All Chapters of Betrayed Before the Vows: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

“So now I need permission if another man helps me when I faint?”Camelia’s voice cut sharply through the room the moment the door slammed shut behind William.He stood a few steps away from the entrance, breathing heavily, snow still clinging to his dark coat. His jaw was tight, his eyes burning with emotions that had not cooled since the argument outside.“Don’t twist this into something else,” William replied coldly.Camelia laughed bitterly.“Oh, so now I’m the problem?”William ripped off his gloves and threw them onto the table.“I saw my wife sleeping on another man’s shoulder.”“I fainted!”“And he looked far too comfortable touching you.”Camelia stared at him in disbelief.“My God… you’re actually jealous.”“I’m your husband. I have every right to be jealous.”“Not like this.” She shook her head in frustration. “This isn’t normal jealousy, William. It feels like you’ve been waiting for me to betray you.”The words made him fall silent for a second.But his emotions were alrea

“Careful, little man. You’re going to fall.”Adrian laughed softly as Elyan stumbled unsteadily across the carpet toward him.The baby squealed happily, tiny hands reaching upward without hesitation.Camelia smiled faintly from the couch nearby while organizing medical files across her lap. Sunlight filtered weakly through the snowy windows of the station, casting pale silver light over the room.For once, things had felt calmer these past few days.No attacks.No alarms.No shouting.Even William and Camelia had begun speaking normally again after the misunderstanding about Elena.Not perfect.But better.And because security operations had intensified outside the station, William had been gone most mornings handling patrol routes with Marko.Which meant Adrian had somehow become a constant presence around Elyan.The baby liked him immediately.Too immediately.“Look at you,” Adrian teased while lifting Elyan easily into his arms. “Future mountain climber already?”Elyan giggled loud

“What are you looking for?”Camelia looked up from the storage cabinet as Elena entered the archive room carrying a stack of medical reports.“Bandages,” Camelia answered. “William somehow managed to use half the station’s supplies on one shoulder wound.”Elena smiled faintly.“That sounds like him.”The atmosphere between them had become less tense after the previous night. Not warm exactly, but calmer. Softer.At least compared to before.Snow continued falling heavily outside Obersdorf while most of the station remained quiet after the northern ambush.William was currently asleep in the infirmary after finally allowing the doctors to sedate him for a few hours.Which almost never happened.Camelia closed another dusty cabinet with a sigh.“Why does this place have fifty drawers full of useless wires but no proper medical storage?”“Because the station was built by paranoid engineers.”“That explains a lot.”Elena laughed quietly before placing her reports onto a nearby desk.As Ca

“Why didn’t you tell me?”William’s voice was low but tense as he stepped into the medical wing.Camelia looked up from Elyan’s crib, already exhausted before the conversation even began.“Tell you what?”“Elena is leaving tomorrow.”Camelia blinked once.“She told you?”“No,” William answered sharply. “Marko did.”The air immediately became uncomfortable.Outside, snow hammered against the station windows while distant thunder rolled through the mountains.Camelia slowly stood.“She asked me not to say anything yet.”William laughed quietly without humor.“Of course she did.”Camelia frowned.“What’s that supposed to mean?”“It means Elena has always decided what’s best for everyone without asking them first.”The bitterness in his voice surprised her.“You’re angry at her for leaving?”“I’m angry because she keeps disappearing like people can just move on from it.”Camelia stared at him for a moment.Then something inside her finally snapped.“There it is again.”William looked conf

“She’s not answering the radio.”Marko’s voice echoed sharply through the operations room as another wave of thunder shook the station walls.Outside, the storm had turned violent.Not snow this time.Rain.Cold, merciless mountain rain crashing against Obersdorf like the sky itself was falling apart.William grabbed the communication receiver from the desk.“Try the secondary channel again.”Static answered him.Nothing else.The tension inside the control room thickened immediately.Three hours earlier, Camelia had left with Adrian and two engineers to inspect a damaged relay tower near the eastern ridge after lightning disrupted part of the People’s Grid network.They should have returned before sunset.Now the mountain roads were flooding.Visibility was almost zero.And contact had suddenly disappeared.Elena looked up from another monitor.“The storm knocked out two relay points already.”William’s jaw tightened dangerously.“Send another patrol.”“We already tried,” Marko answe