Hellbound With You Volume 1 Chapter 181 – 190

Hellbound With You Chapter 181 – Somewhere

“I will marry you, Abigail,” he said and Abi felt like her blood had been drained out of her. Her heart hammered erratically and her lower lip began to tremble.

And then, her eyes welled and tears began to flow from her eyes. She bowed her head as she wiped her tears away but the tears didn’t stop flowing. Were these tears of joy? But why did her heart ache at the same time?

Her ultimate wish was going to be granted. She had accepted that it would remain as a mere dream that would be buried along with her one day. She thought that it would only happen in her dream yet here he was, telling her that he would make it happen in reality.

Abi was happy, so happy she couldn’t express it in words. But she was also scared, deathly afraid, and she didn’t know why. Was she scared for Alex?

“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Alex pulled her out of her thoughts. He sounded confused and she understood why. He must have been expecting her to jump in happiness since he knew just how much she had been wishing for this.

She gulped nervously as she lifted her face again and looked into his eyes, and with everything she could muster, she opened her lips to speak but not to respond his questions.

“B-but why? You said you would never marry?” she asked him, her eyes still red. She remembered his words clearly from that night so why? Why was he doing this?

Alex’s unmoving gaze was accompanied by deliberate slow breathing, like he was fighting to hold something back but he remained calm and serious as he replied, “I am doing this because this is my gift for you, Abigail.”

A tear fell from her eyes again and she hugged him.

“Y-you’re not forcing yourself to grant me this wish, right?” she asked against his chest.

“I’m not,” he answered without a hint of hesitation.

Abi’s grip on him tightened. This was still too hard for her to believe. Must he really go this far for a birthday present?

“I’m so happy, Alex… but, I don’t want to force you,” she mumbled and Alex held her shoulders to make some space between them. He held her face up and stared into her eyes.

“If you’re happy, then stop crying.”

Abi sniffled. “I’m sorry, I’m just finding it hard to believe this is real, Alex, and I still don’t understand why…”

The man gently pinched her check before kissing it and a smile curved on his face.

“Well, I guess I just want to see what you would be like as my wife. Just as you said, why don’t I try it?” he said as he brushed away the remnants of tears from her face.

And then, he lifted her up and tucked her into bed. He went and closed the window before he laid beside her.

Abi was gazing at him, her eyes still filled with wonder and disbelief.

“So? What do you want to happen next? What kind of wedding do you want?” he asked and Abi felt like her mind was shutting down. He just proposed and now he was actually going to talk about the wedding?

Seeing her dumbstruck expression, he bent and kissed her lips.

“Fine. We’ll talk about that tomorrow. It’s already midnight,” he said and pulled her close to him.

Abi snuggled closer to him, holding him tight as they cuddled. Her mind was spinning around so she closed her eyes, as if that would stop the dizzying thoughts. She didn’t want to sleep.

She wanted to think about this, but her body betrayed her and she easily fell into a deep slumber, as if the day had been so tiresome and all her energy had been drained from her.

Noticing that Abi was already asleep, Alex let out a deep, long sigh. His eyes were shut closed and his brows knotted tightly as he lifted his hand and rested it on his forehead. He looked like something was tormenting him.

He stayed like that for hours, but when he turned and wrapped his arm around Abi, embracing her tightly, the lines on his forehead slowly disappeared and he, too, finally joined her in the realm of dreams.

The next morning, Abi was the one who woke up first. Alex was still sleeping which was really rare.

Abi then slowly remembered everything that happened last night and she gasped. She stared at the ring on her finger and it appeared that everything she remembered was real. The emerald ring on her finger was beautiful despite it looking really ancient and old.

Abi couldn’t hold back her smile as she stared at Alex. She lay down again as she watched his immaculate sleeping face.

She clenched her chest and she didn’t feel that scared anymore. She just felt delighted. There was no reason for her to hold back anymore. Maybe, this was heaven’s gift for her.

She also understood that maybe, Alex just really wanted to experience it too. If that was the case, there was no reason for her not to rejoice. This was his gift and she didn’t have the right to reject anything that Alex was giving her. She could never do that.

Abi slowly moved and kissed the sleeping man’s forehead with all the feeling she could muster. She wished that she could do something for him too. She wished that he too had a dream that she could fulfill.

Time passed and Alex woke up. The breakfast was lively and pleasant as always but Abi was visibly happier. She was all smiles and happiness was radiating from her skin, infecting everyone around her.

Alex loved the look on her face. He could see that she was genuinely happy, making him feel glad as he too smiled from watching her.

Abi had taken the ring off and wore it as a necklace because she didn’t want her family to ask about it. She didn’t want them to know about her getting married because Abi knew that they would surely be against it, since they had not been dating that long.

She also didn’t want to cause any trouble and heartbreak for her family when she returned after eight days back home because she knew they wouldn’t understand why.

Once they left the house, Abi and Alex began to talk about the plans. Abi had thought about it and decided that it would be best for them to marry in secret. The less people who knew about it, the better.

They talked about it and Abi was talking so excitedly while Alex drove slowly, listening to her.

“But I think I should really ask you first to see if you already had a plan, Alex. Do you?” she asked him with curiosity and interest.

The man glanced at her and parked the car on the road side. He faced her and stared into her eyes.

“I do have a plan, Abigail,” he told her and Abi stared back at him in great anticipation. “I would like to take you somewhere tomorrow.”

“Somewhere?”

“Yes, some place where no one else will be around but us.”

Hellbound With You Chapter 182 – Warning

Abi felt her heart accelerate. Excitement, nervousness and anticipation flooded her eyes as she looked at him.

“Where will you be taking us?” she asked but Alex just smiled. He stretched his hand and pulled her into his lap.

“You will see, Abigail,” he said and he suddenly kissed her. He didn’t kiss her deeply this time around. His kiss was incredibly gentle and tender.

When he pulled away, he brushed her pink lips with his thumb. “We will stay there for the rest of the month, Abigail, just the two of us,” he added and Abi gaped at him.

“Y-you mean… l-like a honeymoon?” she stammered.

