Substitute Wife For The Blind CEO

Chapter 113: I’m Scared

The car rolled to a quiet stop in front of Rayna’s house. Stefan looked ahead to see tall beautiful trees ahead.

A soft breeze swayed the leaves, and birds chirped lazily in the distance. The air was calm—but Stefan was anything but.

He sat frozen in the passenger seat, staring straight ahead, wondering why they were coming to a stop there and if the house in front of him was it—the place where Ruby stayed.

Ethan turned off the engine and shifted in his seat, glancing over at him. "We’re here," he said quietly.

Stefan didn’t move. His hands were clenched tightly on his lap, his jaw stiff. His entire body was tense, like a string pulled too tight, threatening to snap at any second.

Ethan frowned and waited a beat before speaking again. "You okay?"

Stefan let out a long, slow breath through his nose. "No."

Ethan blinked. "What do you mean? This is what you’ve always wanted."

"I mean," Stefan said, voice low and tight, "I know this is what I’ve always wanted but I don’t think I can get out of the car."

Ethan stared at him, surprised. "You’ve been pushing for this all night. You barely slept. You’ve been pacing the house since before sunrise, waiting for this moment. And now you’re saying you can’t do it?"

Stefan turned his head slightly, his unseeing eyes seeming to look toward the house. "I didn’t say I don’t want to. I said I can’t. Not yet."

"Why not?"

"I don’t know what I’ll say when I see her," Stefan whispered, voice hoarse. "I don’t even know what kind of expression she’ll have when she opens the door. What if she slams it shut the moment she hears my voice?"

arms crossing as he sighed.

I’m being real. I hurt her, Ethan. And now... I’m here, expecting what?

To her best friend. That was supposed to be for me. For us. And she

quiet for a while, watching his friend

Maybe it meant too much. Maybe it hurt too much to

sink in. It made sense in a way that twisted

Still, he didn’t move.

can face her yet," he said again, voice lower now, almost like a confession. "What if I make things worse? What if she tells me to leave? What if... what

rubbed a hand over his face. "Look, Stefan, you’re not going to know unless you go in there and talk to her. I get that you’re scared. Hell, I’m scared. If Rayna finds out I brought you here,

toward him, a crease between his brows. "But it wasn’t a lie. You didn’t even know where

to get to

what happened," Stefan

you know that. But she doesn’t.

loosened slightly. "Then why

way you looked when I told you about that gown. And because, as your best friend, I couldn’t let you sit there another day, torturing yourself with what-ifs. You needed to come here. Even if it doesn’t end

thought about what Ethan had just

storm inside him wasn’t

longing all tangled together. His fingers reached up and pressed against his forehead as if doing

minute had passed, Ethan turned back. "You

exhaled slowly. "Give me one more

house. The curtains were drawn in

car, Stefan’s thoughts