Please Come Back, My Love novel Chapter 158

Chapter 158

‘Bullshit, I said inmediately.

“It’s true.” He pulled out his phone, scrolled, turned the screen toward me. An email from something called the “Southern Heritage Documentation Project.” Dates. Itinerary. His name on the participant list.

I stared at it. Then at him.

‘So you just… happened to be driving the same direction we were?”

“Not exactly.” He had the decency to look uncomfortable. “When you said you and your mom were leaving on a road trip, I checked the dates. Realized the timing worked out. And after Alexander-” He stopped. “I thought if I was already going to be on the road, I could just… make sure you were okay.”

“By hicing in the shadows like a creep?” My voice rose. ‘You could’ve just asked to come with us.”

“You made it very clear you didn’t want me on this trip.”

Fuck. He had me there.

Mom shifted in her seat. “Elena did say this was our time together. Her tone was gentle, but pointed.

“I know.” Ethan looked at her. “And I respect that. I wasn’t planning to approach you. I was just going to stay close enough to-

“To what?” I interrupted. “Play bodyguard? We don’t need protection, Ethan.”

“You don’t know that.”

The certainty in his voice made my skin prickle. “What are you talking about?”

He leaned forward, his voice dropping. “That night at the bonfire, Alexander wasn’t making small talk. He was sending a message. And the things I’ve heard about him, about the Sterling family-” He glanced at Mom. “You said it yourself. They’re dangerous.”

Mom’s fingers tightened around her mug.

“So what?” I said. “You thought Alexander was going to chase us down Route 95? This isn’t a mob movie, Ethan.”

“No. But rich men with power and too much interest in one woman?” He held my gaze. “That happens every day.”

Silence fell over the table. I wanted to argue. Wanted to tell him he was paranoid.

But I’d lived in that nightmare for three years. I knew what rich men with power could do.

“Even if that’s true,” I said slowly, “you should’ve told me. Not followed us like some- I broke off, shaking my head. “You scared the shit out of me, Ethan.

‘I’m sorry.” And he sounded like he meant it. “I wasn’t trying to frighten you. I was trying to—*

“Protect her.” Mom finished quietly. She was looking at Ethan with an expression I couldn’t quite read. “That’s what you said before.”

“Yes, ma am.”

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Chapter 158

self” She raised an eyebrow. “One man against the entire Sterling empire?”

Something flickered across Ethan’s face. I have friends Resources. I’m not as helpless as you might think.”

“Clearly.” Mom’s lips twitched. “You tracked us across two states without my daughter noticing until this morning.”

“Mom –

“What?” She turned to me. “He did. And to be fair, sweetheart, you’re exhausted. You just lost-” She stopped herself. “You need help. Whether you want to

admit it or not.”

“I don’t need his help,” I said stubbornly.

“Maybe not.” Mom looked back at Ethan. “But you’re already here. And you’re already going north.” She paused. “Where exactly is this research trip of yours?”

“We’re starting in Charlottesville.” Ethan’s gaze didn’t leave my face. “Then heading west through the Blue Ridge.”

Mom’s breath caught. “The Blue Ridge?”

I remembered. Her wish. The mountains she wanted to see.

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