Chapter 0023BETRAYAL IN THE DARK.EVAN,I couldn’t shake the shock from my mind. Who the hell was that guy, and why had he rushed to save her? The question burned through me, feeding the fire already raging inside. My fists clenched at my sides, my pulse hammering as I glared at Elena. My breath came in sharp, heated bursts.She brought him here.That realization hit harder than anything. This wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t a coincidence. She had brought him—to my house, into my space—as if she had the right."So, you have the audacity to bring your boyfriend into this house?" My voice was low but laced with fury, dripping with venom. "You date children now? And you come here to hurt me?"Elena’s eyes widened, and she took an instinctive step back. I saw it—the flicker of fear in her gaze. A dark satisfaction curled inside me.Good. She should be scared."I—I don't know what you're talking about," she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.I scoffed, stepping closer, closing the
Chapter 0024SHATTERED VOWS.ELENA,My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. No matter how hard I tried to still them, the tremors wouldn’t go away. My back remained pressed against the cold wall where Evan had cornered me, his fury seared into my mind like a brand I couldn’t erase.The moment his fist slammed into the wall—just inches from my face—something inside me shattered. Fear, raw and unfiltered, coiled in my chest, suffocating me from the inside out. It was as if all the air had been forced out of my lungs, leaving behind nothing but a hollow ache and the echoes of his rage.I had seen Evan angry before. I had seen him reckless, dangerous even. I knew what he was capable of. But tonight was different. Tonight, I saw something in his eyes that I had never seen before. Something dark. Something possessive.I wrapped my arms around myself, struggling to breathe. My heartbeat pounded in my ears, drowning out rational thought. He had looked at me like I was his possession, something that b
Chapter 0025BETRAYAL AND LOVEELENA,I ran.I didn’t think. I didn’t breathe. I just ran.The cold morning air sliced through me, sharp and unforgiving, but I barely felt it. My pulse pounded in my ears, drowning out the distant hum of the waking city. My vision blurred—not from exhaustion, but from the sheer force of emotions crashing over me like a relentless wave. My heart wasn’t just racing; it was plummeting, sinking into a darkness so deep, so suffocating, that I feared I might never surface.Evan was in Diva’s apartment.Shirtless.Disheveled.Looking like he had spent the night.A violent twist of nausea rolled through my stomach, cold and sickening. My mind fought to process what my eyes had just seen, but no matter how I tried to reason with myself, the image remained—a cruel, inescapable brand seared into my memory.I should’ve known.I should’ve seen it coming.And yet, I had let him deceive me. Again.Like a fool, I had clung to his empty words, let myself believe in his
Chapter 0026LETTING SOMEONE SHARE THE WEIGHT.ELENA,The silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating, wrapping around my throat like a noose. The world felt unnaturally still, as if the very air had turned dense with the weight of words left unspoken, with the ghosts of a past I desperately wished to bury.Evan’s eyes burned into mine—dark, relentless, a storm raging just beneath the surface. He had always been like this, a force of nature, chaotic and unpredictable. His presence alone was suffocating, a shadow that crept closer, darkening everything in its path.And then there was Ryan.Standing beside me, his body was rigid, his jaw set, his presence an unshakable shield between me and the man who had shattered me once before. He didn’t say anything, didn’t need to. His silence was a quiet, unwavering declaration that he would not let Evan get to me.I forced myself to breathe. To steady the trembling in my hands. To remind myself that I wasn’t that broken girl anymore.“I
Chapter 0027 LOST ELENA. EVAN, I couldn't breathe. The world around me spun, blurring into a nightmare I couldn’t wake from. My chest tightened, my heart hammering a frantic, violent rhythm against my ribs. It felt as if the air had been stolen from my lungs, leaving only the crushing weight of realization behind. It was him. Again. The same guy from earlier—the one who had stepped in when Elena and I were fighting, the one she swore she didn’t know. But there she was, standing before him, her delicate fingers tangled with his like they belonged there. Like she had never belonged to me. A hollow, suffocating ache spread through my chest, cold and unrelenting. My stomach twisted, nausea rising in my throat, and for a moment, I thought I might be sick. No. No, this couldn’t be real. But it was. Elena stood before him, close enough to feel the heat of his breath. Her head tilted slightly toward him, lips hovering inches away from his. That soft, hesitant smile—God, I k
Chapter 0028 THE CALL. ELENA, My heart pounded so violently I thought it might shatter under the force of it. It wasn’t just beating—it was hammering, each pulse sending tremors through my body, each second stretching unbearably between Jeremy’s words and Elena’s response. Every moment of silence was an eternity, a chasm I couldn’t cross, a void filled with uncertainty and fear. I gripped the edge of the table with trembling fingers, my nails digging into the worn wood as if I could anchor myself against the inevitable. But there was no steadying this. No stopping the way my world felt like it was crumbling beneath me. No calming the storm raging inside my chest, threatening to rip me apart from the inside out. Jeremy’s voice was steady when he spoke—steady in a way that told me just how much effort it took him to keep it that way. I could see the tension in his jaw, the way his fingers flexed around the phone like he was holding onto it for dear life. Like letting go would mean
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 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