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CHAPTER 60

Penulis: Daniel Paul
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-03-02 21:23:41

The Game Has Changed

"You really think you can win?" Derek's voice oozed amusement, but his eyes told a different story. Cold. Calculating.

Adrian barely spared him a glance. His fists clenched at his sides, nails digging hard into his palms. He needed to be sharp, a step ahead. Callum was changing the game, but Adrian wasn't playing by his rules.

Derek took another step forward. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Thought you'd left me behind, huh?"

Adrian blew out hard through his nose. "I should've known Callum would dig you up."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Derek chuckled, but there was steel underneath. "I'm just looking out for myself. You should've done the same.

A beat elapsed between them, and the silence thickened further. Adrian heard the distant, reassuring hum of the city against the boarded-up windows, yet here, just them. Another kind of battleground.

"Let me guess," Adrian said low. "He made you an offer you can't refuse."

Derek flashed another grin that was w
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  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 61

    The Betrayal"Flora, go!"Lorne's voice broke through the mayhem, hard and insistent. He had her arm and pulled forward as the walls appeared to press in on them. The air was thick with dust, concrete and sweat clingy, like a wet second skin.She stumbled but kept moving. Her legs screamed with every step, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered but getting away. But Adrian-She twisted her head around. "We have to go back."Lorne didn't break stride. "We can't."Flora braked, her heels digging into the floor so she jerked out of his grasp. "I'm not leaving him!"Lorne pivoted, frustration etched into every line on his face-and something else-something almost like fear. "Flora, listen to me. We don't have time to play hero. Adrian knew what he was doing. He told me to get you out.Her stomach twisted. "And you just-what? Left him?"His jaw clenched. "He gave me no choice."She wanted to hit him, scream-anything to block out the image forming in her mind-Adrian, alone, surrounded, fight

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-02
  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 62

    The Edge of CollapseDeep and unrelenting, the pain gnawed at Adrian's body, but he refused to give in. His wrists ached from the rope digging into his skin, his muscles burning from the hours—days? —of captivity, but he gritted his teeth and made himself stay upright. He couldn't afford to break. Not now. Not yet.A door creaked open, the sound of metal against metal slicing through stale air. Footsteps followed, deliberate and unhurried.Adrian didn't lift his head. He knew who it was.Callum's voice was smooth, almost amused. "Still sitting upright? I have to admit, I'm impressed."Adrian lifted his head slowly, his gaze locking with his tormentor. He refused to show a trace of weakness.Callum tilted his head to one side. "You know, most men in your position would be begging by now."Adrian couldn't help the smirk that spread across his lips. "Guess I'm not most men."Callum chuckled. "No, I suppose you're not." He took another step closer, hands folded behind his back. "But even

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-02
  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 63

    The Last StandThe air smelled like rain—thick and heavy, the kind that threatened a storm. Adrian crouched low behind a rusted-out car; his breath steady despite the chaos swirling around him."They're moving," Vincent whispered beside him. His grip on his gun tightened. "Callum's forcing them into position. He wants us backed into a corner."Adrian let out a stream of air through his nose. "Let him think he's winning." He peered around the car, eyes locking on the warehouse across the lot. The windows were shattered, the door barely hanging onto its hinges. Callum was inside. He could feel it.Behind them, Flora and Lorne crouched in the shadows, waiting. The plan was simple: get inside, take Callum down, and end this. But nothing ever went as planned.Two on the roof," Flora whispered. "Another three at the entrance." She shifted the strap over her shoulder, the rifle secure. "They're waiting for us.""They always do," Adrian growled. His fists clenched. "But they don't know we're

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-03
  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 64

