Chapter 91 I’ll Fix This
Will’s P.O.V.
I haven’t slept. Not for a single second.
I’ve spent the entire night in my car, parked across the street from the Ravenport main gates. My eyes are burning with exhaustion. Every passing car feels like a threat, every shadow feels like the bastard holding my wife’s life in his hands. My head throbs, and my soul feels like it has been scraped raw.
The blackmailer’s words wouldn’t stop echoing in my head. “If you don’t break her heart, I’ll break her life.”
I’ve broken her heart.
I shattered it.
And now I’m sitting here, praying to God I haven’t spoken to in years just to see her face.
What if she doesn’t come to college? What if she’s somewhere else? What if something happened? Dark thoughts crowd my mind, but I force myself to breathe.
She will come. She’s strong. Bad days will end. They have to.
Then as I see her, walking through the main gates, her shoulders hunched, I jump out of the car.
Relief hits me so hard my knees almost give out. She’s safe. She’s here. She’s breathing.
But that relief dies the moment I see her properly. Her face is pale. Dark circles sit under her eyes behind her glasses. She looks like she hasn’t slept either.
I did that.
I made my vibrant, beautiful wife look like a ghost.
I can’t just stand there.
My body moves before my mind can stop it. I step forward, grab her wrist, and gently pull her to a stop. “Iva.”
She turns sharply. For a second, just one second, I see it.
Hope.
Her lips part like she’s about to say my name the way she used to.
Then reality crashes over her. Her face hardens. She pulls her hand away as my touch burns her. “Why did you come now?" she asks, her voice brittle.
"Why did you leave our home?" I ask, and I hate how much pain leaks into my voice. I sound pathetic. I sound like the man who isn't currently destroying her happiness. "You just... You disappeared, Iva."
“After what you’ve done, did you think I would still live in that house?” She lets out a shaky laugh. A tear escapes despite her glare. “And why are you acting as if you care now? You haven’t even looked at me in days, Will. You pushed me.”
I close my eyes for a heartbeat, picturing the way she looked when I shoved her away from me in bed. I want to fall at her feet. I want to pull her into my arms, bury my face in her neck, and tell her everything. I want to tell her that some coward is holding her dignity hostage. That I’m burning alive trying to fix this.
I'm just protecting you. Your husband is helpless, Professor.
The voice in my head whispers, ‘Don’t lose control, Will. He’s watching.’
“I told you I’m busy, Iva.” I force my tone to turn cold. Empty. “You can’t just leave like this. It’s reckless.”
"Really? You're busy?" She steps closer, her eyes searching mine, begging for a crack in the mask. "You can't make a fool out of me anymore. I know you're hiding something. I can see it. Tell me the real reason, Will. Please."
Her plea almost destroys me. I want to scream, ‘I’m doing this for you. I’m saving you from the world’s cruelty.’
Instead, I swallow it. "I told you, I’m just busy. It’s not a big deal that requires you to run away and move out. You’re overreacting."
The hurt that flashes across her face is worse than any slap.
"Why am I even talking to you?" She turns to walk away.
"You're coming with me.” I grab her wrist again. It’s an instinct, I need her where I can see her, where I can ensure no one harms her. "You can't leave the house. It isn't safe."
“Leave me, Will!” She snaps, pulling back. “I will step into that house again only when you tell me the truth. Until then, stay away from me.”
I scream inside, ‘I can’t tell you. If I tell you, he wins. If I tell you, your world collapses.’
I let my hand drop. My fingers feel empty. I stand there, a monster in a suit, watching the woman I love walk toward her lecture hall. She looks back one last time, her eyes searching mine for the man she married.
I stay frozen, keeping my expression like stone, until she disappears inside. Only then do I let out a breath. I have to find this bastard. I have to kill him. Because if I don't, I’m going to lose her forever.
I keep standing there for a while, paralysed, watching the door she just walked through. My hand still remembers the rhythm of her pulse. I wanted to run after her, to drag her into my arms and never let go.
Instead, I stand there, rotating my wedding ring nervously. My hands are shaking. I’ve never felt this helpless in my life.
How am I supposed to protect her from someone I can’t even see?
My phone vibrates in my pocket.
My heart drops.
No.
Please no.
With trembling fingers, I pull it out.
New messages.
New images.
Fuck!!!
My stomach turns as I open them.
She’s in the shower. Naked. Different angles. From behind. From the side. Zoomed in. Even a video clip.
Someone put a camera in the place she’s staying.
Fuck! Fuck!
Then the text appears.
Unknown: I saw that little reunion, Will. You’re getting soft. You were supposed to drive her away, not beg her to come home. If you try to bring her back under your roof where you can protect her, these will go live on the University’s main server in five minutes. Do you want her to be the “Slut of the Faculty” by lunch? Back off. Let her stay lost.
"You son of a bitch!" I almost throw the phone against the wall, but I stop myself. This phone is my only connection to him.
I look up at the college building.
It suddenly feels like a prison.
She’s inside. Teaching. Trying to survive.
And someone is watching her.
Watching us.
Extreme rage rises inside me. Every instinct screams at me to drag her away. Lock her somewhere safe. Stand guard with a gun.
But I can’t. The more I hold her, the tighter he squeezes. So I have to let her stay away from me.
Even if it kills me.
Who are you? I think, scanning the students around me. Are you one of them? A student? A teacher? Someone from my own club?
Every face looks normal. Laughing. Talking. Living.
But one of them could be the man destroying my life.
I walk back to my car like a machine. No feelings. Just purpose.
I call the detective from a secret phone, because I know that bastard is watching my main number. Watching my movements.
“Trace him. Anyhow,” I snap the second he answers. “I don’t care what it costs. I want a location. If he’s watching the college, he’s close. Find him. Or I swear I’ll burn everything down myself.”
I end the call and lean my forehead against the steering wheel.
The sun is rising. The car is getting hot.
But I feel cold.
So cold.
If I ever find that blackmailer…
I won’t show mercy.
“Professor, I’ll fix this. I promise. Just stay strong. Stay safe.” I trace the lines of her glasses and the shade of her blue eyes inked into my skin. It’s a small tattoo, but it feels bigger than everything else falling apart around me.
It is the only thing keeping me from completely breaking. When I look at it, I don’t see ink. I see the woman who believes in me even when I don’t deserve it. It feels like she’s still here with me somehow. When my body shakes with fear and guilt, I press my thumb against it and breathe. As long as this is on me, I’m not alone. As long as her eyes are etched into my wrist, I have a reason to stand up and fight.
I start the engine and drive away fast. I have to find that asshole. Before I lose her. Before the darkness I created swallows us both.