“Mn,” he nodded and Abi gushed. Her palms flew and covered her lips. “Since our marriage will be done in secret, I think you should tell everyone that you are going somewhere for a holiday and will return at the end of the month.

You can’t disappear just like that or people will be worried about you and ask the police to look for you.” He smirked and Abi fully understood what he meant.

Abi agreed. She told him she would tell her work, her friend and her family today so Alex dropped her off at the orphanage. The man told her he would wait for her at home, even telling her not to worry about the wedding.

Abi just smiled widely as she waved at him. She understood that this man wanted her to leave everything to him but she wanted to do something as well so she planned to go home early that day.

However, once Abi entered the orphanage, some bad news welcomed her. She was told that little Betty was in dire condition so she rushed to the hospital, forgetting to inform them about her being away for the rest of the month.

A doctor had just left little Betty’s room in the ICU when she arrived. She rushed towards him to ask about Little Betty when to her surprise, the man in the doctor’s coat was actually Ezekiel Qin!

“M-mr. Qin is also a doctor?!” she exclaimed and the man nonchalantly replied her.

“Yes, I’m also a doctor.”

Abi was speechless. How come a tycoon like him was actually working as a doctor?

“Uhm. D-dr. Qin, h-how’s Little Betty?”

The man glanced at the door where he came from before he stared at her. “Come to my office in fifteen minutes,” he simply said and just like that, he left.

Abi could only watch his back when the nurses that were with him began to speak with her.

“Are you the little girl’s relative?” they asked and when Abi nodded, one of the nurses whispered to her. “Miss, you should be thankful. Mr. Qin was the one who saved the Little girl.

Only a few people in this country know he is a doctor. In fact, he was known as one of the greatest doctors in the west but he doesn’t work as a doctor anymore. That was why we were all shocked when he suddenly came into the operating room this dawn after he got the information that the girl was about to die.”

After the nurse left her, Abi walked towards the glass window and watched Little Betty. She could see her peaceful sleeping face and she sighed, holding back her tears. She was glad, so glad that at least this little girl was saved. She should really thank Ezekiel Qin for saving this little angel.

Fifteen minutes then passed so Abi went to the CEO’s office on the building’s highest floor. They said that Ezekiel Qin was only visiting this place since his real office was at his headquarters but seeing the interiors of his office, she thought that this place seemed too big and too luxurious for an office that he rarely visited. But what did she expect with a tycoon like him?

Abi stood in front of his huge desk. The man was already wearing his usual elegant suit and he was sitting there like the powerful man he was. It was really such a shock that this man,

the richest man in this country went and saved little Betty. Did he grow an affection for Little Betty? It appeared that he may have and Abi truly admired him for it. This man really was the opposite of the rumors she heard about him. He was a hero, Little Betty’s hero.

“Dr. Qin, I… thank you so much for saving little Betty.” Abi bowed her head as she give him her sincere gratitude.

“She’s still in danger,” was all he replied. His expression didn’t change at all but she was already used to his ever so stoic expressions. “As long as the transplant doesn’t happen, her life is still in danger.”

Abi fell silent for a moment because he was right, but the fact is he still saved her.

“But you still saved her, Dr. Qin, and for that I am truly grateful.” She smiled at him when the man stood up. He leaned on the edge of his desk as he looked out the window. His face remained unfathomable. She wondered if this man ever smiled because she never saw him smile even once.

“Miss Chen,” he called out, without looking at her face. “I called you here because I have something to tell you.”

Abi blinked at him and when he looked at her in the eyes, Abi didn’t know why but she suddenly felt incredibly nervous, as if whatever this man was going to say was something she didn’t want to hear.

She gulped before she spoke. “Uhm… what is it? Is it about Little Betty?”

“No. It’s about you and Alex,” he answered. Her eyes widened and the man walked closer to her. His intense aura seemed to be pushing her back and her feet moved on their own, until her back reached the wall.

“D-dr. Qin, wha –”

Abi couldn’t continue her sentence because the man leaned in on her and whispered, “Don’t marry him, Miss Chen,” he said and Abi froze in shock. H-how did he already know about this?

“H-how did –”

“It doesn’t matter, Miss Chen. I’m telling you not to marry him.” His voice hardened. It was clear he was warning her.

“I don’t know why you are telling me this, Mr. Qin, but I am not going to listen to you,” she bravely said, mustering all her courage to stand her ground.

She could see that this man was acting a little unusual. He was usually as calm as a lifeless mannequin but this time, there was a tenseness he wasn’t even trying to mask. Still, there was no way Abi would listen to him or to anyone else.

But what Ezekiel Qin said next made Abi’s soul go numb.

“If you marry him, Alex will die.”

Hellbound With You Chapter 183 – Ashen

“W-what are you saying?” Abi was shaking her head. She didn’t want to believe him. Why would Alex die just by marrying her? Her Alex was… strong and invincible! “You are not making any sense,

Mr. Qin. You don’t have to… you don’t have to tell me such a ridiculous lie just to stop me because I’m not going to believe you,” she added, bravely, despite her hoarse voice.

Ezekiel Qin leaned away from her, not tearing his eyes off her.

“I’m leaving, Mr. Qin,” she said and was about to walk away when the man stopped her. He slammed his hands on the wall, trapping her in between them before he leaned in on her again and whispered something in her ear.

The whites in her eyes turned pure black, as if a black hole had just sucked all the light in them. And then her hand clung to his jacket to keep herself from losing her balance. Abi’s world seemed to be spinning out of control. The world that was so steady and bright had all of a sudden become grey and cold.

Abi could feel herself losing her determination and her happiness dwindled down to ashes. These emotions were slowly being replaced with a painful, desolate, hopeless feeling that settled in deepest corners of her soul.

Ezekiel let her cling onto him. He didn’t say a word anymore until Abi left, looking like her world just crumbled down.

Ezekiel leaned on the wall as he watched the door that had just shut closed. His brows knotted into a hard knot as he stared at the floor.

“I know you’re there, Kai,” he then uttered without lifting his face and Kai suddenly appeared.