    The StormThe sky was this bruised tone of gray, thick clouds entering like an omen. The wind howled down the streets, rattling the signs and slapping against the buildings. It was one of those storms that felt personal, as if the world itself had a warning to give them.Adrian tightened his grip on the steering wheel. His knuckles were white, his jaw set. He could hear Flora breathing beside him, steady but sharp, like she was trying to control the chaos inside her chest.“You don’t have to come,” he said.Flora scoffed. “Shut up and drive.”Vincent leaned forward from the backseat. “We’re really doing this, huh?”Lorne, sitting next to him, snorted. “Like there was ever another option.”Adrian said nothing. He only hit the gas, the car lurching forward.The warehouse ahead of them seemed to be some kind of monster in the dark, waiting for them.Callum wasn't dead. They knew it. Vincent's bullet had managed to slow him down, but it hadn't finish him. That was their mistake. And now, t

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-07
  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 65

    Price of Survival"Is this over?" The voice of Flora was hoarse, just a whisper over.Adrian didn't answer immediately. His gaze swept across the battlefield-if one could still call it that. The fires had burned out, leaving only charred remains of buildings that once stood proud. The scent of blood, metal, and something acrid, something wrong, hung thick in the air. Bodies, too many to count, lay motionless, some half-buried under rubble, others sprawled where they had fallen.A gust of wind kicked ash around them like ghostly reminders of the many who had already died. Adrian clenched his jaw. "Looks like it." But it didn't sound very convincing, even to him.Flora swallowed hard and pushed herself up from where she had been crouched behind a broken column. Her sleeves were bloodstained—some of it hers, most of it not. Her body ached with exhaustion gnawing at her limbs like an insatiate predator, yet she ignored that. There wasn't time for weakness. Not yet.Adrian turned to her, h

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-07
  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 66

    " After The Storm"" Christ, I do not suppose we escaped that catastrophe," Adrian breathed, his voice slightly audible as he hugged the cold wave of the emulsion wall. His aspect danced from one swathed branch to the other, trying to make sense of the raw destruction.Flora shifted beside him, her tone edged with both weariness and determination. “ You say that like it was some kind of palm. senses more like we’re holding our breath until the coming damn explosion, ” she replied, quailing as she flexed her hand.Vincent, who was perched on a depressed essence president, let out a dry chuckle." Palm? Sure, if we count surviving as winning. I am still feeling every pellet and bruise. What do we do now, also?" He stroked a new bruise on his jaw, his voice saying both prostration and a touch of affront.Lorne, his gruff, calm voice coming in from the other end of the room, where he was tightly dressing his own arm with a piece of new cloth." Next, we determine who among our own we can act

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-14
  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 67

    The News Spreads" Have you seen this caption?" Vincent's voice cut through the restrained hum of discussion in the emulsion's confined dispatch room." Headline?" Adrian inquired, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he leaned over a battered press." What now?Callum's dead. each over the damn news," Vincent replied, scrolling through a tablet with a mouse." Every channel, every point. It's like the world will not shut up about it."Flora shifted in her seat, her voice edged with disbelief." due? As in, really dead? You know Callum was a fighter, right? This can not be it.“ supposedly not, ” Vincent said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. “ But there’s more. I’m picking up whispers rumors that his network did n’t just evaporate with him. Someone, nearly, is keeping his operation alive in the murk. ”Lorne strangled from across the room, his tone kindly softer, however." I noway believed it would be that easy. The bastard had further tricks up his sleeve than a magician at a children's bir

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-14
  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 68

    Shadows of Adversaries" Adrian, hear that?" Vincent's voice repatriated in the low light of the command center, his words pigmented with both urgency and mistrustfulness." Yeah, I heard a tale on the line," Adrian said, leaning forward as he studied a live feed on a handheld device." It's hard to tell if it's stationary or someone trying to shoot a communication.".Flora intruded, her voice tense." I have heard the same. A hanging phone call, anonymous, something about' They are coming' Do you believe it?"Lorne lumbered from his corner chair." True or false, it's got us all rankled up. We can not go to take indeed a scuttlebutt on faith.However, we would know it now, If someone's watching our tails."Vincent frowned, reading through a sequence of cryptic dispatches." These are n't your average taunts. They are meant, targeted. Look at this bone. ' The huntsman becomes the hunted tonight.' It's as if they are trying to shoot us with enciphered communication."Adrian's tone dropped t

