Page 23

Chapter twenty-three

Noel

T he sound of a music box playing is the first thing I notice. Between sleep and reality, I’m not sure if it’s from a dream until I hear a soft voice singing.

“You are my sunshine, My only sunshine. When you're not happy, My skies are grey.

You'll never know dear, How much I love you. Please don't take My sunshine away."

My eyelids slide open and shut back immediately as the pain in my head roars with the intrusion of light. Trying to grasp the fragments of memories floating around my foggy brain, I hear the music box repeating itself.

Opening my eyes again will most likely bring more pain, so I wait for my thoughts to make sense before I try again. That song. I need it to stop .

The last thing I remember is Grant taking me to his plane and telling me to drink some water. He kept apologizing, telling me I’d understand when I learned everything.

What I’ve learned so far is what I already knew. Grant and Jaclyn wouldn’t say much, and they kept Veronica away from me. But I saw her. I’m not stupid. They wouldn’t have her around if she wasn’t carrying Nate’s baby.

I tried to explain to them that I would give her Nate’s money, but they said I had to go with them. Grant kept saying it wasn’t about money.

We flew somewhere, but I don’t know where or how far. My head hurts so bad, and that song has me even more on edge..

“Good morning, sunshine,” a man’s voice says.

Chills prickle all over my body. I know that voice. But it can’t be.

“I’ve missed you, baby,” he says.

Oh, God.

“Nate?” My voice croaks as I open my eyes.

The light burns, and my head throbs, but I force myself to look for him. My heart is racing at the possibility.

“Yeah, babe, it’s me. Take it slow,” he says, his voice just as beautiful as I remembered.

“How?” I ask in disbelief.

My eyes land on his form, and I blink until he comes into focus. His eyes shine bright blue. His skin is more golden than I remember, his hair a lighter blonde. My heart threatens to explode at the sight of him alive after all these months.

“I’m so sorry I’ve had to put you through all of this, but I’m here now.”

I knew it. Knew he would come for me. Knew it couldn’t have been him. The tears fall like rain .

“I looked for you. I told everyone it wasn’t you in that car,” I sob.

I begged and pleaded with God for so long to let me see him again, to make it untrue.

“I knew you’d wait for me, my love. Dad said it was a bad plan, that you’d move on. I told him you could have a small distraction. You needed to get him out of your system, anyway. I forgive you, Elle,” he says.

What? I didn’t wait. Oh, no. Declan.

The tears slow as the reality of my situation begins to creep in. My brain is still so foggy, but he knows that’s not true. I was at Declan’s when I was taken. I wiggle the fingers on my left hand. My ring is still there.

Nate knows . Nate’s alive, and he knows I’m married to Declan.

His smile fades as I sit up straighter. When I try to wipe my face, I realize my hands are tied behind my back. Panic takes my breath away.

“Nate! Nate, untie me! What is this?” I squeak out, pleading with him.

“We have some things to discuss, and you aren’t going to like some of the things I need to say.”

He stands up, finally turning off the music.

“Why would you kidnap me? What did he give me?” I try to sound stronger than I feel. I need to stay in control to figure this out.

“It was a sedative to help you sleep. Apparently, you gave my parents a really hard time, which surprises me. The woman I married was gentle. I’m not sure I like this new side of you,” he says, looking over me disapprovingly.

My instincts tell me to keep my mouth shut. This isn’t the man I knew, and he’s got nothing left to lose. He’s dangerous.

“We’ll work at your pace, Noel. I don’t want to hurt you anymore than I already have,” he says .

My throat tightens at the realization that he expects me to leave Declan. Am I supposed to want that? Months ago I would have.

He must not realize all that I know about what he did before he died. What has he been doing since that accident? Whatever it is, I’m not taking this man back. He can be with his pregnant whore, not me.

“ You’re mine,” Declan’s voice anchors me in my confusion. I just need to figure out how to get away, so I can get back to him.

“Where have you been?” I ask, deciding to avoid the harder topics for now. I need answers and strength before starting a fight.

“Here. I needed to reinvent myself and establish a new firm before I came back for you. I had to wait for a couple of things to grow,” he says and smiles.

Chills cover my body at the way he says the last word.

“What things?” I ask, taking the bait.

“Noel, has your father ever explained the way the Williams estate works to you?”

“A lawyer did.”

