Genre Ranking
Get the APP HOT
The Billionaire’s Stand-in Wife
img img The Billionaire's Stand-in Wife img Chapter 3 Helicopter Escape from Hampton
3 Chapters
Chapter 8 The Three Meet img
Chapter 9 Hang up the call img
Chapter 10 Knock on the Door in the Dead of Night img
Chapter 11 Restroom img
Chapter 12 A glaring hickey img
Chapter 13 Marriage Deception img
Chapter 14 The Secret in the Safe img
Chapter 15 The Lives of Others img
Chapter 16 Sports Car Crisis img
Chapter 17 Extreme Hide-and-Seek img
Chapter 18 Burst water pipe img
Chapter 19 Inviolable Refusal img
Chapter 20 The Stand-in for the White Moonlight img
Chapter 21 Revenge Awakened in the Shadows img
Chapter 22 slap img
Chapter 23 Migraine img
Chapter 24 Explain this img
Chapter 25 A perfect alternative img
Chapter 26 He wanted the chase img
Chapter 27 The Chain Trap of Hostile Takeovers img
Chapter 28 I heard every word img
Chapter 29 I love you more than my family img
Chapter 30 You stay away from her img
Chapter 31 High-profile pursuit img
Chapter 32 Stalking at night img
Chapter 33 A martini img
Chapter 34 The Deadly Secret in the Paper Shredder img
Chapter 35 A cruel decision img
Chapter 36 Claudius's wife img
Chapter 37 A Humiliating Marriage Alliance img
Chapter 38 Aborted surgery img
Chapter 39 The lie is exposed img
Chapter 40 40 img
Chapter 41 The Tyrant's Compromise img
Chapter 42 Serial Deadly Calls img
Chapter 43 The Awakening of Motherhood img
Chapter 44 Urging the Marriage Alliance img
Chapter 45 Rear-ended Porsche img
Chapter 46 We have a deal img
Chapter 47 Another ambitious img
Chapter 48 Highest-Privilege Access Card img
Chapter 49 False Peace img
Chapter 50 Vulnerabilities of the firewall img
Chapter 51 I have no patience for dessert img
Chapter 52 The Truth About the Obsidian Club img
Chapter 53 A revenge tool img
Chapter 54 Corina's Birthday Password img
Chapter 55 Incomplete download img
Chapter 56 Caring for patients img
Chapter 57 The Pre-nuptial Agreement Bait img
Chapter 58 Warmth by the Sickbed img
Chapter 59 Tears in the Stairwell img
Chapter 60 Long Island motorcycle track img
Chapter 61 The Ghost of Long Island Night img
Chapter 62 Another victory nine years later img
Chapter 63 Wanted Poster for the Tyrant img
Chapter 64 Ami's Perfect Misdirection img
Chapter 65 Copy completed img
Chapter 66 Black Swan img
Chapter 67 The Bond of Blood img
Chapter 68 Nine Years of Obsession img
Chapter 69 You're a masochist at heart img
Chapter 70 Rough kiss img
Chapter 71 71 img
Chapter 72 72 img
Chapter 73 73 img
Chapter 74 74 img
Chapter 75 75 img
Chapter 76 76 img
Chapter 77 77 img
Chapter 78 78 img
Chapter 79 79 img
Chapter 80 80 img
Chapter 81 81 img
Chapter 82 82 img
Chapter 83 83 img
Chapter 84 84 img
Chapter 85 85 img
Chapter 86 86 img
Chapter 87 87 img
Chapter 88 88 img
Chapter 89 89 img
Chapter 90 90 img
img
  /  1
img

Chapter 3 Helicopter Escape from Hampton

The early morning sun filtered through the gaps in the canvas tent, casting thin, golden streaks across the floor. Charlie huddled under the down quilt, her face as pale as paper, her body curled into a tight ball.

She pressed her hands firmly against her lower abdomen, letting out a soft, painful groan-feigning the throes of severe premenstrual syndrome. Her brow furrowed, and her lips trembled, making the act look so real it was almost convincing even to herself.

Claudius, who had been sitting on a folding chair by the bed, reading the Wall Street Journal, immediately dropped the newspaper. The pages fluttered to the ground as he strode over to her side, his usually composed face twisted with obvious anxiety.

He reached out and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead, his brows knitting tighter when he felt the cold, clammy skin. "Damn it," he muttered, his voice laced with irritation. "I told the staff to keep the tent warm. Those idiots let the night wind seep in."

Charlie weakly grabbed his wrist, squeezing it gently, and forced a few physiological tears to spill from the corners of her eyes. "Claudius," she whispered, her voice fragile and trembling, "I don't feel well. I want to go back to the apartment in Manhattan. Please."

Claudius didn't hesitate for a second. He pulled out his phone from his pocket, his fingers moving quickly across the screen to dial Jenilee's encrypted line-his assistant who was always on call, no matter the hour or location.