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-15

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  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 89

    A Father's Woeful Demise" Flora, run — there's been a extremity at the sanitarium!" Marissa cried in a pulsing hurry as she nearly dragged Flora out of the small safehouse door.Flora's blood was pounding in her ears." What's it? What passed?" she was suitable to query, her own voice no further than a soft tale, laden with call.Marissa's bright, encouraging eyes were veiled in gashes." It's your father I looked out and there was a crowd of people. They are yelling, and someone said he is getting beaten up by a mob. Flora, I am so sorry."" Beaten?" Flora's voice shook, a mix of disbelief and a deep, eating fear." No it can not be.".While contending down the avenue, Marissa rumored constantly," They're at St. Joseph's Hospital. I heeded to the temptress of the ambulance and heard the cries. You need to see him."In the corridor of the sanitarium, uneasiness prevailed heavy and mutters filled the terrain. Malik, a tired- looking nurse, approached them." Are you Flora? There's an exig

  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 88

    Consequences Unleashed" What have you done, Flora?" Malik's voice cut through the angry hum as he had her backed into the salon doorway. His tone was sharp, eyes narrowed in unbelief.Flora's reply was cold," I did what was demanded, Malik. Alice would n't leave anyone in peace, and now see what she does.".Across the room, a low moan erupted as Alice gripped her side, her face blench from the impact. “ You — Flora, you’ve gone too far this time, ” she whizzed, staggering as she tried to undergird herself against a counter.“ Too far? ” snapped a husky guard, stepping forward. “ You’ve disrespected our pride, and now you’re bleeding on our bottom. ”Alice's voice quivered with wrathfulness," I simply spoke the verity! You know what I said, do not you? I said Flora was nothing but a shadow, a broken oath."There was a murmuration of outrage among the patrons of the salon." That is enough!" a cry came from the reverse, and also voices chimed in with whoops for justice.Flora's eyes bur

  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 87

    The Salon Incident" Flora, did you see that? I heard someone mention Alice was then again," rumored Jasmine as she shifted the security examiner near the salon door.Flora's reply was tense, her voice kept low," Yes, Jasmine. I know whom you're pertaining to. And I'm not in the mood for her capers moment.".Across the room, Malik, the shift administrator, joined in, “ You sure you’re ready for this, Flora? Alice always knows how to stir trouble. ”Flora’s tone was steely, “ I’ve had enough of her prying and her trim smile. I’m then to cover this place, not to be lowered by her arrogance. ”The frontal door chimed just also as a familiar, mocking voice cut through the noise of exertion." Flora, sweetie pie, is not it? Still playing guard like you always did? How cute."Flora's eyes grew narrower, and she approached the door, her voice refocused and clear," Alice. What do you want? I allowed you'd learned your assignment."Alice's laugh was jingling and pathetic," Oh, Flora, always so

  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 86

    Turning Point" Flora, are you absolutely sure about this?" Marissa asked, her voice pulsing with a blend of fear and stopgap as the two of them sat facing each other at a worn kitchen table in Flora's small new apartment.Flora spoke forcefully, yet a hint of pain colored what she said." I could not continue to do this in the same way, Marissa. diurnal excursions to the training grounds recall to mind that which I was created to do. I do not like it all the stress, the admonishment, being constantly compared to others."Marissa leaned in, her aspect sweeping over Flora's." But what about the work you did there? You motivated everyone. You pushed through those delicate sessions like nothing differently."Flora jounced, her voice hard but gentle." Inspiring them was an resultant of making it. It was not about getting a coach it was about proving to everyone that I was not that broken girl presently. I can not redeem myself by adhering to that history."" Are you quitting?" Marissa inqu