“Good. And you know how I feel about kids, anyway. You might be a little upset by this, but I need to explain some things.

Our story began when you and I were fifteen. My father needed a loan. Your father agreed to give him the money instead, in exchange for me.

I have to admit. I was furious when my dad told me he arranged my marriage. It took me a solid year to believe he had actually done it, despite seeing the documents.

Once I came to terms with it, I looked you up. You were obviously beautiful in every picture I could find on social media, but you also looked so innocent. When I asked my dad for your number, I found out you didn’t know about me yet .

That’s when I decided to move here. I wanted to meet you. I wanted our relationship to be real. And, Noel, I did truly fall in love with you. Arranged or not, I wanted to marry you.

Now, the baby part was the tricky part since I didn’t want you to know about the arrangement or the inheritance clause. We were running out of time, so I messed with your birth control pills. I paid off the pharmacist to give you packs of placebos that looked real.” He waits for the information to settle in, watching me for a reaction.

My face heats up. Even though I knew, hearing him recount his side of our story makes him feel more like Nate again. I can’t help myself. This is my opportunity to get answers.

“You promised we’d travel before having children. Why would you do that?” I question.

He walks over to me and runs his fingers down my jawline and touches my bottom lip with his thumb.

“People travel with children all the time, and we had the means to do it. I thought a happy accident would be what we needed to appease your father. ”

Electricity shoots through me at his touch. I’m so relieved to see him alive but so heartbroken by the choices he’s made. I’ve never felt more confused and conflicted.

“We had until I was thirty. Why would you intervene? Why not just tell me you wanted kids sooner?” I stay the course, needing all the answers.

“Your father didn’t want to wait that long. My car crash was real, Noel. He threatened to kill me if you didn’t get pregnant soon. Then, he found out I had already been trying and,” he pauses, “failing.”

“There are doctors that help with these things. All of this would’ve been so simple if you had trusted me!” I shout.

Damn his prideful immaturity. What he doesn’t know is that I’ve already had time to process most of this. Now that my mind is accepting he’s perfectly alive in front of me, my anger is raging.

“I did my own tests, Noel. It wasn’t easy, but I did find us a surrogate,” he says slowly.

“A what?!” I scream.

“I need you to be calm and listen, baby. For whatever reason, you weren’t able to conceive. But the inheritance clause doesn’t allow for something like that. It does allow for other loopholes though. No genetic testing is required, only a birth certificate. So, when the baby is born, we will go back to Birmingham to claim the inheritance and confront your father,” he says, speaking slowly as if to a child.

“That whore is not a surrogate, and that baby isn’t fucking mine!” I spit out.

“Noel Elise Williams, we do not speak to each other this way,” he yells back at me.

Taking a steady breath, I say, “That’s not my name.”

“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 still my 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 in my house 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.

The image on the screen is of Declan kissing a different woman passionately while he holds her hair and presses her back into a wall. This time I can’t stop the bile. I throw up on the floor beside my chair.

Veronica runs out of the room to return with towels and cleaner.

“I can’t imagine how you must feel. I told Nate it would be too much too fast for any woman. He’s just so in love with you. He wants you back and doesn’t want to wait any longer.”

“Why would you agree to give up your own child?” I ask her as she cleans my vomit off the floor.

“I’ll still see the baby every day as his nanny. I could never give a child the life they deserve, so this is the only way for me to be a good mother,” she says, softly.

Damn it! She’s so broken that I can’t even hate her. She’s just as much a victim in this as her baby, as me.

“Let me go. We can both leave while he’s away. Declan and I can help you start a life of your own to raise your baby,” I offer, trying to convince her.

“Noel, Isaiah will kill me if he finds me. I borrowed a lot of money from him to afford to not work for a year. He doesn’t know that Nate paid my bills. But I gave Nate all the money Isaiah loaned me, and I can’t pay it back. I’ve made my choice. Besides, Declan may not be your best option either,” she says, pointing at the screen.

This image has a timestamp of only two weeks ago. He’s standing in an elevator in front of a woman on her knees. Clothes are piled in the corner, and his pants are obviously undone .

“Oh, God, no,” I sob.

“I’m here for you,” she says, patting my leg as she speaks.

Then, she’s out the door, leaving me to watch image after image of Declan with other women while “You are my Sunshine” plays on repeat from the music box.