❥𝑹𝒆𝒅 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆

Chapter 88

Narrator

As the private jet sliced through the sky, leaving behind the quaint village where Charles and Valerie were stranded for the past two days, a heavy silence settled in the cabin. Charles sat across her, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon above a sea of clouds, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions.

The nightly panic attack gnawed heavily at his bones, leaving him clueless and desperate. He could put some faint pieces of the occurrence - which bothered his sleep - together. But it didn't result in a complete puzzle.
Somewhere in his mind, he assumed to remember that he woke up, panic guiding his every move. Yet, everything from what happened after and how he fell asleep again was a blur of nothingness to him.

He sensed Valerie's close gaze on him, her concern radiating right through his skin. Charles knew that she knew that he was withholding something, the secret that he tried to maintain as one with everything he could offer.

The amount of times the aching truth had bubbled under his skin, begging to come alive, had become unbearable.

The air crackled with tension as neither of them dared to even breathe sharply, an invisible barrier separating them despite their physical proximity.

Hours passed, marked by the steady sound of the engines and the rhythmic hum of the jet's ascent.
Charles appeared restless, his free fingers tapping anxiously against the armrest as he stared at his phone with furrowed brows.

The media bored him. He didn't want to admit how often he had refreshed his instagram page, hoping for something that would corner his attention for more than average five seconds.

It was when his phone vibrated against his skin that he tensed up, his posture immediately adjusting. He opened his messages, but couldn't make out a known contact to have sent him a text. Instead, his face frowned even more, his jaw clenching as he read what loaded on his screen.

From: Unknown
I warned you.

Charles swallowed, his eyes cutting nervously around the cabin like he could be attacked from any side now.

He pressed his back into the seat, as if it would make any difference to the fact that he shared a plane with Valerie. Of all people, with her.
Of all things, the one thing he shouldn't do.

"Are you alright?" Valerie looked up from her book and eyed him curiously.

Startled from his reverie, Charles met her burning gaze, his eyes clouded with worry.

But before he could get anything off his mind, his phone buzzed again, this time with an urgent call.  Charles' breath caught in his throat as he identified the caller ID as the one from his mother.

His hand trembled as he answered the call, his heart pounding loudly in his chest.
"Maman?" he spoke into the phone with apprehension, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Valerie watched a Charles' expression shifted from confusion to disbelief, his face draining of color with each word his mother spoke.
A strangled cry escaped his lips as he hung up the phone, his hands shaking uncontrollably.

Questions burned on Valerie's tongue before he finally spoke up after a moment of shattering realization.

"It's Arthur," he whispered, his voice thick with sorrow, "He's been in a car accident."

Valerie felt her own heart sink at the news, a surge of panic flooding her senses. It was like the plane stopped moving for an unbearable moment of silence.