Kai was looking at him with great displeasure.

“Zeke, what did you tell her?!” Kai asked him. His voice sounded urgent and extremely worried.

Zeke finally looked at him but his face was still unreadable.

“I suggest you go now and follow her,” he casually said and Kai gritted his teeth.

“Zeke, I don’t understand why you’re doing all this. Alex is… Alex is finally looking really alive and happy. Why can’t you just let them be?”

Ezekiel’s usual calm gaze became a little sharp as he moved and grabbed Kai’s shoulder. “I know you are going to stay neutral until the end but hear me, Kai, you will understand why I needed to do this when the time comes.” His voice was firm, brimming with unquestioned authority.

“Leave now and don’t take your eyes off her. Also, I’m sure you won’t do it but I still want to remind you not to even think about saying anything about this to Alex. You wouldn’t want a pointless battle to break out because of this,” he added before he walked towards the door and left, while Kai closed his eyes with a creased brow and drew his lower lip in between his teeth and bit it hard.

Abi spent hours in the hospital just watching over the sleeping little girl. She never spoke. She looked like she was being crushed by a tonne of bricks. Her shoulders drooped her whole body emitted a kind of sadness, the kind that one would feel after they had just suffered a loss of a loved one, and her eyes were unfocused. However, there were no tears in her eyes, despite her complexion being ashen.

The usual cheerful, optimistic girl looked like she just taken a huge step back from life.

When she left the hospital, Abi didn’t even know where to go. She went home just to ask the driver to turn around and go back to the city. She didn’t want her family to see her like this.

She went to the orphanage just for her to stay outside, unable to make herself enter the house. She knew that she looked awful and there was no way she could show her devastated face to the lively children inside.

She went to the park and sat on the swing. She looked around, noticing every single mundane thing; the grass swaying in the wind, people walking about minding their own business, even just watching the leaves fall from the trees. The sky had turned grey but she didn’t even react.

A lone star appeared in the sky and she lifted her hand, as if to grasp it in her hand. She smiled but there was no glimmer in her eyes. It was an incredibly bitter smile.

“Abi?” A voice startled her and she immediately stood up and looked at the face of its owner. It was Chris.

Abi attempted to speak but her voice cracked. So she cleared her throat first and did her very best to fake a smile.

“C-chris… what are you doing here?” she asked and the man walked closer to her with a bright smile.

“Thank god I managed to catch you here. I just came from your house and uncle Andrew told me to come here to find you. You were not answering your phone so…”

“Oh, it’s… I’m sorry, I didn’t see it because I put my phone on silent mode,” she replied and the man looked relieved.

“I actually thought you were deliberately ignoring my calls because you didn’t want to speak with me anymore. Haha.” He grinned and Abi faked another smile back. “By the way, uncle Andrew said you were living with your friend Kelly. Are you going back now? I will give you a lift there,” he offered but Abi politely declined.

“Uhm, thank you but I’ll be fine. I don’t want to trouble you so I’ll just take a cab.”

“Abi, I understand we were separated for many years but I am still the Chris that had been with you since we were young. That’s why… please don’t treat me like I’m someone you can’t bother bothered with. Besides, it’s already getting dark, it’s dangerous for a lady like you to ride a cab alone.”

While Chris was explaining Abi finally realized that it was already dark.

Hellbound With You Chapter 184 – I’m sorry

It was long past her curfew. She started to panic but a moment later, something seemed to make her calm down. It was like she had realized that there was no point of her panicking anymore and the pain began to flood her entire being once again.

“Okay, don’t be shy Abi, come.” Chris held her wrist before Abi could even agree with him and he began to pull her towards his car.

Suddenly, Abi was grabbed by a strong arm away from Chris.

Abi’s lower lip instantly trembled. She already knew just by the chill running down her spine that the arm holding her belonged to Alex.

Chris balled his fists as he turned around but the instant he saw the man who grabbed Abi from him, Chris eyes widened. It wasn’t because he was surprised to see that it was Abi’s boyfriend, it was because this man looked so terrifying that he felt intense shivers in his nerves just by seeing that look in his eyes.

He looked like the man – no, the demon – was going to slaughter him once he made a single move. Chris couldn’t believe that his knees were unable to move as if he was paralyzed by just the sight of him. This man looked like those mad villains in movies who wouldn’t hesitate to kill.

He had seen a lot of actors playing the roles of psychopaths and serial killers but he had never seen a man as horrifying as the one who stood before him now. In fact, those villainous actors couldn’t even hold a candle against this man.

As he froze there, looking at him, the man shot him with what he thought was the deadliest look he had ever received before he began dragging Abi towards his car.

It was then that Chris moved and blocked them.

“Mr. Qin, you can’t just drag away Abi like that,” he said, his instincts kicking in. He had already prepared himself in case this man was going to attack him.

But Abi suddenly pushed him away. “Chris, please. I will talk to you later, okay?” she pleaded as she pushed him, wanting him to go away.

Chris was so confused. “Abi, this man is… are you really going to go with him?”

“Yes. So, please, Chris, go home now, okay?” she told him and then he watched her voluntarily climbed into that man’s car.

Chris saw the man cracked his fists as he gnashed his teeth in intense anger towards him before he entered the car. The car accelerated off, leaving Chris standing there, confused and utterly worried. How… how did Abi find that kind of man?

The reason why Chris came to see Abi was because he wanted to ask her to break up with that man. Chris was so curious about Alexander Qin that he asked his many sources, even the underground ones, to find anything related to him. But they couldn’t find anything.

The most mysterious thing was that, one of the pieces of information that he received was that ‘Alexander Qin’ might be a fake identity. The fact that they couldn’t find any photo of him when he was young, or other records of his birth or parents, made them conclude that.

In short, Alexander Qin was fooling everyone, most especially Abi, and that he was a notoriously dangerous being.

He wanted Abi to cut ties with him before that man would do something to her but this happened and Abi willingly followed him despite what he looked like just now. Was she not scared? Couldn’t she see the madness in his eyes? Couldn’t she see how deadly he was?

