Bind you in hellbound
Chapter 175: ~Hellbound~

Chapter 175: ~Hellbound~

Derek kissed on Paulina’s cheek tenderly.

Yet, the persistent game of hide and seek, the dance between recognition and doubt, became a weight too heavy to bear.

"How can you be so certain, Derek?"

"Thank you for your hospitality," Derek expressed, his hand reaching for Paulina’s arm, a protective gesture against the intrusion of wakefulness.

"I’m sure it’s you. You’re deliberately causing me pain."

As I walked away, I turned my gaze back to the scene below. Derek and Ethan engaged in conversation, the casual exchange of words belying the underlying tension that lingered in the air.

I took a deep breath.

Derek forced me to take a seat on the couch and stated. "When I went to kiss you, why didn’t he react? Would he spare me, Elena, if he was Paul?"

"If Paul hated Derek so much, why didn’t he react? Or else, Derek is right that it is not Paul," I mused, the internal conflict echoing the uncharted terrain of my emotions.

"Why did you bring him here?"

"You still can’t accept it?"

"Elena, don’t over think things. Tomorrow, we’ll meet with the doctor," Derek reassured.

"I’m okay, just a little sleepy," I replied, the words a feeble attempt to cloak the mounting confusion within me. I ascended the stairs, each step a deliberate movement away from the enigma that held the resort in its grip.

Oh, God!

He rose to his feet, retrieving an envelope from the bundle in his hands. For the correct order please visit

But why does my heart refuse to accept it? Why does my heart tell me he’s Paul? How could I possibly be wrong? Paul’s scent, his appearance, everything is posted in my thoughts.

"All right, then, have a sweet dream," Ethan remarked with a smile, a diplomatic acknowledgment of the delicate balance between the known and the unknown.

Why, then, did I feel a magnetic pull towards him? His looks, his voice, a familiarity that defied the evidence before me. The internal conflict intensified, echoing in the recesses of my mind.

Excitement surged within me as I asked in an eager tone, "Derek, what did you find? Is he?"

Derek, however, took a deep breath, his expression tinged with concern. "You should not have taken that drug every time."

"About what, Elena?" Derek replied casually.

"Mr. Derek, it is my pleasure. I’m hoping you’ll stay here for a few days," Ethan proposed.

I looked at Ethan.

I opened the envelope carefully, the paper unfolding to reveal Ethan’s information. As my eyes scanned the details, a tremor ran through my hand. He isn’t Paul, the words on the paper declared, yet my heart clung to a stubborn connection that defied rational explanation.

"I... I need the drug," I confessed, a desperate plea for the temporary relief it offered.

But just as I was about to succumb to the temporary solace it offered, the door opened, breaking the quietude of my internal struggle.

"Mr. Derek, and Mrs. Elena," he said, shifting his focus to me. My gaze remained fixed on him, words caught in the recesses of my throat.

Derek’s response was not verbal. Instead, he placed a finger on his lower lip, signaling a desire to halt the conversation. My eyes followed his gesture, and there, behind him, I saw Paulina leaning against Ethan’s forearm. She was dozing off.

I looked at Derek and nodded, my voice a mere whisper, "Same to you, Mr. Ethan."

Feeling the irritation intensify, I couldn’t shake the relentless thoughts that gripped me. My hands instinctively reached for my head, a futile attempt to quell the rising storm within. The overwhelming need for reprieve led me to my purse, where the promise of forgetting lay in the form of a small pill.

Entering my room, I collapsed onto the couch, the weight of uncertainty pressing against my temples. I placed my hand on my forehead and tapped my brow in a futile attempt to dispel the haunting questions that danced within.

"Sorry, she dozed off," Ethan explained, his voice a gentle interruption to the charged atmosphere in the room.

I lowered my head. Derek is right in certain ways.

"Take this," Derek urged, extending the envelope towards me. With a sense of trepidation, I accepted it, my fingers tracing the edges as I hesitated to unveil the contents within.

"Ethan," I said, the name a trigger for the tangled emotions that knotted within.

It was Derek.

Yet, the conviction that resonated in Ethan’s tone, the familiarity in his glance, refused to be dismissed. I couldn’t possibly be mistaken. His presence invoked the specter of Paul.

I lay down on the bed, seeking solace in the embrace of its stillness.

"Good night," he concluded, his smile a mysterious curve that lingered in the air.

Unable to quell the turmoil within, I rose from the couch and began to pace the room.

"What was it, Derek?" I questioned, my words carrying the weight of the unresolved mysteries that hung in the air.

"Why? Is there anything wrong?" Derek inquired, his concern evident in the furrow of his brows.

"Elena, he isn’t Paul," Derek asserted with emphatic conviction.

Ethan’s kind smile lingered in the air as Derek closed the door, yet his gaze remained fixed on me, a silent echo of the questions that had yet to find answers. The room, bathed in the soft glow of dim light, became a canvas for the unfolding tensions.

Thoughts raced through my mind—was he truly Paul, hidden behind a facade of indifference? Or, as Derek insisted, was it someone entirely different?

"I’m going to my room," I declared, breaking the invisible threads that bound me to the unfolding narrative.

"Elena," Derek’s voice reached me, pulling me back into the present.

"Yes, we planned it as well, right babe?" Derek turned to me, seeking confirmation.

"God!" I whispered, rubbing my temples as if to dispel the disquiet within.

However, my response was a blank stare, a reflection of the unsettled thoughts that swirled within.

With a firm yet gentle motion, Derek placed Paulina on the bed.

I found myself unable to respond, a sense of unease locking my words away.

To be continued.