Chapter 339: Come Back to Me

When had he come outside?

I hadn’t heard his footsteps. I hadn’t sensed the shift in the air.

It was too late to hide anything now.

I stood up slowly, brushing soil off my fingers, the Stone of Duality still in my hand. I lifted it slightly and mouthed, What’s this?

When you’re cornered, you don’t defend yourself. You take control.

Lewis’s eyes flickered. Just for a second. A crack in his calm.

That was all I needed.

With my other hand, I pulled the pendant from around my neck. The piece he had given me weeks ago rested against my collarbone, warm from my skin. I brought it up and fitted it against the black stone in my palm.

The two pieces locked together instantly.

Black and white.

Two teardrops folding into each other.

A perfect circle.

A perfect lie.

I grabbed his hand before he could pull away. His pulse thudded beneath my fingers, strong and steady, but I felt the tension hiding underneath.

Explain.

I didn’t need my voice to demand it.

For a moment, he held my gaze. In his mind, the ritual had already worked. Eighty-one days of blood and silence. Eighty-one days of him carrying what should have been mine.

Midnight would mark the end.

If I hadn’t found the stone now, he would have buried it deeper. Or destroyed it. Or died with it.

My stare hardened, suspicion sharpening by the second.

Finally, he sighed.

“Elena,” he said quietly, “I lied to you.”

The words hit me harder than I expected.

Was he really going to confess?

“The Soul-Stabilizing Pendant I gave you wasn’t just one piece,” he continued.

I tilted my head, pretending confusion.

“The pendant has two parts,” he said carefully.

The moment he called it the Soul-Stabilizing Pendant, I knew he still wasn’t telling me everything. He was choosing his words too carefully. Leaving out the cost.

“At the time, I didn’t want you to worry,” he added. “Besides needing Riley’s parents’ blood, my blood was also required. I hid this piece so you wouldn’t find out. But don’t worry. Its purpose was only for the ritual. It lasts eighty-one days. Now that your soul is stable, you don’t need to wear it anymore.”

Liar.

Since when did Lewis become so good at lying straight to my face?

If I hadn’t uncovered this, would he have kept it from me until the day he collapsed? Would I have watched him die, thinking it was fate… never knowing he had traded my misfortune for his own?

He had shifted everything onto himself.

Quietly.

If he died after tonight, it would look like an accident. A weak heart. An unexpected failure. No one would trace it back to these stones.

He would leave me behind.

Free.

I would mourn him. Eventually move on. Maybe marry someone else. Maybe build a family. Grow old surrounded by children who never knew his name.

And he would lie alone beneath cold earth, his mission complete.

Lewis.

What a flawless plan.

Before he could say anything else, I threw myself into his arms.

He stiffened in surprise, then wrapped his arms around me immediately. He must have thought I believed his story. That I was crying because I was relieved.

He stroked the back of my head gently. “It’s okay. It’s just a few drops of blood every few days. It doesn’t hurt.”

That made it worse.

Everything he had done for me. Every silent sacrifice. And he was still trying to comfort me.

My chest ached like something was piercing it from the inside. I clutched his shirt tightly, pressing my face into him as tears soaked through the fabric.

He wiped my tears with his thumb. His touch was warm. Protective.

“Don’t cry,” he murmured. “I’m your husband. It’s my duty to protect you.”

Husband.

In our world, that word meant more than marriage papers. It meant bond. Territory. Life tied to life.

Just then, the iron gate outside creaked open.

He smiled faintly. “That must be the doctor. If he sees you like this, he’ll think I bullied you.”

I sniffed and wiped my face with my sleeve.

No matter which lifetime it was, he had always treated me like something precious.

And I had once forgotten him.

I had dated Julian.

Twenty years.

Wasted.

The doctor who entered was a stranger to me. Tall. Composed. White coat over a black shirt. Silver-framed glasses resting on a sharp nose.

He extended his hand. “Hello, I’m Matthew Quigley.”

Another one of Lewis’s inner circle.

I forced a small smile and shook his hand, then pointed to my throat apologetically.

“I understand,” Matthew said calmly. “Lewis explained.”

He set his medical kit down in the living room. Just like that, the Stone of Duality was pushed aside, unresolved.

Matthew took out a high-definition electronic laryngoscope. “Don’t worry. Follow my instructions.”

I nodded.

The examination was thorough. Cold metal. Bright light. The faint smell of disinfectant.

When it was over, Lewis asked immediately, “What’s causing her inability to speak?”

Matthew’s expression turned serious. “It’s not congenital. Not physical strain either. Her vocal cords are intact. There’s only one explanation. The drug she was given affected her central nervous system. It disrupted her speech center.”

Lewis’s jaw tightened. “Can it be treated?”

“I’ve prepared medicine,” Matthew replied, “but the compound she was given is rare. Illegal. We don’t fully understand its structure. Be prepared it may not work.”

“I heard the drug only lasts seven days,” Lewis pressed. “Will her voice return after that?”

Matthew shook his head. “No. She’s been poisoned. Without the antidote, the toxins will worsen. If she takes the antidote within seven days, there may be no lasting damage. But the longer she waits, the higher the risk of permanent harm. She could lose her voice completely.”

It fit perfectly.

Taylor used chips to leash Whitney.

Yael used poison to leash me.

He hadn’t told Amber I was alive because he knew this would bring me to him eventually. He was waiting for me to kneel.

“That bastard,” Lewis growled, his control slipping for a second. The air around him felt heavier, charged with dominance barely held in check.

I grabbed his hand and shook my head.

Even without my voice, I could stay by his side.

At worst, I would never speak again.

Silence wrapped around the room.

Matthew cleared his throat gently. “Let’s try the medicine first.”

“Thank you,” Lewis said.

After Matthew left, I swallowed the pills. Unlike Yael’s antidote which had restored my voice almost instantly before these did nothing.

After a while, I tried to speak.

Nothing came out.

“How is it?” Lewis asked, watching me closely.

I opened my mouth.

Silence.

Disappointment flickered in his eyes before he hid it. I quickly gestured.

It’s okay. Talking isn’t important.

His phone buzzed.

The screen lit up with a number from Jaford. His private line.

He answered.

“Mr. Hale, good day.”

Lewis’s expression darkened instantly. “Yael.”

Even through the phone, I could imagine Yael smiling.

“It’s an honor to be remembered by you, Mr. Bolton,” he said lightly.

Then his tone shifted, sweet and poisonous.

“I assume you’ve had Elena examined. The drug we used is our own creation. Only I have the antidote.”

Rage surged through me. I snatched the phone from Lewis and banged on it angrily.

Yael laughed softly. “Elena, I knew you’d be listening. I imagine you’d like to say something.”

He paused deliberately.

“Even if you don’t, that’s fine. Ah, one more thing. The poison worsens every seven days. First your voice. Then your central nervous system. Have you considered what that entails?”

His voice turned colder.

“Paralysis. Memory loss. Brain disorders. Loss of bodily control. Maybe even incontinence.”

Each word was a blade.

“Elena,” he said gently, almost tenderly, “I can give you the antidote. We can forget everything. So why don’t you be a good girl… and come back to me?”

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