Even a man like him felt utterly intimidated so why did a fragile girl like her still choose to go with him?

Inside the car, which was moving like a bullet, Abi was gripping her skirt tightly.

The car was filled with an ominous, suffocating cloud of anger. He was burning with anger. Rage was flashing like a storm of lightning in a pitch black night.

Abi didn’t speak until the car screeched into a halt. They were already in front of the mansion. Abi glanced at his whitened knuckles before she voluntarily stepped out of the car.

And then Alex held her hand and dragged her inside.

Upon the door closing, he pinned Abi against the huge door, slamming his hands on them hard that Abi jolted in shock due to the loud noise right next to her ears.

His pupils dilated, coated with pitch black anger, as he looked at her.

“Abigail… what were you doing with that man? You ignored my calls… deliberately broke my rule… just so you could be with him?” his eyes narrowed and his voice was utterly hard, cold, rigid.

Abi didn’t speak. She didn’t try to thaw his anger like she used to do. She didn’t reach out her hand like what she used to. She didn’t move to kiss him anymore. And that only made Alex become even angrier.

“Are you… are you really trying to anger me?” his glare intensified, as if he was now really closed to exploding. “Say something!!” his voice thundered. That was the first time he had yelled at her like that.

Abi swallowed, biting her lips so hard to keep herself from crying. Something painfully heartbreaking was burning in every nook of her bones. Her blood seemed to have turned into a flowing lava, burning down everything inside her.

“Alex…” she called out, her voice choking. “I’m sorry… it looks like I can’t take it anymore. I’m sorry, Alex,” her voice cracked again as she kept saying sorry. “I’m sorry, but I…

I want to go back home now,” she continued as silent tears began to flow from her eyes. And then, she smiled, a smile akin to a child’s smile who was determined not to weep. “It seems like you were right all along when you said that I couldn’t handle it.”

Hellbound With You Chapter 185 – Selfish desire

Dark, ominous clouds seemed to have quickly gathered in Alex’s eyes as soon as he heard the words that came out of Abi’s mouth. The atmosphere became frozen cold, as if the ice king had finally awakened from its long slumber.

His eyes dilated as his dark orbs turned even darker, so dark that Abi couldn’t decipher anything anymore in those eyes of his. Abi felt goosebumps crawl up her arms and her neck and she shivered subconsciously. His coldness normally didn’t get to her but at that moment, she felt the chill he was emanating seep into her heart, along with the feeling of intense agony at what she had to do.

“I’m sorry…” she uttered once again. Her heart felt like it was being cut into a million pieces. Abi didn’t know that heartbreak felt like this. Now that Alex was standing right before her, the pain had become even more unbearable.

She had read it in many novels that love wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, that if you love, you should be ready to get hurt. When she read those novels, she realised that every love story was a tragedy and that love and pain were both sides of the same coin. She thought that these were all true because her dad was a prime example of having felt the deepest love and in turn, the deepest sorrow.

Her father loved her mother so much that he suffered so much pain and she knew that even until this day, he still felt it whenever he is reminded of her. She saw, in his eyes, the loneliness, the longing and the sadness at being parted from the woman he loved. She saw it in the way he would look at her photo and gaze into the distance with unseeing eyes. She saw the torment he went through every single day of his life.

But it appeared that she didn’t really understand the extent of pain that resulted from loving someone, until that very moment. She underestimated the pain, the agony, and now she felt like these feelings were eating her alive.

This made Abi think about her dad. If breaking up with someone you adored and loved so much felt like this, how much more would it be to lose that person forever?

She tried putting herself in her father’s shoes and thought that she couldn’t probably survive such pain. Thinking about it made Abi shiver in fear deep within her. When she looked at Alex, she only thought about one thing – that this man, her beautiful jellyfish, her Alex, didn’t deserve such pain.

This pain she felt right now, Abi thought she could handle it, as long as Alex didn’t suffer with her. Her selfishness should end here, tonight.

Abi lifted her hands and removed the necklace. She stared at the emerald ring in her hand and her fingers trembled a little. She remembered how happy she was last night. That moment when he put the ring on her finger was so magical and she would never forget it until her very last breath.

She thought that that precious moment would be enough to carry her through. She should be content now because she really was so lucky to have experienced something like that, so lucky that Alex had given so many memories for her to look back on until her last breath. She knew she was still the luckiest girl alive right now, for meeting this man.

With an intensely heavy heart, Abi held his hand and slowly lifted it up. She put the ring in his palm before she looked into his eyes.

“I’m sorry… I finally realized that I am asking for too much. I’ve been so selfish since the day I met you. I guess, you’ve pampered me so much I became so lost in my beautiful delusions to the point that I was even prepared to treat marriage as something I could go through just because I wished to.

That was just my selfish desires. I’m sorry for being so selfish since the beginning. And I’m so sorry for being selfish again and wanting to quit now,” she said as she slowly retracted her hand.

And then, she smiled at him, the saddest smile she ever made. “I’m so sorry. Thank you for everything.” Her voice cracked. “Goodbye, Alex.” I love you so much… and I will keep on loving you forever…

After those words left her mouth, Abi turned away, opened the door and ran outside, leaving Alex frozen as his eyes just stared at the now closed door.

Abi’s tears finally burst as soon as she stepped out of the door. Her eyes were clouded as she dashed out that she didn’t see Zeke walking towards the door.

The tears were like water gushing out of a broken dam, nearly impossible for her to stop.

She bumped into Zeke and the man held her by her shoulders, steadying her.

He looked at Abi’s tortured expression along with the tears flowing out of her eyes and his grip on her slightly tightened.

Abi pulled away from him and ran towards the road.

Zeke looked at the closed door like he was waiting for someone to come out. But when no one came out, Zeke sighed and his gaze immediately fell on Kai who was looking worried to death as he looked at Abi’s disappearing silhouette.

“Kai, go follow her. Bring her home and make sure to watch over her,” Zeke ordered and Kai glared at him.

“This… this is all your fault, right? Are you happy now, seeing Abigail breakdown like that?” Kai told him and Zeke quickly moved closer to him, grabbed his shoulder and leaned in on him.

