Please Come Back, My Love novel Chapter 175

Chapter 175

Elena POV

I stood outside room 306, my hand raised to knock, my whole body shaking.

Just get Mom and go. Don’t think. Just move.

The hallway carpet was ugly-geometric patterns in brown and beige that probably hadn’t been updated since the nineties.

I focused on it, counting the squares, anything to keep from thinking about Ethan’s strange behavior just now.

Stop.

I knocked softly. “Mom? It’s me.”

Silence.

My heart hammered against my ribs. What if something had happened to her during the night? What if she’d-

I knocked harder, panic rising. “Mom, please. I need –

The door opened.

Mom stood there in her nightgown-the soft cotton one I’d bought her last Christmas, now hanging loose on her frame.

Her hair was messy from sleep, silver strands catching the fluorescent hallway light. Her eyes widened when she saw me.

“Elena? Baby, what- She took in my appearance-barefoot, hair tangled like I’d been running my hands through it all night, wearing yesterday’s clothes that

were wrinkled and smelled like hotel soap and something else.

She added, “What happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

More like I’d fucked one. Or been fucked by one. Same difference.

“We need to leave.” I pushed past her into the room, scanning for her suitcase. The room smelled like her lavender lotion and medication—that distinctive

hospital smell that had become so familiar. “Right now. Where’s your bag?”

‘Slow down, honey-

“I can’t.” I found her small suitcase in the closet, started throwing clothes into it haphazardly. Her medications first-the orange bottles lined up on the

bathroom counter like soldiers. Then underwear, her soft cardigan, the comfortable pants she lived in now. “We’re going. Back to Florida, or somewhere else,

I don’t care. But we can’t stay here.”

“Elena, stop. Mom’s hand caught my wrist, her grip surprisingly firm despite the tremor that had become constant. “Tell me what’s wrong. Did Julian come

looking for you?”

I looked at her.

The dark circles under her eyes had deepened since yesterday, purple-black smudges that makeup couldn’t hide anymore. The way her nightgown hung loose

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1:27 pm

Chapter 175

in banking frame made her look fragile, breakable.

Her collarbones jutted ont sharp and prominent, and I could see the pulse in her neck, rapid and thready.

She’s dying. And I’m dragging her around like luggage because I can’t face him.

The guilt crashed over me in waves. Here I was, panicking about my own mess-about Julian’s hands on my body, about the way I’d responded to him despite everything-while she was fighting for her life every single day

“Did Julian hurt you?” Her voice went cold in a way I’d never heard before, protective and fierce despite her frailty.

“No. Yes. I don’t know.” I yanked away, kept packing, shoving her pill bottles into the side pocket. My hands were shaking. It doesn’t matter. We just need to

go before he-”

A knock on the door made me freeze.

Three sharp raps. Controlled. Commanding.

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