One Night Stand, Eight Surprises: Pampered by My CEO Husband --- - Chapter 76: Chapter 76

The monastery loomed in the dusk like a relic of forgotten faith, its stone walls veined with ivy and shadows. But before Arielle and Étienne could breach its silence, they waited.
Hidden in a rented safehouse outside Kavala, Arielle paced, unable to rest. The note. The watch. The knowledge that Damien was close—so close—and yet slipping further into danger with every passing minute.
She tried to focus. She had gone over maps, floor plans, surveillance footage Étienne secured through his contacts. Yet her instincts kept pulling her back… back to something softer.
Something personal.
Something Damien.
The night before, while preparing their bags, she’d tucked in a worn children’s storybook from home—Lily’s favorite. She had found it on the living room floor before leaving and packed it without thinking.
Now, sitting alone in a dim corner, she flipped it open, trying to still her anxious hands.
The story was about a firebird that flew too far and forgot how to return home. One page was dog-eared.
She turned to it.
There—between the pages—something crackled.
A thin piece of tracing paper.
Her breath hitched.
Damien’s handwriting.
Hidden in a code only she would recognize.
The lullaby they used to sing to Lily—translated into a cipher they’d once made for fun in college.
She decoded it line by line, her heart pounding with every word:
“If they find this first, I’m already lost. If you find this, remember the vault of light. Beneath the sacred wing. Third tile.”
She stared at the note. Sacred wing. Vault of light. Third tile.
The monastery.
She rushed to Étienne, who was reloading a pistol with practiced calm.
“Damien left a clue,” she breathed.
His eyes sharpened. “Where?”
She handed him the tracing paper.
He read it twice. Nodded.
“There’s a chapel on the south end. Locals call it the ‘Winged Sanctuary’ because of the angelic mural above the altar. It used to have a crypt.”
“Vault of light,” Arielle whispered. “Third tile.”
Étienne grabbed a flashlight, his expression grim and ready. “We move at dawn.”
At sunrise, they reached the outer edge of the monastery. The gate was chained, rusted—but unguarded. Inside, the walls whispered old prayers in the wind.
The chapel was easy to find—tucked in a grove, vines choking its arches.
Inside, light filtered through stained glass, falling onto cracked marble floors.
They counted the tiles.
Third row. Fifth column.
Arielle knelt.
Ran her hand along the cold surface.
There—it gave slightly.
With a screwdriver, Étienne pried the tile up.
Beneath it, a small iron box.
Inside, a flash drive. A second note.
“If you’ve found this, I’m still alive. But not for long. Lucien wants the codes—don’t give them to him. My location is encrypted on this drive. Protect the children. Tell Arielle… I never stopped loving her.”
Tears blurred her vision.
Étienne pocketed the drive.
Then the silence broke.
A footstep outside the chapel.
Then another.
Gun clicks.
They were not alone.