“You will understand everything when the time comes. Everything I do and everything I have done has been for one purpose, so stop blabbering and just do what I say,”

he said with his authoritative voice and Kai could only press his lips tight in hard line as he clenched his fists into tight balls before he ran towards his car and chased after Abi.

Hellbound With You Chapter 186 – Just admit it

Alex was still standing in the very same position where Abi left him when Zeke entered the house. His eyes were blank, dark and frozen cold.

Zeke stared at him but the man didn’t even seem to notice him. It wasn’t until Zeke spoke to him that he was brought back to the present.

“You’re really not going to go after her?” Zeke asked, as composed and as emotionless as ever.

Finally, Alex moved as his head raised to look at Zeke. Then he stared at the ring in his palm for another long while, seemingly falling back into the abyss. He cleared his throat and shook his head and he seemed to have finally jolted back to reality but his first reaction was a forced sardonic laugh.

And then, too soon, his laughter evaporated from his cold face. He clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles turning white in the process, as if he wanted to crush the ring inside it into dust. His cold eyes brimmed with deadness. He started to coat himself with his coldness, like it was some protective permafrost, closing it around him, isolating him again from the world.

The next moment, he turned and looked at Zeke with a wicked smile forming on his face.

“Go after her?” he shook his head, his unpleasant smile not fading. “When have I ever chased after anyone? Huh? Zeke?” he uttered and the ever so expressionless Zeke frowned, obviously bemused.

“Abigail is…” Alex started again. There was no warmth in his voice as he uttered her name nor any glimmer of light in his eyes. “She finally woke up.

She finally heeded the danger signs that have been flashing in front of her this whole time. She’s indeed an amazing little lamb.” He was nodding as he said that, as if he was silently saying that Abigail did the right thing in finally leaving him.

Zeke didn’t say anything more and just stared at him with displeasure while Alex nonchalantly loosened his tie and walked towards the grand staircase without another word.

Zeke watched the man ascending the staircase like nothing had happened and his frown became even deeper. He sat by the fireplace, staring at the stairs as he rested his face on his knuckles. He looked like he was plotting something serious.

READ ALSO >>>> Hellbound With You Volume 1 Chapter 171 -180

After an indefinite amount of time, the entrance door opened and Xavier emerged along with Dianne. The woman was dressed in a seductive fiery red dress, excitement flashing in her eyes. She didn’t bother to say hello to Zeke and immediately headed to the third floor.

Zeke just quietly watched the woman walk up the stairs with a meaningful smile on her face, while Xavier walked over to where Zeke was and sat next to him, heaving a deep sigh.

“Now what the hell’s going on? Dianne said that Alex called her,” he said but when he received no response, he just sighed again.

To ease his boredom, Xavier brought out his phone and played a game but a round hadn’t even ended yet when they heard the sound of stomping heels descending the stairs in haste.

Xavier immediately stood up upon seeing the beautiful and confident woman who had just walked upstairs minutes ago, now looking mean and upset. Her face was nearly distorted by her sullen and grumpy expression.

“Hey, what happened?” Xavier asked her and the woman almost yelled at him in frustration.

“I don’t know!” She shook her head in disbelief and anger. “He called me to come here… just for him to shun me away like he was disgusted by me!”

Xavier looked at her, with the words ‘idiot, did you not learn your lesson last time’?

“He asked me to come. He asked me to touch him!” Dianne retorted, realizing the meaning behind Xavier’s gaze.

What she said then surprised Xavier.

“Oh, he asked you to come and be intimate with him but once you did, he threw you out?” he repeated in disbelief and Dianne gritted her teeth, feeling humiliated.

“Something’s wrong with him! He cursed and then ordered me to leave. Something seems to be bothering him, like he’s going crazy about something! Just what the hell happened to him?”

Xavier’s eyes flew towards Zeke, asking lots of questions. When Dianne saw that the man had no idea what was going as well, she snarled and left the house.

Upstairs, Alex was drenching himself under the cold blast of the shower.

His eyes were frozen and his fists were clenched into tight balls. He raised his face to the streaming water. He looked like he was asking the water to wash away something but time passed and his dark expression didn’t change. The cold water didn’t seem to be working at all.

He hit the marble walls hard and switched off the water. He stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and hair still dripping wet.

He entered his pitch black room. It was cavernous, hollow and lifeless. But there was one thing that was out of place, the only colorful thing inside. The jellyfish plushie Abigail gave him.

Alex’s jaws clenched upon the sight of it. Images began to appear in his head and he reached out his hand to touch it but he stopped midway, gnashed his teeth before he hurriedly got dressed and stepped out of his room.

Zeke was still sitting in the same spot when he saw Alex, already dressed up and ready to leave.

“Where are you going?” Zeke asked but Alex gave him another sardonic smile.

“Wanna come with me?” he asked, his lifeless eyes looking at him meaningfully.

Zeke could already tell where he was planning to go and he finally stood up and faced him with all seriousness as he spoke.

“Alex, even if you go there, it’ll be the same. You can’t touch anyone because all you want is Abigail. You can’t get her off your mind. You want her back because you’ve fallen for her Alex. Just admit it.” Zeke said and the man who was going to leave the house, halted in his tracks and froze.

Hellbound With You Chapter 187 – Three reasons

Abi had arrived home late in the night and was glad that her grandparents were already asleep. Her father was the one who let her inside.

Andrew saw her puffy, red eyes but all he asked was if she was alright. Abi told him she was fine, that she was just a little upset and her dad didn’t ask anymore. He looked like he understood her and he just led her to her room, telling her to have a rest.

Abi tried to sleep and she did after a few hours of sobbing quietly, but she woke up at 3 am and started crying again. She couldn’t go back to sleep again because her mind was too chaotic, with so many thoughts running around like headless chickens, so she stood up and opened the window. The moon was no longer there. No stars even. The sky was dark, as hollow and lifeless as her insides.

