Chapter 0029 LIES AND BETRAYAL.. RYAN, The moment Evan walked away, Elena sagged against me, the weight of exhaustion pressing into my side. She wasn’t just tired—she was drained, hollowed out by whatever had just transpired between them. “Elena,” I murmured, steadying her as she swayed. “Let’s get you inside.” She didn’t resist as I guided her through the door, my arm firm around her waist. She felt so small, so breakable in my grasp, and the need to protect her, to keep her safe from whatever ghosts haunted her, burned hot inside me. Once inside, I led her to the couch, kneeling before her as she collapsed onto the cushions. Her face was pale, her eyes distant, like she was trapped in a place I couldn’t reach. “Did he hit you?” My voice was low, careful, but the fire in my chest was anything but. She shook her head slowly. “No… he just… I don’t want to talk about it.” I exhaled, nodding. “Okay.” I wouldn’t push. Not now. But she looked so lost. Like she didn’t know where t
CHAPTER 0030 TORN BETWEEN CHOICES RYAN, I don’t remember leaving. One moment, I stood in front of her, drowning in the cold emptiness of her gaze. The next, I was outside, my feet moving on their own, my mind spiraling into chaos. The air felt different—heavier, suffocating, pressing down on me with an invisible weight that made it hard to breathe. My chest rose and fell in shallow gasps, but no matter how much air I pulled in, it never felt like enough. I reached my car but didn’t get in. I couldn’t. Instead, I gripped the edge of the door, my fingers tightening around the cold metal until my knuckles turned white. My body was rigid, every muscle locked in place as the truth crashed over me in relentless, merciless waves. She went back to him. After everything—after the way she had melted into me, trusted me, held onto me—she still chose him. The same man who had broken her, who had left her shaken and lost, who had treated her like an afterthought. And yet, when it came
CHAPTER 0031 LOVE AND BETRAYAL... ELENA.. The moment Ryan turned his back and walked away, a sharp, unbearable pain pierced my chest. It felt as if my heart had shattered into a thousand irreparable pieces, and no matter how much I tried to breathe through it, the ache only deepened. I wanted to call out to him, to make him stay, to explain that none of this was as simple as it seemed. But my voice failed me. I stood frozen, watching him disappear into the distance, the weight of my choice pressing down on me like an unbearable burden. I had made a decision—one that felt inevitable but left me feeling like I had lost something irreplaceable. Guilt wrapped around my heart, suffocating me, but I had no time to dwell on it. I had to return to my husband. “I don’t want him here anymore,” Evan thundered angrily. “He’s a child. What could he possibly want from you?” “Don’t mind him. I have nothing with him. It’s you I love.” Evan’s glare remained hard, his anger barely containe
Chapter 0032 CHAOTIC LOVE RYAN, No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t understand why she kept going back to him. Was it love? Fear? Some twisted obligation? Every time I thought Elena was ready to leave, she slipped right back into Jonathan’s grasp. It didn’t make sense. I knew I shouldn’t get involved, but I needed to understand. I needed to know if the rumors about Jonathan were true—if he was more than what the family thought he was. A betrayal who had left without a trace. I needed to know more. I wanted to get close to her before confronting her about it, but now I had lost my chance. Even when I had begged her to leave Evan, she just shook her head and told me I didn’t understand. And maybe she was right. I didn’t. But I was about to. I was on my way back home. I had been out for too long when my phone buzzed. It was my father. He never called me unless it was something important—or something bad. Previously, he had called because of Emily, but why was he calling n
Chapter 0033THE POINT OF NO RETURNEVAN,The only sound in the room was my own breathing—ragged, uneven. My fists curled and uncurled at my sides as I glared at Elena. Her wide, tear-filled eyes locked onto mine, brimming with the same fear she always had. The same damn fear.I was sick of it.“I am so fucking tired of you always doing this,” I spat, pacing in front of her. My pulse pounded against my skull, rage curling through my veins like wildfire. “You lied to me. Again.”Ryan had been in our house the day she caught me with another woman. He had been texting her. They had to be involved in something.She flinched at the venom in my voice, but I didn’t care.“It’s not what you think, Evan," she whispered, desperate. "I love you. I would never leave you.”I barked out a laugh, stepping closer, cornering her against the wall. “How many times, Elena?” My voice dropped, dangerously low. “How many times are you going to make a fool out of me?”She shook her head, her lips trembling a
Chapter 0034THE SEARCH..RYAN,I hadn’t slept in days. After what I saw at Elena’s house, I couldn’t stop thinking about whether she was alive or if I was already too late. I had called the one person who could find answers for me.He promised to get back to me.He hadn’t.The world blurred around me, a haze of exhaustion, frustration, and desperation. Every hour without her felt like another step closer to losing her forever. I wanted to believe she was alive, but something in my chest told me otherwise—an ache, a suffocating weight that wouldn’t ease. It pressed against my ribs, coiled around my throat, and refused to let go.One moment, she had been here. And then—nothing. No calls. No messages. No trace of where she had gone or who had taken her. I had chased every lead, called in every favor, scoured every possible place she could have been. But every road led to a dead end. Every whispered rumor, every frantic inquiry brought me no closer to her.Then, my phone rang.I nearly d
Chapter 0035 THE EDGE OF ESCAPE RYAN, The hospital loomed in the darkness, its cold, sterile walls bathed in dim yellow light. It stood quiet, almost lifeless, except for the occasional movement behind the glass. Security was heavier than expected—guards at the entrance, more stationed inside. Who needed this much security for a hospital? Someone trying to keep a secret. Someone trying to keep her hidden. I adjusted the janitor’s uniform, the fabric stiff and slightly loose around my frame. It smelled like sweat and bleach, but it would get me where I needed to go. I gripped the mop handle tighter, pushing the cleaning cart forward. My heart pounded with each step. Stay calm. Act like you belong. Inside, the corridors stretched long and empty, except for a few night-shift nurses walking briskly between rooms. The air was thick with antiseptic and something else—something heavier, like fear. The fluorescent lights above buzzed softly, casting eerie shadows along the walls. I s
