Thorns Grow After Betrayal (Celeste and Chester) novel Chapter 200

Celestine had never faced anything like this before.

In that split second, the boy had shoved her out of harm's way.

She watched, helpless, as the bullet tore through his thin chest.

But then her own head hit the rocks—after that, everything went black.

The next thing she remembered was waking up in a hospital bed.

She never saw the boy again.

Police officers came, one after another, asking her to recall every painful detail from those days.

Celestine answered their questions over and over, reliving the nightmare each time.

One night, her mother found her crouched in the backyard, picking at the grass and eating it. The sight left her mother terrified.

They brought her to a therapist.

The doctor said she had post-traumatic stress disorder.

After that… things started to blur.

She forgot about the chains, the boy, and the gunshot.

But every night, when darkness fell, fear crept in. She would curl up in her room, unable to sleep without the lights on.

And now, as the missing piece of her memory snapped into place, the present scene overlapped with that long-buried past.

Celestine's gasp tore through the silence.

Mr. Shield was him.

He hadn't died…

Suddenly, memories came rushing back—too many, too fast.

Inside that pitch-black cave, the boy had whispered, "Thank you for saving me. If we make it out of here, I swear I'll protect you."

In that instant, everything made sense: why Gideon kept showing up, time and again. Why every "coincidence" happened just when she needed someone most. Why, despite his fear of the ocean, he'd plunged into the sea after her with no hesitation.

He'd been keeping his promise all along.

He'd always been watching over her, in silence.

The broken link in her memory snapped back together, and Celestine was left reeling, unable to catch her breath.

She was still in shock when the man in front of her finally opened his eyes.

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify