CHAPTER 335: BEGINNING OF SOMETHING (5)

~Bonus Chapter for today:

This Chapter is dedicated to "Noni_Byz". Thank you so much for the review!

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Georgia’s POV

It was painfully awkward...

After Vicky left, I tried lying down like Ella told me to, but rest was impossible with both her and Nicholas watching me like I was some fragile experiment that might explode any second.

"Can you two not stare at me like that?" I grumbled, glaring at the ceiling.

"We just want to make sure you actually rest and don’t do anything impulsive. I know you, Georgia," Ella said, arms crossed like a disapproving mother.

I sighed dramatically. "How could I possibly do anything when my body feels like I’ve been beaten up by a freight train? Just—turn on the TV or something. I don’t need to sleep. I just need to exist horizontally."

Ella gave me that look—the one that says I’ll let you win this time, and then her phone rang. "Work. I’ll be right outside," she said, stepping out and closing the door behind her.

And just like that, the awkwardness doubled.

Great. Alone. With the man who claims to be my husband but who, in my memory, was a murder suspect. Perfect bedtime company.

I turned my back to him, pretending he didn’t exist, even though I could feel his gaze like heat on my skin.

Minutes crawled by in silence. Not the peaceful kind—more like the kind that made me want to scream just to break it.

Finally, I turned around to check on him... only to find him slouched on the sofa, eyes closed.

Was he... asleep?

I watched him for a while—longer than I’d like to admit. His face looked so different when he wasn’t tense or guarded. He looked tired, the kind of tired that went beyond sleepless nights. The faint puffiness under his eyes told me he’d been crying, though I couldn’t imagine why.

I shut my eyes quickly when his head tilted forward, pretending to sleep too. But when nothing moved, curiosity won—I peeked again.

He was still there, unmoving, breathing softly.

And for a moment, I just stared.

If Ella hadn’t told me the truth, I would never have believed I married this man. Yet... something about the way he looked now—broken, yet gentle, made my heart ache in a way my mind refused to understand.

I still had so many questions. But maybe, for tonight... I could let myself rest next to the mystery.

After some time, Ella returned. She tiptoed into the room when her eyes immediately found Nicholas fast asleep on the sofa. She exhaled softly, relief written all over her face.

"Thank goodness," she whispered, sliding quietly into the chair beside me. "He finally fell asleep."

I frowned, curious. "What do you mean, finally?"

Ella leaned closer, lowering her voice as if afraid to wake him. "He hasn’t slept at all since you and Katie went missing. Not even for a minute. He’s been awake for more than thirty-six hours, running on pure adrenaline and stubborn love. No one could stop him. Not me, not Benjamin, not his own family."

Her words sank into me like a quiet storm. I turned my head toward Nicholas, watching his chest rise and fall, his face soft for the first time since I laid eyes on him.

My heart tightened. I shouldn’t care; I didn’t even know him anymore, but something inside me did. Something deep, old, and aching.

"Ella..." I whispered. "Did I hit my head or something? Because I still don’t understand how I ended up marrying that man."

She smiled, a sad, fond smile that held too many memories I couldn’t reach. "You didn’t hit your head, Georgia. You just... forgot the best part of your story."

I blinked, staring at her, unsure what to say.

"This will take a while," Ella continued, glancing at Nicholas again to make sure he was still asleep. "And this is just my version—you’ll want to hear his someday. But let me tell you how it all began. How you and that man over there ended up falling in love on an island in the middle of nowhere..."

Her voice softened as she began, and though my mind still fought the truth, my heart leaned in—ready to remember what it once refused to forget.

As Ella began recounting everything—from the moment I vanished after the cruise ship incident to how Vicky reached out to her, and how Nick went head-to-head with Raymond to rescue me—I felt the tiny hairs on my arms stand. Every word painted scenes my mind refused to remember, yet my body reacted as if it had lived through them all.

"My God, Ella..." I murmured, half in disbelief, half in awe. "I can’t believe I went through all that. No wonder I ended up like this. My brain probably had a meltdown and said, ’You know what? I quit, you never learn,’ after falling off a ship twice."

Ella chuckled softly but quickly covered her mouth, glancing guiltily at Nick, who was still fast asleep on the sofa.

"But you know what," Ella whispered, leaning closer, "I’m just happy Nick found you—and you found him. You two are... meant to be, Georgia. Please, be gentle with him, alright? He nearly collapsed yesterday when the coast guard arrived with two body bags. He thought one of them was you."

My throat tightened. I looked at Nick again, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. The thought of him collapsing because of me somehow pained me.

Ella’s voice softened, trembling with emotion. "Ever since you both came back from that island, he has never left your side. You were the happiest I’d ever seen you, Georgia. I’ll keep praying that you’ll remember soon because... he’s your dream come true. The home you always longed for."

Her words wrapped around me like a quiet embrace, sinking deep into places even memory couldn’t reach.

I turned back to Nick. He looked utterly exhausted, his face pale under the soft light. And though my mind still couldn’t piece everything together, my heart didn’t need convincing.

Because deep down, in the space where reason couldn’t reach, I already knew—my soul trusted him completely.

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Thanks so much for the Golden Tickets!

Kristen2025

Noni_Byz