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Chapter 45 – The Truth That Shatters
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2025-03-21 23:25:39The room felt like it was closing in. The walls seemed narrower, the air thick with something I couldn’t name. The grainy video on the screen played in an endless loop, the scene burned into my mind.
Ethan. A silencer. A body collapsing to the floor. Blood spreading like ink across white tiles. My breath came fast, uneven. It was like my brain refused to process what I’d just seen. “Tell me that wasn’t you.” My voice barely sounded like mine. It was strained and fragile on the verge of breaking. Ethan didn’t move. He didn’t speak. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes… God, his eyes. I had seen them dark before, filled with anger, with lust, with unspoken emotions I never had the courage to name. But this? This was different. His gaze was a void. Hollow. As if the man I thought I knew was locked somewhere inside, just out of reach. Something inside me cracked. I stepped back, shaking my head. “Say something.” Ethan finally exhaled, slow and controlled. “It’s not what you think.” A dry, humorless chuckle came from Elias. “It’s exactly what she thinks.” Ethan’s head snapped toward him. “Shut your mouth, Carter.” Elias merely smirked, shifting lazily against the desk like he had all the time in the world. Like he was enjoying this. Watching the ground crumble beneath me, watching Ethan struggle to maintain control. I turned back to Ethan, my chest rising and falling too fast. “Did you…” My voice failed. I swallowed hard and tried again. “Did you kill him?” The silence that followed was deafening. Ethan didn’t say yes. But he didn’t say no either. I felt the blood drain from my face. A sick, twisting feeling churned in my stomach. My legs wobbled, and I had to grip the back of the couch to keep myself steady. “Oh my God.” Ethan took a step toward me. “Isabella.” I jerked back like he’d burned me. “Don’t touch me.” His jaw clenched, but he didn’t try again. “Let me explain.” I let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “Explain?” My voice cracked. “Explain what? That you murdered someone right outside Theo’s hospital room?” Ethan’s hands curled into fists. “I had no choice.” Something inside me snapped. “No choice?” I practically shouted. “You killed a man, Ethan!” His lips pressed together, his eyes burning into mine. “He was a threat.” “A threat to who?” “To you.” The words slammed into me like a punch to the gut. The room spun. I reached for the arm of the couch, my fingers digging into the fabric. Ethan’s voice was steady, but there was an urgency behind it, a desperate edge that he was barely holding back. “That man was sent to kill Theo. To send a message.” He took another step forward. “I got there first.” The ground beneath me felt unstable. I forced myself to swallow the lump in my throat. “Who sent him?” A pause. A hesitation. Ethan didn’t answer. But Elias? Elias was enjoying this far too much. “Why don’t you ask the man holding the gun?” I turned to Ethan, my heart hammering. “Who?” Again, nothing. Elias sighed, shaking his head. “Fine, I’ll do it then.” I held my breath as he pushed off the desk and stepped closer. He smelled like expensive cologne and danger. Like something just as intoxicating as it was deadly. His eyes gleamed with something sharp, something wicked. “The man in the video?” He tilted his head slightly. “He worked for Damien Cross.” My stomach dropped. Damien. The name alone sent a shiver through me. Ethan’s silence was all the confirmation I needed. Elias grinned. “Ah, there it is. The realization. The moment you realize just how deep you’re in.” I ignored him, my gaze locked on Ethan. “Damien sent someone to kill Theo… and you stopped him?” Ethan gave a single nod. The weight of it all pressed down on me, making it hard to breathe. Elias was still watching, still waiting for the cracks to spread wider. And then, as if he hadn’t done enough damage, he added, “See, sweetheart? Your knight in shining armor is just as much a monster as the rest of us.” Ethan’s jaw tightened. “Shut up, Carter.” Elias let out a low, amused chuckle. “Tell her the rest.” My stomach twisted. “The rest?” My voice was barely above a whisper. I turned back to Ethan. “There’s more?” He didn’t deny it. He didn’t say anything at all. Elias clicked his tongue. “Tsk, tsk. You really should be honest with her, Sinclair.” I curled my fingers into my palms, my pulse thundering. “Tell me.” Ethan’s shoulders tensed, but he said nothing. Elias, of course, took that as his invitation. “I’ll do it, then.” He took his time, circling around me like a predator savoring the moment before the kill. “Ethan didn’t just kill the man Damien sent.” His voice was smooth, laced with something almost playful. “He made sure Damien knew about it. Made sure Damien