clearing the stench of blood from Stephanie's nostrils.

She looked up, startled, and met a pair of noble eyes.

The man stood about two feet away from her. Perhaps it was his powerful aura, but a crushing sense of pressure filled the space.

The gun in his hand was still smoking. Noticing the lingering fear on Stephanie's face, he curved his lips into a smile and holstered his weapon.

Their eyes met. Jonathan Vasquez tilted his head, his voice coming from above her. "Stephanie. Long time no see."

…

It was one in the morning when she returned to their marital home.

Stephanie changed out of her blood-stained dress.

The moment the warm water from the shower cascaded over her, her chilled body gradually began to warm up.

She wiped the moisture from her face.

She had come so close to never coming back.

Before she was sixteen, Stephanie was a princess, cherished and adored by her family.

But at sixteen… her father and two older brothers died, and her mother remarried.

One tragedy after another shattered her once-happy family.

It was Quennel who pulled her out of the mire.

To this day, Stephanie still remembered the pained look in Quennel’s eyes as he looked at her back then.

Stephanie sat at her vanity, motionless, for a full day and night.

But Quennel never came back.

The withdrawal was, of course, agonizing. After all, that man had been a part of so many important moments in her life.

As she was lost in thought, her phone rang.

She glanced at the screen and said, "I'm planning to divorce Quennel."

A few seconds of silence on the other end. "When did you two get married?"

Stephanie lowered her eyes. It was a secret marriage.

Even on the day they were supposed to sign the papers, Quennel had been called away by Victoria and then left on a business trip for a whole week, only returning yesterday for her birthday.

Although they hadn't had a wedding, she had dined with his parents, making her, for all intents and purposes, the official young mistress of the Gonzalez family.

Stephanie’s eyes reddened. "Anyway, I'm planning to leave him."

Hearing the hurt in her voice, Susan Temple said gently, "When are you leaving? Mom will send a car for you."

Stephanie's thick hair shielded her face, revealing only her fair chin. "You should stay out of my affairs. I won't come running to you. Please, just stay away from me."

Hearing this, Susan's voice fell. "Stephanie, back then, I was also…"