Love's Redemption (Chris and Maddie)

Chapter 834

Whether she'd make it out alive or not, Lena knew there was nothing she could do now but

wait and sec.

Meanwhile, I was going nuts waiting for Jace to hand the ring over to the police. Every second felt like a year, especially since I was still trapped in Cole's villa with no way to leave.

Jace hadn't returned since the day he left. Yara told me Cole had intercepted him, and now I couldn't stop imagining the worst. What if Cole had found the ring?

To make things worse, Cole had gone completely MIA and blocked every communication signal in the area. I was officially cut off from the outside world.

I'd tried escaping multiple times, but the security system on the door stopped me every time.

The only silver lining?

Yara.

She wasn't exactly stressed about the whole "house arrest" thing. Instead, she dragged me into random activities-face masks, recipe experiments, and even trying to recreate the chewy candies Jace had brought. "You should just open a foodie shop," I teased one day, trying to distract myself. "You'd get to taste everything first, sell the leftovers, and make bank."

"That's genius," Yara said, pointing at me. "If I do, you'll be my VVIP member for life."

I snorted. "Just two Vs? Nah, I want three-ultimate privilege."

"Three Vs means you'd be the boss. You'd get first dibs on everything and leave the scraps for everyone else," she shot back, playing along.

another two weeks crawled by without any news. I couldn't take it anymore. Every day, I called Jace, but his phone never connected. Finally, I turned to Yara in desperation. "What if you try the door? Maybe it recognizes

wasn't expecting anything to happen-it was Cole's

leave any loopholes.

the door, and it slid open like

stood there, completely stunned, before fury bubbled up inside me. That bastard

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+25 BONUS

Chapter 834

in but left Yara

worse? Yara didn't even look

frustration I'd been bottling up over the past weeks. "I thought

I'm the key-you just didn't think to use me. Besides, what would you have done if

going to sit here stewing any longer. I grabbed my phone, booked a taxi, and bolted.

it did.

I blurted out, relief and panic crashing together. There was a pause. Then,

heart skipped. "Mr. Ace... is Lena

bluntly, the weight of the word hitting me like a

ask where she was, but my throat tightened, the question

Aaron added. "I'll let

My chest tightened, emotions crashing over me like a wave, threatening to

said, "Hayden will