understood that he’d stepped into his territory.” I frowned. “What are you saying?” Elias’s smirk deepened. “I’m saying…” He dragged the words out, enjoying the anticipation. “That was the first shot fired in a war. And now? You’re in the middle of it.” A shiver ran through me. No. No. I turned back to Ethan, hoping and praying that he would deny it. He didn’t. My entire body felt numb. “You put me in danger.” The words barely came out. Ethan’s eyes flashed with something unreadable. “I protected you.” Elias scoffed. “By painting a target on her back? Yeah, great job, Sinclair.” Ethan moved fast. Too fast. One second he was standing still, and the next he had Elias by the collar, slamming him into the nearest wall. Elias barely reacted, his smirk never slipping. “Touched a nerve, did I?” Ethan’s grip tightened. “I swear to God” “I don’t care about your pissing contest!” I shouted, cutting them both off. Ethan turned to me, his chest rising and falling fast. Elias chuckled under his breath, shaking his head as he straightened his shirt. “Feisty.” I ignored him. My gaze was locked on Ethan. I took a shaky breath. “I need to get out of here.” Ethan’s expression darkened. “You’re not going anywhere.” I swallowed hard. “Watch me.” I turned toward the door, every part of me screaming to run. But before I could take a step Ethan grabbed my arm. Not hard. Not violently. But firm. Firm enough to make me stop. My breath caught as I looked up at him. His face was unreadable, but his grip on me. Tight and desperate told me everything. He wasn’t going to let me go. Not now. Not ever. And the worst part? I didn’t know if I wanted him to.
Bab terkait
Bound by deception Chapter 46 – The Line We Can’t Cross
“Let go of me, Ethan.” I kept my voice steady, but my body betrayed me. My hands trembled. My pulse hammered against my ribs, each beat screaming at me to run. Ethan’s grip on my wrist didn’t tighten, but it didn’t loosen either. His fingers, warm and solid, were the only thing anchoring me in place. He stood rigid, his jaw ticking, his body wound so tight it looked like he might snap. “I can’t.” A shiver rippled down my spine. Elias let out a low whistle. “Oh, this is getting good. What’s next, Sinclair? You gonna lock her up in your penthouse?” Ethan didn’t even spare him a glance. His gaze was locked on mine, intense and unyielding. “If that’s what it takes to keep her safe.” A sharp, bitter laugh escaped me. “You don’t get to decide that.” His grip flexed. Just a twitch of his fingers but I felt it everywhere. “I do when Damien Cross is hunting you.” Elias exhaled dramatically. “And there it is. The Sinclair control complex.” He smirked, shifting against the des
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-21Bound by deception Chapter 47 – No Safe Haven
The room felt like it had been drained of oxygen. I stared at the phone in my hand, my fingers curled so tightly around it that my knuckles turned white. The screen flickered, casting a pale glow on my face, but all I could focus on was the image. The bold, jagged letters scrawled across my apartment door like a bloody warning. Nowhere is safe. A shiver crept down my spine. The words weren’t just a threat. They were a promise. I sucked in a shaky breath, but the air felt thick, heavy, as if the walls were closing in. Ethan moved first. His hand shot out, snatching the phone from my grasp. His grip was tight, controlled, but the muscle in his jaw ticked. A sign that the control was hanging by a thread. His gaze flicked over the image, scanning every detail, and then, with a sharp inhale, he turned to me. “Pack a bag.” I blinked, my mind still trying to catch up. “What?” “You’re not staying here. You’re not going back to your apartment.” His voice was clipped, edged with
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-21Bound by deception Chapter 48 – Into the Lion’s Den
The SUV sliced through the night like a silent predator, devouring the miles between us and the city. The hum of the tires against the road was the only sound filling the tense silence inside the car. Ethan sat beside me, his jaw tight, his fingers drumming against his knee in a steady calculated and controlled rhythm. His mind was somewhere else, far ahead of us, mapping out the next move, anticipating every possible threat. I stared out the window, watching as the towering skyscrapers and flickering neon lights of New York faded into darkness, replaced by vast stretches of highway and dense, looming trees. The further we drove, the more it felt like we were leaving civilization itself. A cold knot twisted in my stomach. Finally, I exhaled, breaking the silence. “Where exactly is ‘home’?” Ethan’s gaze flicked to me, but his expression remained unreadable. “Somewhere safe.” I let out a hollow laugh. “Safe? There’s no such thing anymore.” He didn’t argue. He didn’t need to
