Everest's Guardian Hubby Watched Me Freeze My Ghost Knows Where He'll Burn novel Chapter 47

Chapter 6

The plane had been slicing through thick clouds for nearly ten hours, each minute dragging on endlessly. When we finally touched down, a wave of exhaustion washed over me so completely that it felt as though every bit of energy had been squeezed out of my body.

Waiting for me in the arrivals hall was Aunt Annie. The moment her eyes landed on me, her face tightened with worry.

“Lanie, you’re nothing but skin and bones! What on earth happened to you?” she exclaimed, concern etched deep in her voice.

Without hesitation, she grabbed my suitcase in one hand and gently but firmly clasped my arm with the other, as if I might shatter under the slightest touch.

I forced a smile, trying to mask the fatigue that clung to me like a heavy cloak. “Guess I lost a little weight,” I teased weakly. “Otherwise, how would I ever outrun warthogs on the savannah later?”

Her laughter was soft but genuine, and she gave my forehead a playful tap. “Still the little troublemaker, huh? Always cracking jokes no matter what.”

We climbed into her battered Land Rover, the windows rolled down to let in the warm, unfamiliar air of this new place. The heat wrapped around me like a thick blanket, a stark contrast to the sterile chill of the plane cabin.

As we crossed a rickety bridge, I glanced down at the sluggish river below, its murky water moving lazily beneath us. My fingers instinctively slipped into my pocket, brushing against the cold metal of the ring Sean had given me.

“Wear this, and you’ll be the real Mrs. Winters,” his words echoed in my mind.

I stared out at the landscape blurring past the window, my face unreadable. Then, without another thought, I rolled down the window and hurled the ring out into the air with all the strength I could muster.

She even told me about the time she had come face-to-face with a lion, dozing peacefully inside a camouflage blind.

I listened, captivated, as vivid images unfurled inside my mind like a movie.

These were the dreams I had once scribbled on the very first page of my college journal — everything I had ever longed for.

I had pictured myself just like Aunt Annie, a camera slung over my shoulder, exploring every corner of the globe.

But instead, I had locked myself away in a gilded cage — all for a man who never truly saw me.