floor?
Bella's eyes widened in alarm
and she put her hand on the knob. The front door eased open
soundlessly. Bella shook her head, feeling the first stirrings of
fear. Celia always locked her door. The woman was very careful and
fastidious. She never left things lying around, and she never left
her doors unlocked.
Bella stepped quickly into
the house. Her eyes scanned the living room anxiously. The place
wasn't ransacked, and nothing was broken. The polished floor
squeaked as Bella hurried into the kitchen to check. Nope, Celia
wasn't there.
She put the pie shakily on
the kitchen table and moved towards the closed bedroom doors. She
was about to call out again when she heard a muffled sound behind one
of the doors.
She tiptoed towards the door
and held her breath. There was a muted thud and a soft whimper.
Bella didn't wait. She
wrenched the door open and ran into the room.
“Celia! No...”
Bella gasped at the sight of Celia huddled at the corner of her
bedroom. The poor woman was bound and gagged, and her rounded eyes
darted to the black-clad figure crouching by her cupboard.
The figure turned and
straightened up at Bella's entrance. There was a mask over his face,
but she recognized his eyes.
Involuntarily she took a
small step back. “Harlan,” she said in horror.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
Bella stared at her
ex-husband in utter shock and horror. “W-what are you doing
here?” But even before the question left her lips, she already
knew the answer.
That scum hadn't changed one
bit. He was still trying to take from her. Steal from her.
Bella felt the rage boiling up in her.
He wanted her heirloom, that
beautiful emerald ring that her grandmother had left her. The ring
had served as her engagement and wedding ring because he was too
cheap and broke to get her a real ring. And now, he was here to
steal the ring from her so he could sell it and get cold, hard cash
for it.
But how did he even know that
she had passed the ring to Celia for safekeeping? In her fury, she
ignored the question and lurched forward to yell at him. “I
know what you're looking for, Harlan! You want my ring, my
grandmother's ring. It's not yours, Harlan. If you want money, you
should try earning it. Yes, don't look so appalled. Many people do
it. They hold down a job and work for their money. You should try
it.”
Harlan glared at her and his
hand twitched at his side. It was then that she noticed that he was
gripping a knife.
She swallowed but she refused
to be intimidated by this good-for-nothing piece of shit. He had
taken so much from her during their marriage, and now, even after the
divorce, he was still trying to get something from her. Something
priceless and irreplaceable, a tangible memory of her beloved
grandmother.
She knew that her grandmother
would never have approved of her marriage to Harlan. And with good
reason. But her grandmother would turn in her grave if she simply
let the scumbag walk away with her ring.
Harlan took off the mask and
smiled. There was no need to hide his identity since she clearly
recognized him. He raised the knife, but he didn't point it at her.
In a flash, he pressed the blade to Celia's face and said, “Give
me the ring, Bella. If I hurt her, it's on you. Just give it to me,
and nobody gets hurt.”
Bella tried to hold Celia's
gaze to reassure her, but the woman had squeezed her eyes shut with
fear.
“What do you need the
ring for?” Bella asked, her eyes sweeping the room quickly.
She had asked Celia to keep the ring for her, but she had no idea
where Celia had hidden it. And it seemed that Celia had refused to
divulge its hiding place to Harlan. She had bravely kept mum,
forcing him to search for the gem himself. Celia's clothes had been
pulled from the cupboard and were strewn all over the floor. Drawers
had been overturned and her toiletries and lacy underwear were
scattered at the foot of the bed. Celia certainly had a fine
collection of sexy, luxurious underwear. Who knew that
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