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-21Bound by deception Chapter 49 – Unseen Chains
“The woman at the center of the storm.”Logan Pierce’s words hung in the air like an omen, sinking into the dimly lit room like a fog, thick and suffocating.I forced my expression to remain neutral, though every nerve in my body was on edge. The way he said it, like he already knew me. Like I was some predetermined piece in a game I hadn’t agreed to play made my skin crawl.“That’s dramatic,” I muttered, keeping my voice flat.Logan’s smirk deepened, the corners of his mouth curving with something that wasn’t quite amusement, wasn’t quite malice. “Isn’t it?”Ethan wasn’t amused. “Sit.”He didn’t direct the order at Logan. He meant me.For a moment, I considered defying him. Just to remind him I wasn’t some pawn he could push around. But the weight of exhaustion settled deep in my bones, and I knew I had to pick my battles. So, I sank onto the leather couch, my arms crossing over my chest.Logan, completely at ease, took his time settling into the chair across from me, stretching out
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-21Bound by deception Chapter One
“Marry me, or your brother dies.” The words slam into me like a gunshot. I grip the armrests of my chair, my nails digging into the leather. My heart pounds so violently I feel it in my throat. The air in Ethan Sinclair’s office is thick, suffocating, closing in around me. He can’t be serious. But the way his ice-blue eyes bore into mine calmly, unwavering, tells me he is. “You’re insane,” I whisper, my pulse hammering. Ethan leans back, completely unfazed, swirling the amber liquid in his glass. He takes a slow sip, savoring it, like we’re discussing stock options and not my life. “Your brother’s medical bills are piling up,” he says, voice smooth, controlled. “The hospital won’t wait forever.” His words strike like a whip. My fingers tighten around the armrests until they hurt. Liam. The image of my little brother flashes in my mind. His pale skin, weak breaths, tubes and monitors surrounding his frail body. The doctors said there was hope
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-22Bound by deception Chapter Two
The ring feels like a shackle. I sit stiffly in the middle of Ethan’s penthouse, glaring at the massive diamond he just slipped onto my finger. The damn thing sparkles under the chandelier light, mocking me. “This is ridiculous,” I mutter, twisting it around my finger like I can rip it off by sheer will. “You’ll wear it at all times,” Ethan says, standing over me. “No exceptions.” His voice is calm, firm, as if he’s telling me I’ll breathe air or drink water. As if this is a law of nature I can’t argue with. I scoff, shifting in my seat. “Afraid someone will think your fiancée doesn’t love you?” Ethan steps closer, his presence swallowing the space between us. He doesn’t touch me, but it feels like he does. His energy is suffocating, like a magnetic field trapping me in place. “Afraid you’ll forget this is just business?” His voice drops an octave, smooth as silk but sharp as a blade. His breath warms my skin, and for a terrifying second, my pulse skips. I hate how m
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-22Bound by deception Chapter Three
The engagement party is a nightmare in designer clothing. Glittering chandeliers hang like jeweled traps from the ceiling, their golden light reflecting off the champagne flutes clinking in celebration. The air is thick with expensive perfume, murmured conversations, and the occasional burst of laughter. I stand at Ethan’s side, my champagne untouched, my fingers curled tightly around the delicate stem of the glass. My grip is the only thing keeping me steady. I force myself to smile, to act the part of the devoted fiancée. Because in this room—where wealth and power weave together like an unbreakable net, one misstep could ruin everything. Beside me, Ethan thrives in the attention. He shakes hands, trades smirks, and commands the room with the ease of a man born to rule. His hand rests low on my waist, possessive, like a brand. I feel his gaze flicker toward me every now and then. Testing me. Pushing me. I don’t react. Not yet. But he’s playing a game, and I have no
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-22Bound by deception Chapter Four
I storm into Ethan’s office, my heels clicking against the marble floor. The room is sleek, modern, just like him. Floor-to-ceiling windows stretch behind a black glass desk, offering a perfect view of the city skyline. A world he owns. A world I’m trapped in. But right now, I don’t care about the wealth or power surrounding him. I care about the lie. The one he’s keeping from me. “What the hell are you planning?” Ethan glances up, completely unfazed. His charcoal suit is crisp, his tie slightly loosened like he’s already settled in for the night. Like he expected me. His expression doesn’t shift. No surprise, no guilt, just a cool, collected mask. He leans back, fingers steepled together. Calm. Confident. Dangerous. “You were eavesdropping?” His voice is smooth, like I’m the one crossing a line. I slam my hands on the glass desk, hard enough to make the papers tremble. Hard enough to show I’m not afraid. “Don’t turn this on me.” His lips twitch in a ghos
