Filed to story: The CEO’s Wife Is a Secret Boss Novel (Allison & Jeremy) Free Online
Her heart pounded violently in her chest.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m here now!”
Jeremy saw a conflict of emotions on her face, everything from fear to joy to worry, all directed right at his beating heart. He pulled her up some more, his grip on her arm even quivering slightly.
He could feel the ground beneath them slipping, the rock falling off the ledge. If they didn’t move right now, both of them might fall to their deaths.
*Jeremy…” Alyssa mumbled, tears falling down her cheeks. “I don’t want to die…”
She had transcended all her limits of strength in making it so far up here on the mountain. The moment she saw Jeremy, her last wall fell, revealing the frightened young woman within.
Jeremy couldn’t bear seeing her so upset. All he wanted was to keep her safe.
“You can cry all you want later. Now, just try and push yourself up!”
Alyssa sniffled and quickly climbed back up the side of the mountain.
“Hurry! This ledge won’t hold on much longer!” Jeremy yelled.
“I know! I’m trying!” Alyssa roared back.
Jeremy cocked his head. Her cuteness had evaporated with that yell.
Suddenly, a lightning strike lit up their surroundings, casting Alyssa’s visage in vivid clarity, as if a hidden truth had been exposed.
A sudden headache overwhelmed Jeremy. All of a sudden, Alyssa’s expression fused with that of a young girl from years ago.
Faint yet familiar memories swam in his head.
“What’s your name, kid?”
“You’re not telling me? I’ll call you Allison then. You’re like Allison from Allison in Wonderland, short and cute-
looking.”
There was a buzzing in Jeremy’s ears as realization hit him like a truck.
Allison… Allison Burton.
Alyssa was the girl he had rescued 13 years ago.
It was as though Jeremy was adrift in a pool of pure astonishment, and the fact that the ledge beneath them was falling apart only enhanced this surreal feeling.
“Hurry, Allison!” he cried, resurrecting a name that had been dormant in his mind for years.
Alyssa jolted in shock. The call of that name seemed to give her a boost of adrenaline. She was able to push herself up on the ledge at the last second, right into Jeremy’s arms.
He held her close in his arms, keeping her safe.
A thunderous boom echoed through the air.
Just as the rocky ledge disintegrated and tumbled down the mountainside, Jeremy deftly rolled aside, narrowly escaping the peril.
“Fuck!” he hissed in pain when his back collided with a boulder. The intensity of the pain led to an immediate outbreak of sweat on his skin.
“Are you hurt?” Alyssa asked worriedly, noticing how pale he was.
Jeremy shook his head, his voice steady as he reassured, “I’m okay.”
Alyssa heaved a sigh of relief, falling back against his chest. By now, both were thoroughly drenched and shivering from the cold.
“Why… Why didn’t you tell me?” Jeremy asked hoarsely, gazing at her.
“What?” Alyssa avoided his gaze.
“Why didn’t you tell me that we met 13 years ago? Why didn’t you tell me you were the girl I saved all those years ago?” Jeremy asked, pain and anguish flooding his chest.
Alyssa’s throat clamped in on itself.
Did he call her Allison because of that? Because he suddenly remembered?
But why now?
Why, only after 13 years?
It was too late now. How she wished he had never remembered.
“Tell me, Alyssa!” Jeremy asked, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“Now, do you remember why I called myself Allison when we married?” she asked solemnly.
Needles pricked Jeremy’s heart. Of course he did.
He had given her that nickname because she refused to answer when he asked. He named her “Allison”, like Allison in Wonderland.
Never in his wildest dreams did Jeremy imagine that a seemingly trivial and long-forgotten memory would resurface, ultimately intertwining their lives 13 years later. She had even married him.
She kept it secret for so long, too.
“Looks like you do.” Alyssa smiled lightly. “There’s no need to, really. I never hoped you would. I’m nothing more than another passerby in your life, after all. Whether it was 13 years, three years, or right now.”
Jeremy’s breathing hitched.
Technically, there was nothing amiss in his complete forgetfulness of her or in his act of saving her from
13 years ago. Yet, he couldn’t stop the guilt weighing on his chest.
Alyssa had kept him in her heart for 13 years, yet he had forgotten her. All she ever did was try closing their distance, unlike him, who only wanted to shut her out.
“I’m sorry…” Jeremy croaked out. “I … really didn’t know… If I knew, I-“
“You would have still divorced me, no?”
Alyssa’s smile widened. Though she had her regrets about him, she wasn’t holding on anymore.
She continued, “Whether I’m Alyssa or Allison, they’re nothing more than just names. It wouldn’t change our relationship. You don’t need to apologize, really. I should be the one thanking you.
“When you saved me all those years ago, I never got a chance to know your name or who you are, nor …
properly thank you.”
“Why did you still marry me, Alyssa?” Jeremy wanted to know the answer to this. It had tortured him for months on end. “Is it just because I saved you once, and you wanted to pay me back?”
‘It doesn’t matter anymore, Jeremy. It’s all in the past now. No point digging up a failed marriage.”
Alyssa closed her eyes, as if closing a tender place in her heart away.
Then she said, “We need to focus on getting to safety right now. I’m freezing here.”
There seemed to be an unspoken truce between them as they waded through the thunderstorm.
All they had was each other right now. Even their phones were out of use. Alyssa’s had long broken in the fall, while Jeremy’s had no signal.
With ragged breaths, Alyssa rasped, “All I can tell is that we’re situated behind Crater Mountain’s main trail. If we were closer, your phone would have a signal.”
She had long lost her main reserves of energy.
The only thing that propelled her onward was her determination not to fall behind Jeremy, even though her legs felt completely detached from her body.
“I’ve already told Xavier to do a helicopter rounding earlier before coming to find you.” Jeremy hurriedly hooked an arm around her waist to keep her from falling.
“In this weather? That’s a tough one. He should…”
Unable to hold on anymore, Alyssa fell forward.
Jeremy swiftly gathered her into his arms. She smelled of rain and dirt and nothing else.