Please Come Back, My Love novel Chapter 229

hapter 229

Third POV

Alexander leaned close to Celeste’s ear as the jet leveled off, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Julian Sterling is nothing but a heartbreaker to your sister. She wouldn’t want to remember that painful chapter,”

He paused, letting the words sink in. “If you don’t believe me, look into it yourself. See what kind of man he really was to her.”

Celeste’s jaw tightened, her eyes sliding toward Elena’s sleeping form.

Alexander straightened, satisfied. The seed was planted.

Whatever Celeste discovered about Julian Sterling-the hidden marriage, the public humiliation, the loss of their child would only confirm what he’d told

her.

Four Years Later

2

London, Harrods Department Store

Elena’s hand was empty.

One moment, she’d been holding Lila’s small fingers as they browsed the toy section. The next, she’d turned to examine a display of dolls, and when she looked back, Lila was gone.

“Lila?” Elena’s voice came out steady, controlled. She scanned the immediate area, her heart hammering. “Lila, sweetheart, this isn’t funny.”

No response. Just the ambient noise of the department store-conversations, elevator chimes, rustling shopping bags.

Elena’s breath quickened. She moved through the aisles with increasing urgency. “Lila!”

A saleswoman approached. “Is everything all right, ma’am?”

“My daughter. Four years old, brown hair in pigtails, pink dress with white flowers, Have you se

seen

her?”

Within minutes, Elena found herself surrounded by store security, describing Lila over and over.

They were kind, efficient, but Elena could barely hear them over the roaring in her ears.

Not again. Please, not again. I can’t lose her.

“We’re making an announcement over the PA system, the head of security said. “Try not to worry, Ms. Hunt. Children wander off all the time. We always

find them.”

Hunt, my original surname. Alexander’d proposed to me shortly after arriving in London, when I was still fragile and lost, with a ring that cost more than most people earned in a year.

I had said yes-at the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. He loved me, Lila needed a father, and my memories showed no sign of returning.

1:12 am Pppp

Chapter 229′′ –

But when it came to actually signing the marriage certificate, something inside me had rebelled. Every time we went to the registry office, a voice in my head screamed ne. I’d begged Tum to wait, just a little longer, unt? 1 felt ready.

I couldn’t bring myself to take his nige either something about losing “Hunt” felt like losing the last piece of myself.

He’d been understanding, patient to the outside world, we were a loving married couple. Only I knew we’d never made it legal.

But sometimes, late at night, I’d wake/with my hand pressed my chest, feeling like something vita! was missing.

Three floors down, Lila Hunt was perfectly content.

She’d spotted the gleaming watches and wandered over, then noticed the tall man examining a platinum timepiece. He had sad eyes, she thought. The kind of sad that Mummy sometimes got when she stared at nothing and touched the scar on her temple.

“Excuse me, mister,” Lila said, tugging on his sleeve.

Julian Sterling looked down, startled. The little girl had brown hair in slightly crooked pigtails, amber eyes that seemed too knowing for her age, and a smattering of freckles across her nose.

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