Married with the Broken Hearted CEO novel Chapter 29

Chadwick and Adira held their breaths in front of the pale and white soldier in front of them, with a blood on his head, as if to indicate how he was killed by getting a hit on his head. 
There are four things that one should do when he sees a ghost. First, do not panic. Second, set boundaries. Third, tell the ghost to leave you hell alone. And fourth, make peace with the ghost so he won’t bother you anymore. 
But all those techniques did not appear on the two’s minds while looking at the scary creature in front of them. 
Chadwick covered his mouth and shouted without sounds. 
Meanwhile, Adira said inwardly, ‘It looks realistic.’
Actually, the bloody soldier isn’t really a ghost but one of the staffs in the horror house. People usually failed the quest at this point. They shouted so hard after seeing the soldier appeared along with the loud crying man sounds. 
However, Chadwick and Adia must be so determined to win the challenge that no one among them screamed. Well, Chadwick was in the verge of fainting. 
“Hello there,” Adira greeted the soldier. “We did not scream so what will happen next?” 
The ghost soldier took something from his pocket and gave a paper to Adira. Then he went back inside where he had been hiding before. 
Chadwick, who almost fainted, leaned on Adira and peeked at the paper she’s holding. 
‘You did great Chadwick. You did great,’ he silently praised himself. 
“He was a good friend. But he betrayed me,” Adira read the content of the paper. 
As if snapped out, Chadwick looked at her and back to the paper. “Betrayed who?” 
“Yes,” Adira said. She showed the paper and uttered, “It is maybe the soldier’s message for us. He was betrayed by a friend.” 
At the end of the paper, it says that they should walk upstairs to find more clue.
“We need to go upstairs,” Adira suggested. 
Since they are into this, Chadwick could not refute anymore. 
They made their way back to the hallway where a slimmer of light came from the window. Dust swirled around as they made their way in front of the staircase.
They arrived at the foot of the staircase. Chadwick and Adira stood and peered at the top.
‘I wondered when a twisted head person will crawl down and have us for dinner,’ Chadwick imagined. He shook his head to erase the scary scene inside his head. 
Adira summoned her strength and tiptoed her way up the stairs. Chadwick followed. 
Each step intensified the moaning and creaking as if the steps could collapse at any moment. When they went to the second floor, Adira set the light to the right and saw an opened door. 
They had reached the bathroom. 
“A bathroom,” Adira murmured as she walked inside. 
Chadwick followed her while breathing so hard. 
Looking around, they saw a single window that was mildly dirty, and a flood of light flowed into the room. The medicine cabinet mirror lay shattered in pieces on the floor tile. The empty medicine bottle lay revealed the discoloration of the water, a brownish concoction.
Approaching the bathtub, a violent odor made it way to their noses. Chadwick and Adira pinched their noses. 
“Even the smell is realistic,” Chadwick commented while looking at the crusty rags filled the bathtub. 
They turned into the corner of the bathroom and saw the old mirror reflecting their images. 
A bloody writing was spotted. 
“He killed me.” 
As soon as they read the bloody writings on the mirror, they heard sounds of chains and steps on the stairways they used before. 
Adira and Chadwick both looked at the entrance of the door. 
“W-What is that?” he asked, staring at the door with a pale face. 
“Maybe, another way to scare us,” Adira whispered. 
The sounds kept getting louder and louder, and they waited to see anything from the entrance. They expected to see a ghost, just like what happened in the kitchen. 
However, the sounds of chains and steps stopped but nothing appeared. 
Both sighed in relief.
Chadwick and Adira looked at the mirror at the same time and… 
“...!” 
“...” 
They saw a lady reflecting in the mirror. She is standing beside Chadwick while wearing a nurse uniform. 
Chadwick’s hands trembled while looking at the lady who suddenly appeared beside her. They know that it is also a human, just like them, but still, she scared Chadwick to death. 
Fortunately, the two did not shout and remained wordless while staring at the woman through the mirror. 
“Stop it,” the ghost woman whispered. 
