Please Come Back, My Love novel Chapter 163

Chapter 163

Juhan. POV

The helicopter blades slowed to a dull thrum as we touched down in the parking lot of some backwater Georgia state park.

I didn’t wait for the pilot’s signal-I was out before the skids fully settled, ducking under the rotors, scanning the area like a goddamn hunting dog.

There. The white RV, parked near the treeline.

My chest tightened.

Thirty-two days. It had been thirty-two fucking days since I’d last seen her face. Thirty-two days of checking my phone every five minutes. Of waking up at 3 a.m. in that empty penthouse, sheets still smelling like vanilla and jasmine. Of sitting in my office staring at ultrasound photos I’d never shown her.

Three months. She’d planned to disappear for three more months.

Not anymore.

I strode across the gravel lot, ignoring the startled looks from tourists clutching their hiking maps and overpriced coffees. My hands were shaking. I shoved them in my pockets.

I was ten feet from the RV when the door swung open.

Elena.

Fuck.

She’d lost weight. Too much weight. The oversized sweater hung off her frame, and her face-God, her face looked hollowed out. Dark circles under her eyes. Cheekbones too sharp.

What the hell had the past month done to her?

She froze on the top step, one hand gripping the doorframe. For half a second, I saw it-the flicker of something raw in those amber eyes. Shock.

Then it vanished.

She backed up so fast she nearly tripped. “No.”

The single word gutted me.

‘Elena-

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‘No.’ Her voice cracked. She stumbled down the steps, putting distance between us like I was contagious. “What the fuck are you doing here?

I’d rehearsed this. On the jet. In the car to the helipad. I had a whole speech prepared-how I’d found the test results, how the baby was healthy, how I d been a fucking coward and I was sorry, so goddamn sorry-

But standing here, watching her retreat from me like I was a monster, every word died in my throat.

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Borsel farve anything wut, somente che emerged from the XV

Blena’s mother looked thinner than remembered-fragile in a way that made my stomach twist. But her eyes were sharp. Cold,

She stepped between us.

“Mr. Julian Sterling. The formal address hit like a slap. ‘I don’t believe you were invited.

I swallowed hard. ‘Mrs. Vance, I just need to talk to-

“To my daughter?’ Josephine’s voice stayed soft, but every word landed like a blade. “The woman you tormented for three years? The one you accused of lying, cheating, scheming? The one you left bleeding in a hospital bed after she lost your child?”

Fuck. Fuck.

‘I know 1–”

“You know nothing.” Josephine’s hand found Elena’s, pulling her closer. Protective. “My daughter has a boyfriend now. A good man. Someone who doesn’t make her cry herself to sleep.”

The words punched through my ribcage.

Boyfriend. One month, and she already had a boyfriend?

My head snapped up. “What?”

That’s when I noticed him.

Tall. Dirty-blond hair. Wearing some bullshit hiking gear like he belonged in an REI catalog. Standing too close to the RV. Too close to her.

Recognition slammed into me.

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