"Jenilee," his voice dropped to a cold, commanding tone, sharp and unyielding, a stark contrast to the tenderness he'd shown Charlie just moments before. "I need a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter on the camp helipad in twenty minutes. No delays. If it's late, you're fired." He hung up the call without waiting for a response.

When he turned back to Charlie, the coldness in his eyes melted instantly, replaced by that suffocating, overbearing tenderness that made her skin crawl. He picked up a warm wet towel from the nearby table, his movements surprisingly gentle as he dabbed the cold sweat from her forehead and cheeks.

Watching him play the role of the perfect lover so flawlessly, Charlie felt a wave of nausea surge in her stomach. She quickly closed her eyes, pretending to be too weak to keep them open, just to hide the disgust that threatened to show on her face.

Twenty minutes exactly, the distant hum of helicopter blades grew louder and louder, shattering the quiet of the Hamptons morning. The Sikorsky S-76 touched down smoothly on the small helipad near the camp, its rotors still spinning as it settled.

Claudius wrapped Charlie tightly in a soft cashmere blanket, lifting her up bridal-style in his strong arms. She was light in his grasp, but the weight of his touch made her feel trapped, like a bird caught in a golden cage.

As Charlie leaned against his broad shoulder, her peripheral vision caught sight of Kael and Burk standing under a tree in the distance. Their eyes were fixed on her and Claudius, their expressions strange and unreadable-cold, almost predatory. A shiver ran down her spine.

She immediately buried her face in the crook of Claudius's neck, pretending to flinch from the strong wind stirred up by the helicopter's rotors. In reality, she was just trying to avoid the gaze of those two monsters, the ones who had haunted her nightmares since she'd first crossed paths with them.

Claudius carried her onto the helicopter, carefully setting her down on the top-of-the-line leather seat. He leaned over and fastened the four-point safety belt around her himself, his fingers brushing against her waist lightly as he did so-a subtle touch that made her muscles tense.

The helicopter lifted off, and the Hamptons coastline grew smaller and smaller beneath them. Charlie felt the tightness in her chest ease slightly, if only for a moment-away from the camp, away from Kael and Burk, she could breathe a little easier.

Through the noise-canceling headphones, Claudius's deep voice came, soft and low. "Do you want some warm water, baby?"

Charlie shook her head, turning her gaze to the window. The scenery of Long Island rushed by below-lush green lawns, sprawling mansions, the glistening ocean. It was beautiful, but it felt like a distant dream, one she could never reach.

Claudius reached out, his long fingers brushing gently over the back of her pale hand. His gaze was deep and dark, so intense that she couldn't bear to meet it-she had no idea what he was thinking, and that uncertainty terrified her.

Suddenly, he spoke again, his tone casual, as if he was just making small talk. "When you were looking at my friends earlier at the camp... why were you shaking?"

Charlie's heart skipped a beat, panic surging through her veins. Her mind raced, searching for an excuse, a lie that would sound convincing. She turned to him, her eyes filled with feigned grievance. "Their cigars," she whispered, her voice trembling. "The smell was so strong... it made me feel sick to my stomach."

Claudius stared into her eyes for three long, tense seconds-long enough that Charlie thought he might see through her lie. His gaze was sharp, like a knife, as if he was dissecting every word she said, every expression on her face.

Finally, he let out a low, amused chuckle, leaning down to press a soft kiss to the tip of her fingers. "I'm sorry, baby," he said, his voice gentle again. "I'll tell them not to smoke around you ever again. I won't let anything make you uncomfortable."

Charlie forced a weak smile, her back already soaked with cold sweat. She nodded, leaning back against the seat, and closed her eyes again-pretending to rest, but in reality, her mind was racing with fear and relief.

Forty-five minutes later, the helicopter landed smoothly on the private helipad atop the Buchanan Estate penthouse in midtown Manhattan. The dazzling skyline of New York City stretched out before them-tall skyscrapers, twinkling lights, a city that never slept. But to Charlie, it was just another cage, a gilded prison that Claudius had built for her.

Claudius lifted her up again, carrying her through the bulletproof glass corridor that led directly to the master bedroom. The corridor was lined with expensive artwork, but Charlie didn't even glance at it-her mind was too focused on the growing unease in her abdomen.

He set her gently down on the huge custom waterbed, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. "I'll go get you some warm water," he said, turning to walk toward the bathroom.

The moment he turned away, Charlie felt a sharp, crushing pain in her lower abdomen-a real pain, not the feigned PMS she'd been pretending to have. It felt like something was falling, like her body was betraying her.

A warm, sticky liquid trickled down between her legs. Charlie froze, her eyes widening in terror. This wasn't her period. This wasn't the lie she'd been telling.

She realized, with a sinking feeling in her chest, that this might be a threatened miscarriage. And in that moment, all her pretense, all her fear, all her anger, collided into a single, overwhelming panic.

Previous
            
Next
            
Download Book

COPYRIGHT(©) 2022