Page 95 of Stolen Sun

“Excuse me?” He grabs my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

His expression is pure rage. I’ve never seen him so angry.

Swallowing my fear, I clarify.

“My name is Noel Elise Adams.”

“Over my dead body,” he says. “As you can clearly see now, I’m not, which means you are stillmy wife.”

I shudder.

“This wasn’t something I planned for, I’ll admit. You remarrying only seven months later? Didn’t see that one coming. But I knew he’d come for you,” he says.

I glare at him.

“I knew all about him. Your father told me everything about you when I moved to Birmingham for you. But the journals you kept inmyhouse about him are why I waited to come get you.”

He walks closer to me.

“He’ll come for you, and I’m going to kill him when he does,” he whispers into my face.

“No,” I breathe out, knowing he’s right.

Declan would turn the world upside down to find me, but he won’t know what he’s walking into.

“Don’t worry, babe. He’s not worth it, and I’ll prove all that soon enough. Right now, I’d like you to officially meet our surrogate. Veronica!” He calls out.

The woman whose apartment I was taken to yesterday walks into the room with a sweet smile as though all of this is completely normal. It’s fucking creepy that he chose someone who looks so much like me.

“Hi, Noel. Of course we met yesterday. I’m Veronica, but you haven’t been properly introduced to this guy. This is your son,” she says, rubbing her belly.

I search the rope on my hands to find the knot, hoping I can get myself out of this chair to strangle her.

“Veronica has agreed to be our surrogate for a minimum of four pregnancies. She will also be one of our nannies,” he tells me.

“I never had any procedures to have a surrogate, Nate. You slept with this woman! That’s not the same thing!” I yell, trying to get him to see how crazy he sounds.

“Like I said before, time was not on our side. I had to act fast before disappearing since your father wanted me dead. I’m open to trying the doctor route after this if you’d like. I’d love nothing more than to watch your belly grow with my child. But this is a backup plan if that doesn’t work out.”

I shake my head. Tears pour out of me in desperation.

“I haven’t slept with her or anyone else since she became pregnant, and I won’t again unless you agree to it for the sake of having another baby. I do love you, Noel. I chose her because she looks like you,” he adds as though it’s all just an unconventional love declaration.

“I’ve moved on, Nate. I’m married and in love with someone else. Just let me go, please? This is too much. We can’t recover from this. I will transfer everything you left me to your new identity, and we can go our separate ways,” I tell him.

“I tell you what. I’ll let you get to know Declan Adams a little better while I go to work today. Veronica will be here if you need anything,” he says.

Panic takes over, and I scream and pull on the ropes, trying to get out of this chair. Ignoring me, he turns on a TV that hangs on the wall in front of me and turns the creepy music back on.

The first image on the screen is of Declan with a blonde woman I don’t recognize. She’s walking into his building while he holds the door for her. The next image is taken through a window of his office. Her hands are against the window, and she’s completely naked as he takes her from behind. My stomach turns sour, and I have to turn away, closing my eyes.

“You aren’t leaving me. These images will help you let go of whatever feelings you think you have for him, so we can move on with our lives. When you’re ready, Veronica will untie you. I want you to be the one who throws these journals into the fire.”

My eyes pop open to find him holding the journals I kept of Declan. A part of me could never truly let him go, but I kept them hidden. I haven’t even looked for them to know they were missing.

“I found them not long after we got married. This is what the men took when they broke into our home. You may have loved him, Noel, but you loved me too.”

With that, he walks out of the room. Shortly after, I hear another door close.

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