  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 85

    A Bitter Memorial" Flora, did you hear what they are saying about Adrian?" Marissa's voice quivered as she leaned in across the small café table, her words slightly above a tale.Flora's voice came back, low and flat," Yes, I did. They say he is been spotted with Alice again — mixed up in her schemes, of all effects. I can not believe it, Marissa. It's like a kick in the stomach, each over again."Marissa's eyes glistered," I know, Flora. It's like every time I'm trying to assure you that everything will be alright, this news comes and shatters whatever hope you had left. How do you cleave to anything when the one person who was supposed to be your future turns out to be so unstable?Her voice shook with rage and anguish," I was finished with it. I believed that awful day, the marriage treason, closed that chapter. But knowing Adrian's returned to Alice it's as though the history is oohing in to tell me some injuries noway actually heal."Marissa soughed heavily," It is n't a memoria

  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 84

    The Sting of Rejection" Flora, please, just one further chance to explain," Adrian contended as he stood outside the small café where Flora had agreed to meet. His voice, husky with remorse, quivered slightly as he looked up at her.Flora's eyes were frigid, her voice freezing and wounded as she replied," Explain? After everything that happened on our marriage day? You've formally explained it a thousand times with your empty defenses, Adrian."Adrian shifted, his shoulders dropping as he tried to bridge the gap between them." I know I hurt you — I know I left you when you demanded me most. But that exigency was not what you suppose.Flora strangled, crossing her arms." Not what I suppose? Adrian, you left me there in front of everyone. I was lowered, devastated, and you — your incuriosity was the worst possible treason."There was a silence in the air as Adrian's eyes searched hers." Flora, I have been trying to make restitutions. I have called, texted, indeed stopped by the pack ho

  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 83

    A Regard Of StrengthFlora stood in the center of the training field as early morning daylight poured through the high windows, the air being filled with the sound of determined voices and the metrical thud of exertion. Amidst the commotion, she was girdled by her fellow trainees, each one of them seeking to their limits. Now, the air hummed with further than just physical exertion; it was charged with the eventuality of reinvention, a chance to prove that she was further than the weight of her history.“ Flora, come on, you’ve got this! ” Coach Ramirez called out, his tone both establishment and encouraging as he circled around the group. His words cut through the noise like a lifeline, and Flora felt the familiar pressure of anticipation mingled with a shifting stopgap.Flora breathed heavily, her muscles burning as she pushed herself through a series of violent exercises. She broke between sets, her voice low but determined as she spoke to Marissa, who had joined her on the sideli

  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 82

    Breaking Free" Flora, are you really going?" Marissa's voice quivered as she spoke, her tone a blend of unbelief and anguish. In the muted morning sun, the normal noise of the family home hummed vocally around them, and Flora stood poised in the doorway, her hands shaking as she gripped a battered duffel bag." I've to, Marissa," Flora said, her voice low but bent ." Every day then's like suffocating under prospects that are quaint, in a script not meant for me." She talked in quick, decisive bursts as she stepped down from the worn welcome mat and into the uncertain bite of a new morning." Is it freedom you are chasing, or is it just getting down from then?" her brother Ethan questioned, standing in the doorway with a creased forepart. His tone was gentle but with an edge of concern." We always knew you were different, but you are immolating everything — your recollections, your family."Flora's aspect met his, and she replied," Ethan, you know I have tried to be what they wished.

  • Abandoned At The Altar By My Mate   CHAPTER 81

    New Onsets" Flora, are you ready for moment's session?" Coach Ramirez asked as gentle early morning sun filtered vocally through the training hall windows." Yes, Coach," Flora replied, her voice steady but with a hint of nervous anticipation." I have awaited so long for this."." Flash back, this is n't just an issue of physical strength," Coach Ramirez said, leaning forward with a warm smile." It's an issue of having the courage to stand alone. And you, Flora, have that courage in spades."Flora's eyes burned with resoluteness as she said," I know, and moment I am going to prove it — to the world, and to myself. I've to show that I can make a future on my own terms."" Good," intruded Marissa, her friend who had come along to advance support." We have all seen you struggle with the history, with all those heavy prospects. moment, you are reshaping your story."" Precisely," Flora answered, her voice growing more determined." I have been held back long enough by other people's prosp

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