Chapter 25
Days later, Lina received a video from an unknown number.
The footage showed Dominic kneeling on steep stone steps, his forehead pressed against cold slabs, performing the traditional pilgrimage prostration every few yards. Dark red bloodstains traced his path, his knees already raw and bleeding.
This was the temple where she had once sought prayer beads for him.
In the background, his assistant’s voice provided quiet commentary: “Mr. Chase has been kneeling for three days. The abbot says he’s praying for…”
“Delete it,” Lina closed the video. “His affairs no longer require reporting.”
She walked to the safe, removing a share transfer document, signing it before pulling out a note card.
The pen hovered for long moments before finally writing three words:
[We’re even now.]
When Dominic received the package, he lay in the temple’s meditation room, feverish and delirious.
The abbot sighed, offering hot tea: “Young man, obsession harms both others and oneself.”
Trembling, he opened the documents. The share transfer agreement slipped out, while the note card was caught by a draft from the window, floating lightly onto his chest.
In his haze, he recalled when Emma was twenty, waiting for him in the snow, her nose reddened yet smiling:
“Dominic Chase, I waited for you.”
Yet now, finally, she would wait no more.
Outside, the season’s first snow silently fell.
Shane’s car stopped before a pure white building in the suburbs.
“I planned to bring you after completion,” he opened her door, his fingertip gently tickling her palm. “But someone’s been such a workaholic I couldn’t even get an appointment.”
Lina raised an eyebrow: “Is the Dr. Shane complaining?”
“Accusing,” he murmured, playfully nipping her earlobe. “You’ve neglected me for three days and seven hours.”
Inside, the hallway’s crystal plaque was covered with red silk. Shane suddenly covered her eyes from behind: “Counting down from three.”
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Just a Stand In?! My Billionaire Hubby’s OTHER Wife…
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Chapter 25
In darkness, she heard fabric sliding.
“Look now.”
The silk fell away, revealing [Emma Trauma Research Center] engraved on the plaque, gleaming under spotlights.
“All profits will fund post–traumatic stress research,” Shane’s breath brushed her ear. “Including those old scars on your knees.”
Lina stared at the plaque, her throat suddenly tight. The scars from her kneeling pilgrimage–he remembered even
those.
Perhaps coincidentally, the research center’s lounge window directly faced Chase’s old building.
One day, Lina was reviewing data when she noticed light patterns moving across the ceiling. Looking up, she saw luorescent blue text flickering on the white wall.
[Emma, the kite is stuck in the tree.]
She froze completely.
This was the secret code sixteen–year–old Dominic had invented. That day after breaking his arm retrieving her kite he’d smiled: “Don’t cry, Emma. It doesn’t hurt.”
Across on the opposing building’s rooftop, a thin figure leaned against the railing, a laser pointer still moving in his hand. Even at this distance, she recognized Dominic–wearing the school jacket from when they first met, like a stubborn ghost clinging to the past.
The light continued to dance, forming new words.
This time I’ll catch you.]
Lina watched silently for three seconds, then abruptly rose to close the curtains.
As darkness enveloped the room, she dialed Shane’s number:
‘Come to the lounge now,” her voice was surprisingly steady. “Bring that ring you’ve hidden in the second drawer o your locker.”
The phone erupted with the sound of medical instruments clattering to the floor.
“How did you find out?!” Shane’s breathing noticeably faltered.
Lina traced the thin line of light seeping through the curtain gap, her lips curving upward: “Last time you secretly measured my finger, you left chalk dust all over my hand.”
The laser from the opposite building continued attempting to penetrate the curtains, casting a faint light spot on the
floor.
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Chapter 25
She stepped on that small point of light, hearing hurried footsteps approaching outside.
“Shane Crawford,” she suddenly called his full name. “I need you to come in right now and propose.”
The door burst open, revealing Shane clutching a velvet ring box, breathing heavily with exertion but eyes sparkling.
The laser flickered one final time at her feet before extinguishing completely.
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