The Billionaire CEO Betrays his Wife: He wants her back-Chapter 244: If wishes were Horses

Rafael slid into the car, placed the box safely in the console, and started the engine. The radio hummed with a soft tune, but Rafael didn’t need it. He was humming already, tapping the steering wheel, smiling so wide it almost hurt.

The day was perfect. The moment was close. And he couldn’t wait to see the look in her eyes when he asked her the most important question of his life.

The traffic light turned red at the T-junction. Rafael eased the car to a stop, humming softly, his heart still dancing with anticipation. He reached over, opened the small velvet box once more, and smiled. The ring caught the afternoon light perfectly—just as he’d imagined it would when he slipped it onto Mara’s finger.

He was so close now. Just one more turn, just one more mile, and he’d be home with her.

Then he heard it.

A shrieking metallic sound tore through the air. Tires screaming. Horns blaring. Chaos.

He looked up—his smile fading instantly.

To his left: a bright yellow school bus, parked at the side of the road, full of children waving out the windows, oblivious to the danger.

To his right: a massive truck barreling downhill, its driver frantic, the brakes completely gone.

Rafael’s heart seized. It was going too fast. If it kept coming, it would smash straight into the bus. He had seconds. No time to think—only feel. He looked at the children. He thought of Mara.

And without hesitation, he closed the ring box tightly in his fist, whispered, "Forgive me, my love," and slammed his foot on the gas.

The world spun.

His car shot forward, directly into the truck’s path.

A sound like thunder split the air as metal crumpled and glass shattered. The force of the collision shook the ground. Screams followed, sirens in the distance, people rushing to the scene, some calling emergency lines, others weeping in shock.

But the bus—the children—they were untouched.

A miracle. When they pulled Rafael from the wreckage, his body broken but still warm, he was still clutching the ring. His eyes were open, unfocused, pointed skyward.

Blood covered his shirt, his breaths shallow, fading. One of the paramedics bent low, pressing fingers to Rafa’s pulse.

He was still alive. Barely. ƒreewebɳovel.com

People gathered around, some crying, some calling him a hero, an angel, a saint who gave his life for strangers. But Rafael wasn’t hearing any of it. His world was closing in now, going quiet, the noise replaced by one thought—Mara.

"I’m sorry, Stefania..." he breathed, voice barely more than a whisper. "I won’t be able to make it home..." His chest rose one final time.

And then, still holding the ring meant for the woman he loved, Rafael died before the ambulance could save him.

The chaos had died down, but the weight of what had just happened still hung in the air.

The school bus, once alive with laughter and songs, had gone completely silent. Little faces pressed against the windows, wide-eyed and pale, watching the scene unfold just meters away from where they sat.

Some of them didn’t fully understand what had happened—just that a loud crash had shaken the bus and made their teacher scream. Others, a little older, did. And they couldn’t stop staring at the wreckage, at the crumpled car that had appeared out of nowhere like a shield between them and that roaring truck.

"He saved us," a little girl whispered, clutching her pink backpack tight to her chest.

"Was that man an angel?" a boy asked, his voice trembling.

The teacher, still trying to keep calm, crouched beside the aisle, brushing a tear from her cheek as she nodded. "He was brave. He’s the reason you’re all safe."

A smaller boy sniffled. "He looked happy before it happened. Like... like he was going somewhere nice."

"Yeah," the teacher said softly, trying to keep it together. "He gave up his life so none of you would get hurt."

A hush fell again, heavier this time. Some of the children bowed their heads. One little girl pulled a paper heart from her craft bag and pressed it to the window, facing the crash site.

"For the hero," she whispered.

Moments later, more children followed suit. A crayon drawing. A friendship bracelet. A chocolate bar was saved from lunch. Tiny tokens, pressed against the glass in silence. A tribute, the only way they knew how to give it.

When the paramedics moved Rafa’s body, still clutching the ring, many of the children began to cry softly, innocently, not fully understanding the depth of life and death, but sensing something profound had happened.

He had become more than a man in that moment. To them, Rafael was a legend. The boy who became a shield. The stranger who didn’t hesitate. The hero who made sure every single one of them got home to their families that day.

And for the rest of their lives, when they remembered that afternoon, they wouldn’t just remember the crash or the fear.

They would remember him. The man with the ring. The man who saved them.

It was the flash of Rafael’s car on the news that made Stanford freeze mid-step in the hallway. The twisted wreckage. The word "hero" scrolls across the screen. His heart dropped.

"No," he whispered, reaching for the remote, turning up the volume.

"...truck descending with no brakes... witnesses say the man in the black sedan accelerated into the truck’s path, saving the school bus full of children... he died at the scene. Authorities are calling him a guardian angel."

Stanford didn’t need the reporter to say his name. He knew that car. He knew Rafael.

His legs moved before his thoughts caught up. He stormed down the corridor like a man possessed, his voice echoing down the halls. "Steve! Stanley! Stefan!"

The brothers gathered fast, worried, and confused. Stanford was pale, shaking, and breathless.

"It’s Rafael," he said hoarsely. "There was an accident."

They didn’t ask for more. They didn’t need to.

Together, the four of them rushed toward Mara’s room, the house suddenly too quiet, too heavy. None of them spoke—they were afraid of what would happen when they did.

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