Chapter 268 No Holding Back
Chapter 268 No Holding Back
There was no reason left to hold anything back.
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Jonathan lifted his hand and brushed his finger against that tiny bead of a tear. His voice rolled out low, steady, and magnetic.
“I have to leave for Adros right now. Are you truly not going to open your eyes and look at me at least once more?”
Anneliese felt her mind drifting, caught between shame and confusion.
Zion’s words earlier had reached her like a dull echo, blurred and far away.
But Jonathan’s voice came to her clear and strong, and her lashes snapped open as her head lifted in a rush.
“You’re leaving for Adros? Right this moment?”
Her eyes were still veiled with a sheen of moisture. They glimmered like glass, making her look fragile and helpless.
Jonathan’s gaze froze on her, then slipped down to her soft, flushed lips.
He didn’t want to go.
Yet he had flown across the ocean, kept to her side for almost eight hours, and guarded her until her fever broke. He had already wasted too much time.
If he didn’t leave now, he would lose his chance to sign the contract.
“Yes. Rest well. Wait for my return.”
He lifted his hand, catching a loose strand of hair at her cheek. He curled it lightly around his finger before tucking it back behind her ear.
“Mhm…”
Her face went scarlet as she gave a small, instinctive nod.
Her lips parted. She wanted to speak, to ask, yet her thoughts churned like a storm.
She felt foolish. She didn’t know what to say.
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Chapter 268 No Holding Back
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A knock echoed against the door, firm and steady. Jonathan didn’t hesitate another moment. He turned and stepped out.
The hospital room sank into silence. Anneliese sat stiff and dazed, as though she had just woken from a dream.
She raised her hand and brushed her lips. A faint sting lingered there, proof it had not been a
dream.
He kissed her.
But why did he kiss her all of a sudden?
“What are you sitting here reliving whatever happened while I was gone? Your man already walked out. Wake up.”
Jessica waved her hand in front of her face. Anneliese jerked back and slapped her palm across her mouth, her eyes flying wide.
Her whole body gave away her guilt.
Jessica dropped into the chair at her side, her lips curved in a sly grin.
“Come on. I’m not the one you were kissing. What are you hiding for? I saw the whole thing. Your lips are puffed up. That kiss was intense, huh? Tell me the truth, Annie. Is Mr. Fullbuster any good?”
Jessica tugged her hand away, revealing her burning face.
A girl in love was beautiful beyond reason.
Anneliese pressed her lips together. “How do you even measure if someone is good at kissing?”
“It’s when your knees go weak and your body feels like it’s turning to jelly, and all you want is more of it. Don’t pretend you don’t get it.”
Jessica shoved her shoulder playfully.
Anneliese dropped her gaze, her blush deepening, and that was enough to set Jessica laughing with a knowing gleam in her eyes.
“Stop laughing like a creep. I need to tell you what actually happened to me while I was gone.”
“You’re dodging harder than a quarterback. I laugh like a creep? Honey, if you saw the pictures
my head right now, you’d call it worse. Want me to paint the picture for you?”
in
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Chapter 268 No Holding Back
“Jessica, I was kidnapped. Should I call the cops and have Zane represent me?”
Jessica froze as if the world had stopped spinning. Her grin fell flat.
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“Oh, I see. A couple of kisses from Mr. Fullbuster, and now you’ve picked up his cutthroat business tricks. That’s cold, Annie.”
Her jab struck deep.
Anneliese suddenly remembered. She had been sick. What if Jonathan caught it from her?
Thank heaven she had washed up in the bathroom earlier.
Still, why did he kiss her at all?
And why did he just leave without saying anything right after that?
Jessica watched her fall into silence again and let out a long sigh.
Her chest tightened. She thought her best friend had escaped one trap, but it felt like she was already being pulled into another.
The scene turns to the Whites‘ estate’s basement.
The place was the same, but the prisoners were not.
The entire White family was locked inside, every last one of them, trapped for two days and two nights.
“Somebody! D*mn it… is anyone out there?” Someone coughed.
Christopher leaned weakly against the iron door, rattling it with what little strength he had. Yet the mansion above lay dead silent, as though deserted.
No servants. No guards. They’d left. Nobody knew they had been thrown down here.
Even in the heart of the city, even in a land ruled by law, no one should have been able to imprison them like this. They knew even if someone was out for their blood, they wouldn’t pick a place like this to commit murder. But two long days had drained them of all certainty, and fear gnawed at each of the five captives.
The conditions were unbearable.
The black–clad men had dragged them down and flooded the basement with water as cold as
ice.
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Chapter 268 No Holding Back
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At first, the family had thought they were about to be drowned like rats. Only when the water reached their waists did it finally stop.
But their relief lasted only moments. The men returned and hurled in rats, water snakes, and crawling insects, filling the basement as if they meant to turn it into a pit of nightmares.
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…
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Chapter 269 Karma