She sank slowly to the floor and hugged her knees with her head down. What had she done? When will this pain stop? Will she be able to see him again? Will he hate her for what she did? She knew that she had to do what needed to be done but she still had many doubts. Maybe she shouldn’t have started this. If only she knew it would end up like this!

She didn’t know how long she stayed there, sitting in that pitiful fetal position.

The cold wind was blowing, but she couldn’t care less.

But then, she began to feel something different in the air. She felt a familiar chill and it wasn’t because of the cold wind. Abi’s dying heart began to palpitate. She didn’t lift her face to look because she was afraid that it was all in her imagination.

However, as she remained there, paralyzed, that deep seraphic voice echoed in her ears.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice deep and calm and Abi finally looked up.

Her mouth hung open when she saw that Alex was there, just outside the window. He was standing on a small balcony connecting through to her father’s room on the other side of the house. He was there and he seemed so real as he looked at her.

Abi slowly stood up, her face filled with disbelief.

“A-alex?” she called out, obviously questioning if what she was seeing was real or not.

“Did a nightmare wake you up again?” he asked again. It was dark and she could hardly see his expressions but she could hear the unusual tenseness in his voice.

Abi slowly shook her head. “I… didn’t have a nightmare tonight,” she told him honestly, still looking at him with disbelief. She then ran towards her door and switched the lights on.

When she looked at the window again, Alex was climbing inside through the window and Abi froze in place. It really was him, her Alex. But why?

“What… why are you here?” she asked, her voice weak.

Alex stared at her and then he turned away with a far-off gaze in his eyes that vanished almost as quickly as it came.

“I don’t know,” was all he replied, his voice had become a soft murmur. For the first time, Alex looked meek and helpless. She had never seen him look that way before and it was taking all of her self control not to reach out and touch him, and embrace him tightly.

Abi didn’t know what to say. She looked back at him with a million questions in her eyes but she was afraid to speak again because she was afraid that the tears that were threatening to spill over would gush out and she would lose control of herself.

He looked like he was waiting for her to speak, and when she didn’t, he began to step closer to her. Abi felt her heart ramming against her chest, and her heartbeats drumming in her ears.

He looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds before he opened his lips again. “I’m not sure how I ended up here but…” He hesitated, looking for the right word. “I think I came here for three reasons.”

He looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds before he continued. “First reason… I think I’ve gone crazy from the moment you left.”

Abi gaped at him. His voice as he said those words stabbed at her heart. Her throat clenched in pain and clouds of fear began to form inside her.

“Second… I came to ask something. How did you know that you’ve fallen in love with me?” He blinked, studying her intently as if he was searching for the truth in her eyes.

But Abi couldn’t speak. Her head was spinning at the rapid change in direction of the things he was saying. Why? Why was he suddenly asking her all of these?

When Abi’s pale lips didn’t open to speak, Alex continued talking after a moment passed by, as he seemingly assembled his thoughts.

“Was it because you realized all you ever wanted was to be with me? Was it because you just couldn’t get me out of your head no matter what you do? Was it because you realized that you no longer want anything or anyone else but me?”

He watched her face closely, keenly looking for the silent answers from her expression as she digested everything he just said. And the answer she gave him was her tears falling from her eyes. Her lips trembled and the silent tears fell one after another. That reaction was enough for Alex

This little lamb was easy to read sometimes after all.

Alex’s eyes scorched beneath his gorgeous lashes. He gently wiped away her falling tears with his thumb. He smiled like he was in utter disbelief about what he was doing and then his next words tumbled out.

“I think I am feeling the same thing you are and this damn thing is driving me insane right now… I think this is what you call, being in love.”

Hellbound With You Chapter 188 – The third reason

Panic started to etch on Abi’s face.

Tears pooled in her eyes again, glistening on her long dark lashes before they flowed endlessly. She shook her head at him like she was in denial.

She tried to open her lips but they just trembled. It was so hard to speak. She felt like she was choking for air.

“No, Alex. Y-you said you don’t do love. You said you would never… fall in love… with anyone…” she stammered, her voice raw with both pain and disbelief. This was it, her greatest happiness and greatest fear.

No… he can’t fall for her. He can’t love her!

Alex smiled half a smile but his eyes became unbelievably tender.

“Well, I did say that and I meant it back then… I have never felt anything like this before. I was certain that I was not capable of feeling anything like this but…” He looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds, before he picked up one of her hands and pressed it lightly to his face.

And then he smiled and half bit his lower lip. She’d never seen him struggle so hard for words. “I… I don’t know what happened, Abigail. I just know that I won’t be able to bear it if you leave me.”

He held her hands tightly and then he held her face with both his hands, his thumbs wiping her tears away as he gently bumped his forehead on hers.

“That’s why I came here… to get you to come back, to be with me again. That’s the third reason why I’m here. Don’t worry, you won’t have any reason to be scared anymore because everyone who harmed you, or are trying to harm you, are all gone. I’ve dealt with all of them tonight.

No one will harm you again because I will protect you,” he promised, his eyes burning with certainty, almost like a knight or a king pledging to protect his queen.

It was then that Abi finally noticed the drops of red, that looked to be blood, splashed all over his neck and on the sleeves of his shirt. His hair was damp and his clothes seemed to be as well.

“So come back home with me, Abigail,” he asked, his voice almost pleading as he pulled her into his embrace.

But Abi just sobbed even harder after hearing all the words he uttered. And she couldn’t stop.

“Please…” she uttered between her sobs when suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

“Abi? Are you alright? Please open the door.”

Andrew’s voice startled the two of them and they stared at the door.

“D-dad? I’m fine.” Abi forced herself to speak even though her voice cracked. She couldn’t let her father see Alex here. No, she couldn’t let him see Alex with all this blood on him.

Panicking, Abi looked at Alex, still sniffling as she forced herself to stop crying.

“Alex, please –”

Before Abi could tell him to leave, Alex suddenly bent down and kissed her. It was quick but was gentle and emotional.

“I’ll go and get changed,” he said, and then he gave her another quick kiss before he ran to the window and disappeared.

Abi,” Andrew called out again, jolting Abi back to reality.

