Chapter 349 Hi Michael

Chapter 349 Hi Michael
The evening had settled heavily over the house by the time Rebecca finally came out of the bathroom after taking her shower. The warm water had done little to calm her mind, and although she had spent several minutes standing beneath it, trying to wash away the fear and exhaustion that had followed her throughout the past week, she still felt just as tired and overwhelmed.

She stepped out of the bathroom slowly, one hand instinctively resting over her stomach as she adjusted the loose clothes she was wearing. Her hair was still slightly damp, and a few drops of water rolled down the side of her neck.

Looking towards the bed, she froze when she realized she wasn't alone anymore. She had a visitor standing with his back turned away from the bathroom door. For a fleeting moment, she thought it was one of the men who usually brought her food or came to check on her, but something about the person's height, his build, and the way he stood made her realize that it wasn't one of them. This stranger looked so familiar, even from the back.

Slowly, she took a step forward, and the man, hearing her footsteps, turned around. Rebecca's entire body went rigid as her eyes widened in disbelief at seeing the person standing before her. She knew that face. She had seen that face so many times before.

"Adrian..." The name escaped her lips in a barely audible whisper.

For several seconds, she simply stared at him, unable to understand what she was seeing. It couldn't be him. Not Adrian, not the man she had trusted, not the man she had once considered a friend, not the man she had almost considered dating. It could be anyone but Adrian.

But even her thoughts weren't enough to change the face she was seeing. Her breathing became uneven as the reality slowly settled in. Adrian was the person standing inside her room. He was the person who had taken her, he was the voice behind the phone calls, the person who had been threatening Derek, and the reason she was separated from her husband and their child's father.

Her legs suddenly felt weak, and she staggered backward, her eyes never leaving his face. For one terrifying second, it looked as though she was going to fall, but Adrian immediately rushed forward and caught her before she could hit the floor.

"Rebecca," he called with panic, his hands going around her carefully as he tried to steady her. "Easy, easy. You're going to fall."

Rebecca immediately stiffened at his touch. She wanted to push him away, but she was too shocked to even find the strength. He slowly helped her toward the bed and guided her down until she was safely sitting on the edge. Once she was seated, he stepped away from her, giving her several feet of space. He knew she was still coming to terms with seeing him again, and he didn't want to overwhelm her more than he already had or was still doing.

Rebecca stared at him as tears slowly began filling her eyes, while Adrian looked at her for a moment before speaking.

"I'm sorry I haven't come to see you sooner," he said quietly. "I had a lot of things I needed to take care of, but I'm here now."

Rebecca stared at him in disbelief. She couldn't believe Adrian would ever do this. She couldn't believe she had once been friends with the man standing before her. No wonder the men had taken care of her, she thought. Now that she thought about it, he was the only person capable of doing this.

"Why?" she finally asked, her voice trembling. "Why did you do this?"

Adrian frowned slightly. "Rebecca..."

"Why did you do this to me?"  She asked, her voice cracked as the tears finally began running down her cheeks. "Why did you do this to me?"

Adrian looked uncomfortable. Seeing her cry seemed to affect him more than he wanted to show.

"Please don't cry," he said softly. "I don't want to see you like this."

He took a small step toward her with his hand outstretched, as though he wanted to comfort her, but Rebecca immediately recoiled from him.

"Don't," she said firmly. "Don't touch me." Her voice was filled with hurt and fear. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, but more continued to fall.

"I considered you my friend, Adrian," she said, her voice breaking. "I trusted you. I trusted you so much that I almost had problems with my husband because of you."

The moment she mentioned Derek, Adrian's expression changed slightly, Rebecca noticed it immediately, and her eyes widened with sudden fear.

"Derek." She looked at him desperately. "What have you done to my husband?"

Adrian's jaw tightened. "He's safe for now."

"For now?" She repeated, her voice rising. "What does that mean? Where is he? What have you done to him?"

"I said he's safe," he groaned out angrily. He wasn't about to tell her Derek had escaped. He wasn't about to tell her that his men's incapability had cost him his only control over her. The solution now was to marry her and travel far away from here before they discovered his location. If not for that old fool, Michael, he would have succeeded in his plan by now, but now he planned on doing everything before anybody jeopardized his plan again.

