Claim Me Captain! I'm Addicted to You!-Chapter 404: Infuriating Bully (1)

Ella’s POV

Everyone was pretending to mind their own business, scrolling on their phones, whispering into each other’s ears, casually acting like this wasn’t the most suspicious moment of my life.

Meanwhile, I sat there like a paranoid CCTV camera, my gaze glued to the living room entrance, waiting for Liam to come back.

Thirty minutes passed. Thirty. Whole. Minutes.

At this point, I was convinced he’d either passed out, run away, or was currently being seduced by Darla outside. My stomach twisted, and every stupid, dramatic scenario I’d ever read in a romance novel lined up in my brain like a parade of anxiety.

Another ten minutes crawled by. My palms were sweating. My soul was sweating.

Right before we hit the one-hour mark of pure torture, the silence was shattered. Nick’s phone beeped, and he shot to his feet like someone pressed an eject button on him.

He tapped on his screen, then raised the phone to his ear. "Ollie, please go to the backyard with everyone," he said before turning to us with that annoyingly calm Knight-family expression.

"Well," Nick announced, "that’s the message we’ve been waiting for. According to Liam, we should all head to the backyard now. But Ella,"—he pointed at me like I was the final sacrifice—"steps out last. So, shall we?"

Everyone stood up.

Everyone followed.

And I... well, I followed too, even though my heart felt like it might explode into confetti made of betrayal and confusion.

As instructed, I ended up trailing behind all of them with Georgia’s arm looped tightly with mine, like she was escorting a dramatic princess to her execution.

"This is so dramatic!" Georgia whispered, practically vibrating from excitement. Then she leaned closer to me, her tone softening. "Hey... don’t worry. I’m sure everything’s fine. Because if it wasn’t, Liam wouldn’t reveal who Darla is like this... right?" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

I gave her a weak smile, but inside?

Inside, I was chanting, Please don’t let my boyfriend be cheating... Please don’t let my boyfriend be cheating... Please let this be something else. Anything else. Surprise new business? Secret pet tiger? Fake cousin? Underground poker debt? I’ll take anything.

But deep down, a small part of me prayed... Let him choose me.

I knew Georgia was only saying that to calm me down, but my brain wasn’t interested in being reasonable. While we shuffled after everyone, a hundred worst-case scenarios started painting themselves in my head like a chaotic slideshow I definitely didn’t ask for.

What if Liam has a child with Darla? Like... right now—standing in the backyard holding a toddler who calls him "Daddy"? And they’re just waiting for me so they can introduce their "new blended family"?

My stomach flipped.

Or what if Darla belongs to some influential family, and he has already agreed to marry her?

What if I’m about to be politely asked to step aside while they hand me a "thank you for participating" consolation prize?

My imagination was on steroids. Truly Olympic-level catastrophizing.

Everyone was already gathered on the back porch when I finally stepped out. And the strangest thing happened—

They all looked at me... and smiled.

Not pity smiles. Not awkward "brace yourself" smiles. Actual warm, excited smiles.

Suspicion crawled up my spine like a cold spider.

Then I noticed her, an unfamiliar woman standing near the porch steps. Middle-aged, with visible gray hairs, she was definitely still gorgeous, holding a flower crown like she was about to crown the village idiot. And she was smiling directly at me.

Oh god... is that Darla?

Is she crowning me "The Fool"?

Before I could spiral any further, two more people, another woman and a man, stepped forward, smiling like they’d been waiting for this exact moment.

They approached me slowly with the middle-aged woman.

And then, without saying a word, the woman gently placed the flower crown on my head.

I froze.

My confusion was so loud it could’ve been heard from space.

Because at this point I wasn’t sure if they were welcoming me...

or preparing me for public humiliation in front of the entire family.

"Hi, I’m Darla," the woman said with a warm smile. "Mr. Knight hired me to organize this. We tried to stick to the original plan, but he said his sister was starting a war and we needed to move fast, like right now."

Behind me, Vicky let out the longest, guiltiest sigh in human history.

"Yeah... that’s on me," she admitted. "Ella, blame me later. Not Liam. I will accept whatever punishment you deem fit."

I blinked at her. Punishment? War? Original plan? What plan?

Why does everyone suddenly sound like they’ve been carrying state secrets?

Before I could demand answers, the man beside Darla stepped forward and, very gently, took my hand.

"Miss Collins, please allow me to guide you," he said, like I was royalty and not a confused woman trying not to hyperventilate in front of her boyfriend’s entire family and friends.

My body moved on autopilot as he led me down the porch steps.

Wait. Hold on. What is going on?

Why is my hand in a stranger’s hand?

Why is everyone smiling like I’m the main character of a surprise party?

Why is Vicky suddenly sorry and not angry anymore?

Then I saw it.

Red rose petals.

Lots of them, scattered across the ground in a neat path, like the universe suddenly decided to give me a breadcrumb trail but make it romantic.

My eyes followed the petal path as the man kept leading me toward the garden. My heart hammered so hard I was sure everyone could hear it.

I lifted my gaze—

And stopped breathing.

There, under the old tree Georgia and I planted when we were young, stood Liam.

The tree was draped with white and red tulle, soft lanterns hanging like tiny floating moons. LED Candles surrounded the area, glowing warm and golden.

He stood right in the center of a heart made entirely of rose petals.

Liam had changed into a dark gray suit.

And he was smiling.

At me.

My brain glitched.

My heart somersaulted.

My knees threatened to quit their job and leave my body entirely.

Oh my God.

Is this—

Is this what I think it is?

*******

Thank you for the Golden Tickets!

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