She hastily opened the door and her father’s extremely worried face welcomed her.

The man was surprised at his daughter’s wounded expression.

“Abi, what happened?” he asked and Abi hugged him and cried again. She didn’t know how many more tears she had left in her. She felt like all she had done that night was cry her eyes out.

“Dad, what should I do? What should I do? Alex… he said he’s fallen in love with me, dad,” she told him as she trembled in his arms. She couldn’t even smile and feel happy that the man she loved had actually just confessed to her. The man she loved actually said he loved her, too!

This should have been one of the happiest moments of her life but here she was, bawling her eyes out because she knew what was waiting ahead of him.

“Dad, I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to hurt Alex, dad. I don’t want to make him… I don’t want him to suffer because of me. I love him so much. I don’t want him to go through all that pain.”

Andrew was heartbroken as he felt his daughter tremble in his embrace. He didn’t know that his daughter’s anxiety and phobia was worse than he thought. He could see her intense fear and he felt bad because he knew he was the reason his daughter was now like this.

Alex arrived at his mansion in a hurry. He even ignored the men who approached him to ask where he had just come from.

He simply dashed upstairs to his room but everyone noticed he no longer looked like a dead fish who had given up on life. Even though he didn’t say a word, they could tell simply because his dark aura that had been raging like a typhoon was nowhere to be felt.

Xavier and Kai looked at each other before their gaze fell on the nonchalant man sitting quietly on the chair in the room.

It seemed that the storm had ended. Or maybe not?

Minutes went by and Alex finally emerged from upstairs.

The three guys waiting for him looked at him and they all fell speechless.

Alex was wearing his finest suit?! What? Where the hell was he going?

They watched him gracefully walk towards the door, almost sparkling with all his unreal gorgeousness. None of them dared to call out his name to get the sparkly man’s attention.

Well, Xavier who used to be the only one who always dared, was now too scared because what he saw that night was now engraved in his mind. He didn’t want to do anything that might trigger the now sleeping dark dragon.

However, to their surprise, Alex halted and looked at them so seriously before he walked over to the trio.

His gaze fell on Xavier.

“Tell me, what should I bring?”

“Huh?”

“To Abigail. She was very upset and crying when I left her. I think I should bring her something to cheer her up. So, tell me, what do you think is the best thing I could bring to cheer her up?”

Xavier could only gape at him, eyes wide in utter disbelief.

After a few seconds, when Xavier couldn’t say anything because he was still dumbstruck, Alex’s mouth twitched and he impatiently left.

Hellbound With You Chapter 189 – Home

“Holy cow! W-was that really Alex?!” Xavier yelled in disbelief. He couldn’t believe this was the same man from last night! His mind was totally blown!

“Sigh… I can’t believe he couldn’t even last for one night.” Kai shook his head. He had expected that it might take some time for Alex to realize or accept that he was in love with Abigail. He even braced himself for the coming madness that would definitely occur during their separation.

He thought that Alex would stubbornly deny all the foreign emotions that were already growing inside him without him knowing until he blew up and couldn’t take it anymore. But it appeared he was clearly mistaken.

After his overnight madness, it seemed he had come to the answer by himself. Kai knew that he mercilessly went as far as torturing Eli to death, probably so he could distract himself, but that obviously didn’t work and he became even more crazy. One night of her leaving him was enough to make him realize what she really meant to him.

The only other thing that was quite unbelievable was the fact that he appeared to have fallen deeper for Abigail, much more than they ever thought. Alex, not even lasting one night of being separated from her, was proof of that.

“It seems like he has forgotten everything else and Abigail is the only one he sees and thinks about right now,” Kai continued, looking glad but worried at the same time, as he glanced at Zeke.

“Seems like it. I wonder if this is fine, though.” Xavier said, as he too glanced at Zeke. But the man didn’t say anything. His face didn’t give anything away. “But, don’t you guys think Alex seemed a little out of it?”

Xavier was looking at Kai because he wasn’t expecting Zeke to speak even a single word. He was already used to that treatment from that guy, but then, unexpectedly, Zeke actually butted in.

“When a super volcano, that had been sleeping for too long, erupts for the very first time, the eruption will be colossal… unstoppable, merciless, and even if it destroys itself in the process, it wouldn’t care,”

he muttered and then he quietly stood up and left, leaving Xavier and Kai in the room, with drooped shoulders, as they leaned on the couch, watching his retreating back.

“Geez… that guy. I really think Zeke needs something or someone that could trigger him so he could erupt too, right? Kai? I want to see him go crazy as well. I’m tired of seeing his damn poker face! Geez…”

Alex stood by the door, looking up at the opened window of her room. He was wearing a black suit but his tie was gone and the collar of his white shirt was unbuttoned.

Alex walked towards the door to the house and knocked on it. The door opened almost immediately.

“You’re here, Alexander. I’ve been waiting for you.” Andrew stood aside and made room for Alex to come in. He then told Alex that he was leaving for work now and that he was leaving Abi to him. Andrew also told him that his mother and father were out for the day before he finally left.

Alex could only watch the door once Andrew was gone. Abi’s father didn’t even let him speak.

Alex stood there quietly for a while before he finally went upstairs but to his surprise, Abi was still sleeping and the only movement in the room was her yellow curtain dancing with the wind.

Quietly, Alex walked closer to her and sat on the edge of her bed. He stared at her face and he noticed how pale she was. Her lips were almost colorless and her eyes were a little swollen. His eyes scorched with a burning emotion as he stared at her and he gently caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers.

Abi didn’t wake up for hours and when she did, it was already late in the day. The rain was falling quietly and the breeze that blew past her face was cold. However, her body felt warm, so warm that she wanted to fall asleep again.

When she tried to move, she finally noticed the weight wrapped around her. Her heart accelerated as she slowly turned. Alex?!

Abi was surprised to see him in her bed, hugging her and sleeping so peacefully. Her heart fluttered as it ached seeing his gorgeous, perfect face. She never expected Alex to appear in her room in the early hours of the morning after she left him. She thought that she would never see him again.

She thought she would never touch him ever again. She thought that it was all over, that they were over. But then, he suddenly appeared in her room and told her those words. Those words that she thought she would only hear in her dreams.

This warmth, these feelings, she felt like she was finally home and she felt like crying again. It’s only been 24 days since she started living with him, yet he had already become her new home. She didn’t know how it happened but she realized just how powerful love was, to have actually made Alex her universe in such a short period of time.

Caressing every contour of his face like she was trying to memorize every little detail, Abi smiled. She stayed like that for an indefinite amount of time. She didn’t want to look away or pull away from his embrace.

But she was thirty so she slowly moved and slipped away from his embrace. She carefully put her feet down on the floor, being very careful not to wake him up.

She was about to stand when suddenly, something made her halt. She froze as her eyes widened seeing something new on top of her bedside table.

The lamp there was gone and what replaced it was a round shaped aquarium. There were three small jellyfishes swimming majestically inside, looking so breathtaking. Abi’s mouth hung open, her eyes filled with wonder and surprise.

Once she snapped out of her daze, she immediately knelt on the floor, almost sticking her face on the tank. Her eyes were alight with awe and wonder as she watched the cute jellyfish, as they danced peacefully inside, as the lights of the aquarium changed colours.

“Do you like it?” a hoarse voice jolted her and she turned to him with a big smile.

“They’re so beautiful, Alex!” she exclaimed and Alex’s lips curved up in satisfaction.

Hellbound With You Chapter 190 – Just six more days

Alex looked even more revitalized at finally seeing his little lamb’s big smile. She turned towards the aquarium again, like a child who just couldn’t get enough of it. He was glad that his little lamb was easy to please.

Satisfied, Alex climbed off the bed, squatted down behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“I’m glad you like them,” he whispered as he rested his chin on her shoulder blade. But what he did made Abi return to reality.

“I like them, they’re so cute,” she replied as she smiled. After staring at it for a while, she moved to stand and face him.

She held Alex’s hands and stared at them before she looked up and smiled at him. She made him sit on her bed as she stood before him, locking her eyes on his. Her lips started to tremble.

“Alex, I… I have something to tell you,” she said. Her eyes were glowing but there was a hint of unbearable pain behind them. Alex’s blood began pounding through his veins. He could tell from that one look that whatever it was that she was going to say might drive him mad again. No, he could feel that it might be worse than last night and for the first time in his life, he was terrified. He never knew he would ever feel like this.

When Abi held his face, he felt his heart hammered uncontrollably.

“Alex…” she called his name again, and that was the saddest voice he had ever heard. She inhaled sharply. “Alex, I’m –”

“Wait, Abigail.”

Alex suddenly stopped her. He held her wrists and pulled them down. His hypnotic eyes scorched under his lashes as he gazed intensely at her.

“Whatever that is… don’t say it… yet. I mean, not right now, Abigail.” His voice had become a soft murmur, as he frowned, hard.

Abi’s tears began to pool in her eyes. She shook her head, trying her very best to keep herself from crying. “No, Alex… you have to know about this now.” She managed to keep her ground but then Alex suddenly pulled her in and before she knew it, she was sitting on his lap.

He wrapped his arms around her as his breath lingered on her neck.

“No, don’t say it. P-please.” For the first time since he could remember, he found himself begging. He couldn’t believe himself but what could he do? This girl didn’t just turn him into a madman, she was also turning him into a coward! He didn’t know that the other side of this damn coin called falling in love was madness and fear! It was like a powerful medicine with awful side effects.

It was still unbelievable for him but he needed this powerful medicine. It appeared he already got addicted and couldn’t bear living anymore without it.

Abi began to tear up. Her heart was breaking again, seeing Alex’s expression, seeing him beg for the first time. She couldn’t bear to see the torture in his eyes. She just couldn’t.

“Shh… don’t cry, Abigail. You already cried too much. Don’t cry,” he whispered, consoling her as he kissed her eyes.

“Alex…” was all she could say when Alex smiled at her.

“I’d like us to push with our plan. Come with me, Abigail. Let’s leave everything and go there, just the two of us. Just spend the rest of the month with me without thinking about anything else but us. Don’t worry, I will listen to whatever it is that you have to say once we’re back,” he told her so seriously that Abi felt like choking.

“But Alex, if you spend more time with me…”

“Shh…” he kissed her lips and looked into her eyes again. “Don’t worry about me. This is what I want to do, Abigail. You said you’ve been selfish all this time. Can you let me be the selfish one this time? Then we can call it even, okay?” He grinned and then he kissed her tears away again.

“Enough of the crying, Abigail. Let’s spend the rest of the days like we used to. Forget about anything depressing for now and just smile, okay?”

Abi gazed at him. Was this alright? She couldn’t deny that her heart beat into life again as soon as she heard his words. To spend the rest of this month like they used to. Was that possible? Was that alright?

Again, her selfishness started to kick in. She wanted to scream yes because she wanted it too. More time with him even just for a few more days. Just six more days without tears and without pain.

She could at least give that to him, right? This was the first time he asked, the first time he begged, how could she reject him?

Waiting for her answer, Alex pulled her and kissed her lips. “Say ‘yes’, Abigail. Please,” he whispered once again and Abi finally gave in.

READ ALSO >>>> Hellbound With You Volume 1 Chapter 191 – 200

She nodded, a single tear fell from her eyes as she smiled back. “Okay, let’s do that, Alex,” she uttered and Alex’s eyes glimmered. The next moment, he kissed her hard. He made her straddle him as their kiss became deeper, like they both were trying to lose themselves in each other’s warmth.

Once they parted, panting, Alex wiped her lips with her thumb. “You have to eat. You look awful,” he told her and Abi blushed. She turned to the mirror and when she saw her ghost-like white face, she covered it with her palms.

But Alex simply chuckled and she couldn’t help but peek at him. It felt like it had been so long since she heard that pleasant laugh.

And then he lifted her up and carried her downstairs.

However, to their surprise, Abi’s family were already home. They had forgotten that it was almost sunset.