"You expect me to believe you?" Rebecca's voice trembled as she stood from the bed. "You kidnapped me, Adrian. You locked me inside this room. You've been threatening me with my husband's life, and now you expect me to believe that he's safe?"

Adrian stared at her.

"Well, I haven't called to tell you he's dead yet," he replied almost inaudibly, but Rebecca heard him.

Rebecca shook her head, tears continuing to fall. "Why did you have to do this? Why did you have to go this far?" He asked, Adrian said nothing, just looked away from her.

"And all those times you helped me," she continued, her voice filled with hurt and disbelief, "all those times you acted like you were trying to protect me, was that all part of your plan? Taking the bullet instead of me, was that also a part of your plan with Celia?" she asked, almost dreading the answer to the question.

Adrian remained silent for a moment before answering, "Yes and no," he muttered slowly.

Rebecca stared at him in confusion. She didn't understand what his answer meant.
"What does that even mean?" she asked.

Instead of answering immediately, Adrian walked toward the small table in the room and pulled the chair closer to the bed. He sat down slowly, resting his hands against his thighs. For a few seconds, he stared at the floor before finally looking back at Rebecca.

Something about him seemed different. He didn't look like the Adrian she had known weeks ago. There was something darker in his eyes now, something Rebecca couldn't understand, and that scared her more than she could say.

"I'm not a good man, Rebecca," he finally said quietly. "I know that now. Saving you was part of the plan, but it was also because I couldn't just stand there and watch you get hurt."

Rebecca frowned. "What plan?" she asked, taking her seat on the bed again.

Adrian shook his head. "Now isn't the time to go into all those details."

Rebecca let out a small, bitter laugh through her tears. "Don't I deserve to know? Someone I trusted, someone I cared about, went ahead and kidnapped me and my husband, and you think I don't deserve to know why? Don't I deserve to know why you did this to me?"

Adrian remained quiet while Rebecca studied him carefully. There was something else she had been noticing since they began talking. Every time she called Derek her husband, Adrian's expression would change almost subtly. Most times, his jaw would tighten, other times, his eyes would darken, and more often than not, he would grimace as though the word itself physically hurt him.

"You don't even like hearing me call him my husband, do you?" she asked, but Adrian did not say anything. He simply looked away.

Rebecca swallowed hard before continuing. "Why? Is that why you did this? Because you couldn't accept that I went back to him?"

Adrian finally looked back at her. "I'll tell you everything," he said quietly.

"When?" she asked, looking at him. She tried to hold his gaze, but he looked away.

"Just not now," he replied.

Rebecca shook her head. "Of course."

"Rebecca..."

"The last thing you would ever do is hurt me?" she interrupted bitterly.

Adrian nodded slightly. "Yes." He replied, causing Rebecca to scoff through her tears. "You've been hurting me for the past few days."

Adrian's expression tightened. "I never wanted you to suffer."

"That is rich coming from you. You kidnapped me, locked me inside this room with no means of communication or anything, and then you keep threatening to kill my husband every day, and you stand there to tell me you never meant to hurt me," she said, her words laced heavily with sarcasm.

Adrian's eyes hardened slightly. "I told you, I haven't hurt him."

Rebecca opened her mouth to respond, but before she could say anything, the door suddenly opened.

One of the lanky men rushed into the room, holding a phone in his hand. Adrian immediately turned toward him. The man hurried across the room and leaned down, whispering something into Adrian's ear.

Rebecca watched carefully, and she saw the exact moment Adrian's expression changed. Whatever the man had whispered to him had immediately wiped away the calmness from his face. His eyes widened slightly before his expression hardened.

He stood up quickly while Rebecca stared at him. "What is it?" She asked, but he didn't answer. Instead, he reached for the phone the man was holding.

"We're done for now," he said, his voice suddenly distant.

"What?" she asked, confused, as she stood up from the bed. "What happened?"

Adrian didn't respond. He simply turned toward the door and began walking out, the man following closely behind him.

"Adrian," Rebecca called after him. "Where are you going?" she asked, but he said nothing and just continued walking.

"Adrian, wait," she called again. She wasn't done talking with him, she still needed more information, and he was just leaving like that without giving her any answers.

He reached the doorway and stepped outside while Rebecca took a step forward, her confusion quickly turning into fear.

"Adrian," she called again, but he didn't stop but just before the door closed, Rebecca heard him call a name, a name that made her entire body freeze in fear.

"Hi, Michael."