Chadwick gulped, while Adira looked at her straight into the eyes. 
“Stop it,” the woman said again before she turned around and went into the dark to go for another hide. 
Adira took a deep breath as he pressed his chest. 
On the other side, Adira is analyzing the clues they got so far, inside her head. 
‘A dead soldier who said they left him alone. And a dead nurse who said: “stop it.”’ 
She rubbed her chin and wondered the answer to the mysterious haunted house. 
“The sign said that the door in the room opened at 12am, right?” Adira asked Chadwick. 
While catching his breath, Chadwick looked at his wife. “Yes,” he answered. 
“I think I saw a clock outside the bathroom.” 
Adira quickly exited the bathroom, which frightened her husband whom she left behind. 
“H-Hey. Don’t leave me behind. I don’t have a flashlight with me,” he protested the picked up his pace to catch Adira. 
As soon as Adira went outside the bathroom, she pointed the light onto the broken vintage clock hanging above the wall. 
The two hands of the clock only pointed at the same number; 12. 
“It is 12 in the midnight,” Adira read. Then she saw another door on the left side. “Honey, open that,” she said. 
Chadwick bit his lower lip as he placed his hand around the doorknob of the room at the left side. However, when he pushed the door open, a dressed seemed to have been pushed against the door, attempting to deny anyone entry. 
“Oh? We can’t go inside,” Chadwick said. 
With the space between the door and the wall, Chadwick and Adira could see the silhouette of the bed, edging in closer inside the room. The sheet was splattered with a dark color and there were chains underneath the bed. 
The wind, coming from the Ac, intensified.
Chadwick and Adira looked up at the Air-conditioner above. The staff are setting the spooky mood again. 
The rustling of the curtains got louder. 
In the corner, they heard an open and close sound. 
Both stared back inside the room where they saw the window opening.
Bam! 
Bam!
Bam! 
The window opened and closed. 
A loud scream of a woman echoed throughout the house. 
“Ahhhh!” 
It was time to leave, Chadwick told to himself. 
He wanted to pull Adira out of the house and end the challenge. 
Although the set up was made by the staff, things are too eerie that he cannot differentiate what’s fake and real anymore. 
“Adira, let’s g-go now,” Chadwick offered, holding her wrist. 
But Adira stayed still. She looked at the picture frame above the table and calmly placed the light onto it to see the picture.
It is a picture of a soldier and a female nurse together. The soldier was waving his hand to the one taking the picture, but the nurse looked in grimace while looking at the camera. 
“Adira,” Chadwick called her name again. 
“I know the answer,” she murmured. 
As soon as she said that the wind calmed down. The door stopped from opening and closing at there didn’t hear any scream around. 
“What?” he asked. 
“The soldier who gave me the notes,” Adira said, “he’s wearing a ring on his finger.” 
Chadwick had an accusatory frown in the middle of his brows. He did not notice the ring on the soldier’s finger because he was too busy being so scared. 
“He has?” Chadwick inquired. 
Adira nodded her head. “The nurse inside the bathroom has ring on her finger too.” 
That too, Chadwick did not notice it. Now he praised Adira for being observant despite the nerve-wrecking situations. 
‘Or maybe, she’s really a robot who does not know how to feel scared,’ Chadwick guessed internally. 
“If the nurse and the soldier have ring on their fingers, then?” 
“They are married couple.” 
Chadwick stopped at Adira’s answer. 
The married couple whom she’s talking about are wearing wedding rings around their fingers. Adira could tell it with just a glance. However…
‘The two of us, we’re not wearing wedding rings,’ Chadwick realized. 
In the past, they both decided to wear their wedding rings, since it symbolizes an eternal love for each other. Now that she mentioned it, Chadwick felt a little sad. He regretted not being able to wear his ring for a long time ever since they got married. 
“But sadly, they both died in this house,” Adira continued. 
Through the dim light, Chadwick looked at his wife’s face. 
