Please Come Back, My Love Chapter 111

Elena: POV

The slap still echoed in the air between us. My palm stung, but the pain was nothing compared to the hollow ache in my chest.

Julian's face had gone pale, except for the red mark blooming across his cheek. His eyes—those goddamn eyes that used to make me weak—were wide with something I'd never seen before. Fear. Raw, unfiltered fear.

"Elena—" he started, his voice cracking.

I stepped back, my spine hitting the cold metal of the RV. "Don't."

His hand came up—slowly, like he was approaching a wounded animal—and cupped my face. His palm was warm against my cheek, his thumb brushing just below my eye.

**"You can hate me all you want,"** he said, his voice barely above a whisper. **"I deserve it. I deserve worse. But what I can't stand—what terrifies me—is the thought that you might not remember me at all. That you'll look at me one day and see a stranger."**

Something twisted in my chest. A dull, brutal pain that made it hard to breathe.

*No. No, you don't get to do this.*

I wanted to pull away. I wanted to scream at him, to tell him he'd lost the right to touch me the moment he chose her over me—over *us*—for the thousandth time.

But I couldn't move.

Because despite everything—despite the blood, the baby, the divorce papers, the fucking *wreckage* he'd left behind—part of me still responded to his touch. Part of me still remembered what it felt like when I thought he might actually care.

His eyes searched mine, and I hated how vulnerable he looked. How *human*.

**"Tell me,"** he said, his voice dropping even lower. **"Ethan. Is he really your boyfriend?"**

The question hit me like a punch to the gut.

And then I saw it—the flicker of pain in his expression. The slight tremor in his jaw. The way his pupils dilated just a fraction, like he was bracing himself for the answer.

*He's hurt.*

The realization was so absurd I almost laughed.

*He's hurt? After everything he's done, he has the nerve to look hurt?*

He was divorced. Free. He could go back to Victoria, back to his perfect fucking life, and pretend I never existed. Wasn't that what he wanted all along?

So why did seeing that flash of pain in his eyes make my own chest tighten? Why did it feel like someone had reached inside my ribcage and squeezed?

*Stop it, Elena. Stop feeling sorry for him.*

I forced my expression to harden. Forced myself to meet his gaze without flinching.

**"Yes,"** I said, my voice sharp and cold. **"Ethan is my boyfriend."**

Julian flinched like I'd slapped him again.

Before he could respond, my mother's voice cut through the tension like a knife.

**"And he's been with us every step of the way these past two days,"** Josephine said, stepping forward. Her tone was ice. **"Unlike you, Mr. Julian Sterling, who spent three years making my daughter feel like she was nothing."**

Julian's hand dropped from my face. He turned to look at my mother, and I saw his throat work as he swallowed.

**"Mrs. Vance, I—"**

**"Don't."** Josephine's voice was quiet, but it had an edge that could cut glass. **"Don't you dare try to explain yourself to me. I watched my daughter cry herself to sleep for three years. I watched her bend over backwards trying to be good enough for you. I saw the agony on her face when she came to me after the divorce, sobbing about losing her child."**

Her voice cracked on the last word, and I felt my own eyes burn.

**"Ethan and Elena have been inseparable,"** Josephine continued, her gaze never leaving Julian's face. **"He's treated her the way she should have been treated all along—with respect, with kindness, with love. So maybe it's time you let her go, Mr. Sterling. Maybe it's time you accept that she's moved on."**

Julian's jaw clenched. "She's not—"

**"She is."**

Ethan's voice came from behind me, firm and steady. I felt his arm slip around my waist, pulling me against his side though I was a bit uncomfortable.

**"I'm sorry you had to find out this way,"** Ethan said, his tone polite but unmistakably smug. **"But Elena and I are together now. And I think—no, I'm certain—you're capable of moving on as gracefully as she has. After all, you're Julian Sterling. You don't need to chase after someone who's already with someone else."**

He paused, letting the words sink in.

**"My love and I are going to get some rest now,"** Ethan added. **"It's been a long day."**

I felt his hand press against the small of my back, urging me forward.

I took a step.

And then Julian's hand shot out, his fingers wrapping around my wrist like a vise.

I froze.

"Let me go," I said through gritted teeth.

**"Not until you answer me."**

I turned to face him, and the look in his eyes made my stomach drop.

**"Why?"** he demanded. **"Why, less than a month after our divorce, are you already with him? Were you fucking him while we were still married?"**

The accusation hit me like a slap.

For a moment, I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe.

Then the anger came roaring back, hot and vicious.

I laughed—a bitter, broken sound that didn't sound like me at all.

**"You want to talk about cheating, Julian? You? The man who spent three years putting another woman first? The man who left me bleeding in a hospital bed so he could run to Victoria's side?"**

I ripped my wrist from his grip, stepping into his space.

**"Think whatever the hell you want,"** I spat.

His face went white.

I turned on my heel and walked toward Ethan, who was already opening the passenger door of his car

"Let's check into a hotel tonight; staying in the RV might not be safe for you guys, especially with someone like Julian around," Ethan suggested.

My mother nodded first, "Ethan, that's really thoughtful of you."

---

The drive to the hotel was silent.

Ethan kept glancing at me, his expression unreadable. My mother sat in the back seat, her hand resting lightly on my shoulder.

**"You okay, baby?"** she asked softly.

I nodded, even though I wasn't.

*I'm never okay.*

---

The hotel lobby was small and cozy, all warm wood and soft lighting. The girl at the front desk—a perky blonde who couldn't have been older than twenty—smiled brightly as we approached.

**"Good evening! How many rooms?"**

**"Three,"** I said automatically.

**"Two,"** my mother said at the same time.

I turned to look at her, confused.

She gave me a knowing smile, her hand reaching out to clasp mine and Ethan's together.

**"You two are a couple, aren't you?"** she said gently. **"You should share a room."**

My heart stopped.

*No. No no no.*

**"Mom, I don't think—"**

And then I saw him.

Julian.

Standing just inside the lobby entrance, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, his expression unreadable.

*Fuck.*

He'd followed us.

Of course he had.

Ethan must have seen him too, because his arm tightened around my waist.

My mother was still looking at me expectantly, waiting for an answer.

I swallowed hard.

*You wanted this, Elena. You wanted him to think you'd moved on.*

*So move on.*

I forced a smile onto my face and turned to the receptionist.

**"You're right, Mom,"** I said, my voice steady despite the way my hands were shaking. **"Ethan and I should share a room. We're together, after all."**

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Julian's expression shatter.