Chapter 0036 IT’S NOT OVER… RYAN The gun felt heavy in my hands. My finger hovered over the trigger, sweat beading at my temple, my breath coming in shallow, ragged bursts. Across from me, Evan stood motionless, his expression almost bored, as if he had already won. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth where I had struck him, but the smirk on his face hadn’t faded. If anything, it had grown. He didn’t believe I would do it. And maybe—maybe he was right. My muscles trembled, the weight of the moment pressing down on me. My thoughts screamed at me to pull the trigger, to end this now, to put him down before he could hurt her again. Every instinct in my body urged me forward, but something deep inside me hesitated. And in that single second—Evan moved. It happened too fast. A sudden, vicious lunge, faster than I expected. His hand clamped onto my wrist and twisted hard. White-hot pain shot through my injured shoulder. My grip faltered—just enough. The gun was gone. Before I
Chapter 0087SAVED BY A STRANGERELENA,The man’s words hung in the air, charged with something I couldn’t quite place. They were heavier than I expected, their weight sinking into me like the last moments of a storm, just before the rain finally stops. I was still trying to process everything—his speed, his power, the way he shifted the entire atmosphere with just his presence. Every inch of the room seemed to bend toward him, and for a moment, I couldn’t remember how to breathe. But then his gaze lingered on me, and I noticed a subtle shift in his expression. It was fleeting, but it was there: a flash of something I recognized. Something so familiar, so deeply embedded in my memory that it made my heart skip. It wasn’t a flicker of recognition—no, this was deeper. It was more like a pull in my chest, a tug at my soul. I stared at him, blinking rapidly, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. The man in front of me—his sharp jawline, the intensity of his gaze, the way he stood l
Chapter 86RENEWED HOPE...ELENA,The air grew thick with tension as the man stepped into the dim light. At first, he was just a shadow, a silhouette cutting through the haze, but as he moved closer, his features sharpened. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with sharp, angular lines carved into a face that seemed both familiar and foreign. My eyes struggled to place him, to dig through the haze of memory and confusion and fear. Something about him triggered a strange feeling deep in my chest—a jolt of recognition that didn’t make sense. Who was he? Why did he feel like a name I had once known, spoken in the dark?But more than anything, it was his presence that unsettled me. His very energy thrummed with something primal, dangerous. The way his storm-grey eyes locked onto Jonathan was terrifying—cold, calculating, but also burning with something deeper, something older. I felt it in my gut, like an instinct carved into bone: this man was not to be underestimated. And yet, I wasn’t afraid
Chapter 0085THE END BEGINSELENA, The warehouse was cold—bone-deep, soul-sinking cold. The silence stretched around me like a noose, thick and suffocating, wrapping tighter with each passing second. I sat in the hard metal chair, my wrists bound, the coarse texture of the chains biting into my skin. My hands trembled, though I tried desperately to still them. The faint clinking of the chains echoed off the concrete walls, too loud in the oppressive stillness.Jonathan’s presence loomed before me, his tall frame casting an elongated shadow beneath the flickering overhead light. His gaze, piercing and merciless, landed on me again. I could feel the chill of it against my skin, like ice sliding down my spine. But I refused to look at him. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Instead, I focused on the shadows pooling in the corners of the room—dark, yawning stretches of black that seemed to breathe with silent menace.Time blurred. Seconds bled into minutes, minutes into a dragging, di
CHAPTER 0084FREEDOMELENA,The car engine rumbled beneath me, its sound a low growl that matched the dark promise in Jonathan’s eyes. The night outside blurred into streaks of black and gray, the headlights cutting through the darkness like a razor. We were speeding away from everything I thought I could trust, everything I once believed was safe.I could still feel the blood on my hands—Evan’s blood. The weight of it was unbearable, as if it had soaked into my very soul. The sensation of his dying body in my arms, his breath faltering as his life drained away, haunted me. The last words he had whispered to me before he died echoed in my mind."Run."But where was I supposed to run now?Jonathan’s gaze was steady, almost predatory, from where he sat across from me. His presence loomed over me, cold and calculated, like a predator studying its prey. His fingers rested casually on his knees, his posture relaxed, as though none of this—none of the devastation he had caused—bothered him
CHAPTER 0083 THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK ELENA, Blood. It hit me first—sharp, metallic, unmistakable. The air thickened with it, seeping into my lungs, into my senses, suffocating. I didn’t need to look to know that Evelyn had cut me. Just enough to hurt. Enough to remind me this nightmare was real. But even that pain didn’t seem to matter. Because standing before me, materializing from the darkness like a ghost, was him. Jonathan. Alive. Smiling. I couldn’t breathe. My body trembled, not from fear, but from the shock of seeing him. This wasn’t possible. I had watched him fall. Watched his world burn to ashes. Yet there he was, standing in front of me, his eyes drinking in my disbelief. “Hello, sweetheart,” Jonathan said, as if nothing had changed, as if years hadn’t passed, as if he’d just returned from a casual business trip and not from the grave. I could barely keep my grip on consciousness. My body was stiff, frozen in place, caught in some cruel illusion.