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-22
Bab terbaru
Bound by deception Chapter 49 – Unseen Chains
“The woman at the center of the storm.”Logan Pierce’s words hung in the air like an omen, sinking into the dimly lit room like a fog, thick and suffocating.I forced my expression to remain neutral, though every nerve in my body was on edge. The way he said it, like he already knew me. Like I was some predetermined piece in a game I hadn’t agreed to play made my skin crawl.“That’s dramatic,” I muttered, keeping my voice flat.Logan’s smirk deepened, the corners of his mouth curving with something that wasn’t quite amusement, wasn’t quite malice. “Isn’t it?”Ethan wasn’t amused. “Sit.”He didn’t direct the order at Logan. He meant me.For a moment, I considered defying him. Just to remind him I wasn’t some pawn he could push around. But the weight of exhaustion settled deep in my bones, and I knew I had to pick my battles. So, I sank onto the leather couch, my arms crossing over my chest.Logan, completely at ease, took his time settling into the chair across from me, stretching out
Bound by deception Chapter 48 – Into the Lion’s Den
The SUV sliced through the night like a silent predator, devouring the miles between us and the city. The hum of the tires against the road was the only sound filling the tense silence inside the car. Ethan sat beside me, his jaw tight, his fingers drumming against his knee in a steady calculated and controlled rhythm. His mind was somewhere else, far ahead of us, mapping out the next move, anticipating every possible threat. I stared out the window, watching as the towering skyscrapers and flickering neon lights of New York faded into darkness, replaced by vast stretches of highway and dense, looming trees. The further we drove, the more it felt like we were leaving civilization itself. A cold knot twisted in my stomach. Finally, I exhaled, breaking the silence. “Where exactly is ‘home’?” Ethan’s gaze flicked to me, but his expression remained unreadable. “Somewhere safe.” I let out a hollow laugh. “Safe? There’s no such thing anymore.” He didn’t argue. He didn’t need to
Bound by deception Chapter 47 – No Safe Haven
The room felt like it had been drained of oxygen. I stared at the phone in my hand, my fingers curled so tightly around it that my knuckles turned white. The screen flickered, casting a pale glow on my face, but all I could focus on was the image. The bold, jagged letters scrawled across my apartment door like a bloody warning. Nowhere is safe. A shiver crept down my spine. The words weren’t just a threat. They were a promise. I sucked in a shaky breath, but the air felt thick, heavy, as if the walls were closing in. Ethan moved first. His hand shot out, snatching the phone from my grasp. His grip was tight, controlled, but the muscle in his jaw ticked. A sign that the control was hanging by a thread. His gaze flicked over the image, scanning every detail, and then, with a sharp inhale, he turned to me. “Pack a bag.” I blinked, my mind still trying to catch up. “What?” “You’re not staying here. You’re not going back to your apartment.” His voice was clipped, edged with
Bound by deception Chapter 46 – The Line We Can’t Cross
“Let go of me, Ethan.” I kept my voice steady, but my body betrayed me. My hands trembled. My pulse hammered against my ribs, each beat screaming at me to run. Ethan’s grip on my wrist didn’t tighten, but it didn’t loosen either. His fingers, warm and solid, were the only thing anchoring me in place. He stood rigid, his jaw ticking, his body wound so tight it looked like he might snap. “I can’t.” A shiver rippled down my spine. Elias let out a low whistle. “Oh, this is getting good. What’s next, Sinclair? You gonna lock her up in your penthouse?” Ethan didn’t even spare him a glance. His gaze was locked on mine, intense and unyielding. “If that’s what it takes to keep her safe.” A sharp, bitter laugh escaped me. “You don’t get to decide that.” His grip flexed. Just a twitch of his fingers but I felt it everywhere. “I do when Damien Cross is hunting you.” Elias exhaled dramatically. “And there it is. The Sinclair control complex.” He smirked, shifting against the des
Bound by deception Chapter 45 – The Truth That Shatters
