Please Come Back, My Love novel Chapter 294

Please Come Back, My Love

Chapter 294

Khona’s POV

The door downstairs creaked open. Footsteps echoed on the stairs–slow, measured, deliberate. Each step felt like a countdown to

something terrible.

My eyes darted between Nancy’s triumphant face and the bedroom door. “Please,” I begged. “Whatever you’re planning, just let Lila go.

She’s innocent

Nancy laughed. “Don’t even think about it. I’m not letting her go.”

The bedroom door swung open.

And Ethan stepped inside.

For a split second, I felt relief–but then I looked into his eyes, and my blood turned to ice.

This wasn’t the Ethan I knew. This wasn’t the gentle professor who’d been my friend.

This was something else entirely.

He moved like a predator, all coiled tension and barely restrained violence. When he looked at me, I saw hunger–raw, desperate, terrifying hunger that made my skin crawl.

“Hello, Elena,” he said, and his voice was all wrong. Rougher. Darker. “God, I’ve missed you.”

Recognition slammed into me. The memories I’d been suppressing came flooding back—the night at the gallery, the way his eyes had changed, the terror I’d felt when I realized the man in front of me wasn’t the friend I trusted.

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “No, not again. Ethan, please–you have to fight him. You have to-*

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“Ethan?‘ He laughed. “Oh, darling. Sweet, naive Elena. Still thinking there’s some knight in shining armor hiding in here, waiting to save

you?”

I searched his face desperately. “You’re not him. You’re the other one. The one who-” I couldn’t finish. The memory of his hands on me, his voice whispering terrible things–it was too much.

The one who what?” He tilted his head. “The one who showed you the truth? The one who made you see what real passion looks like

“The one who hurt me.” I whispered. “The one who tried to—^

He paused, his face contorting as if he were having an internal argument. Elena, darling. I never hurt you. I loved you.” But then he

12:09 Fri, Jul 3

Chapter 294

pressed his palm against his temple. “No… no, she trusted us… this isn’t.” He shook his head violently, and when he looked up, that predatory smile was back.

“Ethan.” I called out, desperate. “I know you’re in there. Please, fight him. Don’t let him do this.”

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He crossed the room in three strides, crouched in front of me. I pressed myself back against the chair as he reached out to touch my face

with disturbing gentleness.

I flinched away. “Don’t touch me. I remember what you did.”

“Do you know how long I’ve waited for this?” he whispered, ignoring my protests. “How many nights I lay awake, imagining what I’d do

when I finally had you all to myself?”

“You’re scaring me,” I said, hating how small my voice sounded.

“Good.” His smile widened, but then his expression flickered. “No, wait–she’s not supposed to be scared of us. We’re supposed to protect

her-”

“Ethan!” I called out, hope flaring. “Ethan, is that you? Please, you have to stop this. You have to take control back.”

“Shut up,” he hissed to himself. “You had your chance. You were too weak. Now it’s my turn.”

My hope crumbled. “He’s gone, isn’t he? The real Ethan. You’ve locked him away completely.”

He straightened, walked over to where Lila lay unconscious. My heart stopped as he crouched beside her, ran his fingers through her hair.

“Such a pretty little girl,” he murmured. “She has his nose, you know. Sterling’s nose.”

“Please,” I begged, tears streaming down my face. “If you ever cared about me—if any part of what we had was real–don’t hurt her. She’s

just a baby.”

He looked back at me, his face crumpling with what looked like genuine anguish. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Elena. I can’t–I can’t stop this-”

I leaned forward. “Yes, you can! Ethan, I know you’re fighting him. I can see it. Please, just-”

But the mask slipped back into place, cold and calculating.

“Here’s your choice, darling,” he said flatly. “You can come with me. Be mine. Love me the way you should have from the beginning. Or…” He pulled out a syringe. “Or I inject this into her IV line when she wakes up. Potassium chloride. Stops the heart in minutes. Looks like natural causes in a child this young.”