Chapter 0082ELENA'S PAST.ELENA,Still lost in my thoughts, I noticed a shadow passed behind Evelyn.A tall figure stepped into the light, the realization made my heart stopJonathan.i recognized him in that instant, he had been here before and now here he was again. Tall and broad-shouldered, dressed in charcoal gray, his black hair still sharp at the edges, his jaw just as defined as the day I walked away. But it was his eyes that undid me—icy blue, like a frozen lake just before it shatters. Calculating. Cold. Dangerous.“Hello, Elena,” he said, his voice smooth like silk pulled too tight over a blade.I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. Every nerve in my body was screaming—but I was frozen in place, trapped in a nightmare that had come back to life.He looked me over slowly, like a collector appraising an artifact he thought lost.“You look… different,” he said with a smirk. “But then again, so do I.”The words, his tone, the very air around him—it all cut deeper than I wanted t
CHAPTER 0081BETRAYED AGAINELENA,The cold had seeped into everything. Not just the air around me—it was inside me, coiled around my ribs, buried deep in my muscles, swimming through my blood like ice water. It had been hours. Or maybe longer. Time had unraveled, stretched thin and meaningless, and I was left trying to grasp onto something real—some thread of thought that could anchor me.But there was nothing. Only pain and silence.The ropes binding me to the chair were no longer just restraints; they were part of me now. Twisted into my flesh. My wrists had gone numb long ago, but I could still feel the phantom pulse of pain where the coarse fibers had carved their signature. My ankles were just as bad—throbbing, raw, and heavy. I’d tried to shift, to move, but even that slight defiance had drained what little energy I had left.I was beyond exhaustion. Dehydrated. Starving. My lips were split open, my throat a desert that begged for water. My head throbbed with a dull pressure, a
CHAPTER 80UNDER ATTACK.ADRIAN,"Boss, maybe we should confirm before heading to the docks—" I said to Evan skeptical about going into the docks without full information."Just drive," Evan barked, cutting me off.His voice was sharp, tight with urgency, leaving no room for argument. The air in the car was thick, charged, and heavy with something just shy of violence. My fingers curled into fists as I stared out the windshield, my heart hammering like a war drum, each beat a reminder of how much time we were wasting.I didn’t argue after that.The tires screeched as he swerved through the late-night traffic, weaving between cars like a predator hunting in the dark. Streetlights flashed past in bursts of white and gold, the reflection shimmering on the wet pavement as we tore forward, leaving nothing but the roar of the engine behind us.I pulled out my phone, fingers moving fast as I dialed.One ring.Two.Three.And then it went up to voicemail.Damn it.I muttered a curse under my
Chapter 0079 A GHOST ELENA, I laid down in the room, my mind filled with who the man was and what he wanted from me. For the first time, I wanted Evan to be here. If he was, he would be able to get me out of here. I was Evan's captive, but I wasn’t locked up with darkness crawling up over me. The darkness had been there, but now— The darkness was worse this time. It wasn’t just an absence of light—it was a presence. Heavy. Watching. I could feel it pressing in, curling around me like an unseen force, suffocating yet intangible. My breath came in shallow gasps, each inhale filling my lungs with the taste of dust and fear. The cold slithered over my skin like skeletal fingers, wrapping around me in a suffocating grip. I drew my knees to my chest, tucking myself into the smallest space possible, as if that could protect me from whatever lurked beyond the void. I didn’t know how long I had been here. Time had ceased to exist in this place. The silence stretched endlessly, coiling