“The soldier died when he smashed his head from something,” Adira shared. “Which means, the window that opens and closes are the place where he was thrown down.” 
It makes sense. 
Chadwick looked at the window inside the room while Adira re-tells the sad story inside the house. 
“The dark blood on the bed is probably from his wife who was chained and killed on the bed. Probably, that’s why they heard the sound of chains and footsteps on the stairways. The soldier and his wife’s death happened at the same time. 12 am in the midnight.” 
Chadwick stared at the clock on the wall. 
“T-Then, who killed…?” he tossed the question. 
Adira lifted her eyes to her husband. She smiled sadly at him then pointed to the picture frame on the table inside the room. Chadwick stared at the said picture of a waving man, and the nurse in grimace. 
“The person who took the picture,” Adira said. 
When he heard the answer, Chadwick remembered the note they received from the soldier in the kitchen. 
The note said that he was betrayed by a friend. 
“His friend,” Chadwick whispered. “His friend killed both of them.” 
“That’s right,” Adira agreed. “It is the husband’s friend who killed the both of them in the cruelest way.” 
“But why? Why would his friend kill them?” 
Adira shrugged her shoulder as she looked at the picture frame again. Chadwick also stared at the picture inside the room. 
“Who knows? There are many reasons why,” Adira responded. “Maybe, jealousy? The friend maybe fell in love with the soldier’s wife. He was too jealous, so he killed both of them.” 
Chadwick nodded his head. “Right. It can be.” 
“But don’t worry,” Adira suddenly said. “No matter how close you are with your friend, I won’t be jealous. So, I won’t kill you and Isa.” 
“Huh?”
Chadwick tended his head towards his wife who suddenly uttered their story.
Adira, somehow, relates the soldier and nurse story to their situation. 
Chadwick married Adira, but he keeps his friend by his side all because he cannot let of his feelings towards his first love.
The story of the soldier, his wife and his friend showed how scary jealousy is. However, in their case, Adira never did feel jealous over Chadwick and Isa. 
But things have changed already. 
Chadwick does not like Isa anymore, and he’s falling in love with his wife right now. 
He opened his mouth to tell Adira that he does not like Isa, but…
“Anyway, since we finished the challenge, I think it’s time to go back,” Adira suggested. “This is fun. Although it is not scary at all.” 
Chadwick bowed his head. He failed to show courage in front of his wife inside the horror house. But he realized that all his life, he’d been a coward. 
He couldn’t pursue Isa. 
He married someone even if he did not want to. 
And now that he had fallen in love with Adira, he tried so hard to hide the truth because he was scared. 
It was always Adira who was brave enough to say whatever she feels. Even today, she did not show a hint of being a coward and she led the way. 
“Let’s go and get our prize,” Adira said as she stepped away. 
“Being brave,” Chadwick said that stopped her. 
She turned around to look at her husband. 
“Will someone really get the prize if he is brave enough?” 
Adira does not know what prize Chadwick is talking about. If it is money, or the love he has for Isa. However, seeing his sad gaze, she saw the need to answer him honestly.
“No.” 
“...” 
“I did not show it. But to be honest, I was scared too. However, I will still get the prize.” 
A hint of hope sparked inside his heart. Adira said that being brave is not only the way to succeed. He did not see her waver, tremble, or shout. But she admitted that she was so damn frightened too. 
Being a coward might come in a different way. A coward that shows. A coward that does not show. However, if he’ll try his best, just like Adira, maybe it is possible to get the prize that he wants. 
‘And that prize is...’ 
“Not until I’m here!” a shout echoed. 
Adira and Chadwick both looked inside the narrowed space between the door and the wall of the room, where a ghost with soldier in uniform suddenly crawled. 
Chadwick’s eyes widened and he shouted, “AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” 
And Adira, who was caught off guard, raised her fist and punched the ghost on the face. 
“Ack!” 
The ghost, which is just another human, fell and lost consciousness. 
Adira and Chadwick stared at each other. 
Not only they have failed the challenge. They also had a horrific accident. 
That’s the real horror.