The room felt like it was closing in. The walls seemed narrower, the air thick with something I couldn’t name. The grainy video on the screen played in an endless loop, the scene burned into my mind. Ethan. A silencer. A body collapsing to the floor. Blood spreading like ink across white tiles. My breath came fast, uneven. It was like my brain refused to process what I’d just seen. “Tell me that wasn’t you.” My voice barely sounded like mine. It was strained and fragile on the verge of breaking. Ethan didn’t move. He didn’t speak. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes… God, his eyes. I had seen them dark before, filled with anger, with lust, with unspoken emotions I never had the courage to name. But this? This was different. His gaze was a void. Hollow. As if the man I thought I knew was locked somewhere inside, just out of reach. Something inside me cracked. I stepped back, shaking my head. “Say something.” Ethan finally exhaled, slow and control
Bound by deception Chapter 44 – Torn Between Devils
“Put the gun down, Ethan.” Elias’s voice was smooth and calculated like a snake slithering through the darkness, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He stood in the doorway with the ease of a man who owned the world, his fingers lightly brushing against the frame. His other hand was tucked in his pocket, casual, almost lazy, but I knew better. Nothing about Elias Carter was ever lazy. Every move was deliberate. Every word, a weapon. Ethan, however, was a fortress. His stance was unwavering, shoulders squared, his gun aimed with lethal precision. He wasn’t just holding a weapon. He was a weapon. “You’re trespassing.” His voice was razor-sharp. Elias smirked. Smirked. Like none of this mattered, like he hadn’t just shattered the world I’d built with his sudden presence. “And you’re holding something that belongs to me.” The words sliced through the air, thick with meaning. My breath caught. Me. Ethan’s hold on the gun tightened. “She doesn’t belong to you.”
Bound by deception Chapter 43 – Shadows of the Past
I shook my head, my chest rising and falling too fast. “No.” Ethan didn’t move. Didn’t blink. “Yes.” My pulse pounded against my ribs like a trapped animal. I took a step back, needing distance, but Ethan was relentless, closing in, his presence thick like a storm cloud about to break. “Elias is gone,” I whispered. “He has to be gone.” Ethan tilted his head slightly, studying me like he was waiting for me to figure out the truth on my own. “Do you really believe that?” I wanted to. God, I wanted to. But Ethan’s voice carried the weight of something inevitable, something unshakable. I clenched my fists at my sides. “He used me. Lied to me. Left me.” I swallowed against the tightness in my throat. “Why the hell would he want me back?” Ethan’s eyes flickered with something unreadable before he spoke. “Because you’re the only thing he ever lost.” The words slammed into me. For a moment, the room faded, replaced by the ghosts of memories I had fought to bury. Elias’s hands
Bound by deception Chapter 42 – The Only Way Out
I stumbled back, shaking my head, my breath coming too fast. My heartbeat slammed against my ribs, a wild, frantic rhythm that made my chest ache. “You’re lying.” Ethan didn’t move, didn’t blink. “Am I?” His voice was maddeningly calm, like he was talking about the weather and not completely tearing my world apart. I wanted to believe that. Needed to believe that. But the video kept replaying in my mind, every detail slicing through me like a serrated knife Elias smirking, rolling that damn cigarette between his fingers like I had been nothing more than a business deal, an asset. A job. My stomach lurched. “How long have you known?” My voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. Ethan exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over his jaw like he was debating how much to say. “Long enough.” I let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “And you just let me keep believing he cared?” He arched a brow. “Would you have believed me if I told you earlier?” I opened my mouth, ready to snap ba
Bound by deception Chapter 41 – The Target
The walls of Ethan’s hidden room closed in around me, suffocating, too full of secrets I wasn’t ready to face. My pulse pounded in my ears as his words echoed inside my skull. “You were a job.” It wasn’t possible. It wasn’t real. I took a step back, gripping the edge of the desk to steady myself. The folder with my name on it sat between us like a loaded gun. My life, reduced to paper. Dates. Records. A complete history. Ethan watched me with maddening patience, as if waiting for me to process the truth or waiting for me to break. I wouldn’t. I lifted my chin. “You’re lying.” He sighed, rubbing a hand along his jaw. “I don’t lie, Isabella.” Something in his voice made my stomach churn. He sounded tired, almost resigned, but there was an underlying certainty that terrified me. I turned my back to him, gripping the folder so tightly my knuckles ached. I flipped through the pages again, my eyes scanning too fast, desperate for something. Anything to prove him wrong
