No Renewal My Contract Husband (Nella and Alfred) novel Chapter 2

Chapter 2 I Still Need to Stay with Zoey

Looking at his serious yet sincere eyes, she was certain Alfred wasn’t joking.
Even so, Nella agreed without hesitation.
Becoming Alfred’s wife meant her ten years of secret affection had finally paid off, right?
“Then … happy partnership.”
Alfred smiled and extended his hand toward her. His elegant hand, like the man himself, was refined and beautiful.
“Happy partnership.”
She reached out and shook his hand.
Warmth from his palm spread throughout her entire body.
And just like that, she and Alfred became contract spouses for three years.
A cold wind blew past, making Nella shiver and snapping her back to the present.
Without Alfred there, she’d lost all interest and just holed up in the hotel room, sleeping through the afternoon.
That entire day, she never received a single call from Alfred.
The next day, she still woke up early.
She put on her snow gear, grabbed her exploration equipment, and arranged with a local guide to go hiking on her own.
She’d come all this way. How could she waste two weeks of vacation time?
Along the route, there were quite a few expedition groups from various countries.
Nella didn’t feel nervous or scared.
She took lots of photos.
She opened Alfred’s chat on her phone, habitually about to send him the pictures, but then stopped.
She figured Alfred should have arrived back home by now.
With Zoey being kidnapped, sending him vacation photos seemed completely inappropriate.
Thinking this, she gave up on that idea.
Just as she was about to put her phone away, she found herself, almost as if possessed, clicking into Zoey’s Facebook profile.
A week ago, when Zoey’s family returned to the country, they visited the Keywoods.
After the family dinner, Zoey had added her on Facebook Messenger.
The first post on Zoey’s feed was from an hour ago.
“I will always be priceless to Alfred. Haha!”
Attached were nine photos.
There were selfies of Zoey in a hospital room, along with several shots of a man’s tall silhouette and his hands peeling an orange.
Although Alfred’s face didn’t appear in any of the photos, Nella recognized him immediately.
She especially recognized his hands peeling the orange—he was wearing his wedding ring.
So Zoey had already been rescued from the kidnappers?
Thinking this, Nella felt relieved.
She figured that later this evening, Alfred would probably head back to find her.
Her gaze fell on the comments section of that post.
“You’re just taking advantage of how much Alfred spoils you. You even dared to fake a kidnapping.”
“Leave it to Zoey. Alfred left his wife freezing in the far reaches of Glimmering Isles. When she gets back, he’s going to be sleeping on the couch.”
“Don’t pull something like this again.”
This comment was from Alfred. Among all the comments, Zoey had only replied to his.
“Alfred, I know I was wrong. When your wife gets back, I’ll apologize to her.”
Below that, more people had commented.
“Even though the kidnapping was fake, Zoey’s depression relapse is just as serious, isn’t it? His wife wouldn’t be so unreasonable as to get mad about this.”
“If you ask me, Alfred should have just married Zoey in the first place. They’ve known each other for years. With Alfred around, maybe Zoey’s depression would get better right away.”
“Alfred’s still there with Zoey now, isn’t he? In his heart, Zoey’s definitely more important than his wife.”
Nella read through these comments with complete composure.
These people probably looked down on her or thought she was a pushover. They weren’t afraid of her seeing their brazen comments.
And Alfred never stopped them or refuted what they were saying.
Nella suddenly felt it was all pointless.
Listlessly, she closed Zoey’s profile.
Just as she was about to continue forward, the mountain suddenly trembled.
Immediately after, snow from the mountain charged toward her like a savage beast.
Before she could react, it swallowed her whole.
Terror, fear, and despair filled her chest in an instant.
She was pinned beneath the piled snow, her hand clutching her phone tightly as she started a video call with Alfred.
She thought that if she was going to die at this moment, she wanted to see Alfred one last time.
Consider it the fulfillment of her ten-year crush.
But the moment the video call connected, it was immediately rejected.
In that moment, resentment and grievance filled her chest.
Heavy and crushing, unbearably painful.
In fact, this ache and bitterness even drowned out the fear of impending death.
She didn’t know where she found that stubborn streak, but she called again.
As expected, the video call was rejected once more.
Her heart felt as cold as the bone-chilling snow covering her body, making her tremble.
She sent Alfred a text message.
“There was an avalanche. I’m trapped under the snow.”
She honestly didn’t expect someone who had rejected her video calls twice in a row to reply to her message right away.
But she still held onto that thread of obsession.
Maybe she was giving this ten-year crush one last chance.
Or maybe she was giving herself a reason to finally give up.
Unexpectedly, a reply came the moment she sent it.
Every word on that screen felt like a blade, tearing her heart to shreds, leaving it bloody and mangled.
“Nella, if you want to trick me into coming back, you shouldn’t tell such an obvious lie. I still need to stay with Zoey for a few more days. When you finishes your vacation, come back on your own.”
Cold seeped through her like countless venomous insects, crawling through her pores into her limbs and bones.
She didn’t reply again. Her body, buried beneath the snow, gradually lost all warmth.