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CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR: KNOWING MORE.
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2025-03-21 06:43:23
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THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE: BONE OF CONTENTION.
AVERY’S POV:As the door closed behind him, I took a moment to catch my breath and clear my mind. When that wasn't doing much of a good job, I got up, taking in the view of Axel’s bedroom. It was minimalist yet infused with nature—a blend of masculinity and unexpected tranquility. The king-sized bed was made with soft, inviting sheets, positioned against a dark accent wall. Beside it, a bedside table held only a small, stylish lamp. A floor-to-ceiling window draped with curtains that have since been pushed to the side bathed the room in natural light, flanked by a few well-placed plants that added a touch of serenity. There was a vanity with a stool, simple yet functional, and the hardwood floor stretched seamlessly beneath my bare feet, cool and smooth. I headed in the direction Axel had pointed out earlier. The moment I opened the door, my mouth fell open. His bathroom was just as impressive—modern but with a softness that made it feel lived-in. A circular tub sat beneath a di
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-21THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER NINETY-SIX: ESCAPE ISLAND.
AXEL’S POV: Avery’s laughter rang out over the roar of the helicopter blades, her eyes wide with childlike wonder as she pressed her face to the window. From up here, Pulau Tanjung Sari looked like something out of a dream—a secluded paradise carved out of nature itself. Emerald-green jungles stretched across the heart of the island, dense and wild, spilling down toward white sand beaches that wrapped around the edges like a protective embrace. The water was an impossible shade of blue, shifting between sapphire and turquoise, so clear that schools of fish could be seen darting beneath the surface. Further out, a coral reef glowed beneath the waves, a natural fortress shielding the island from the open ocean. Seabirds glided effortlessly over the water, their cries blending into the rhythmic hum of the waves crashing against the shore. I stole a glance at Avery, her expression pure awe as she kicked her feet in excitement. It wasn’t the island that made my chest tighten—it was t
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-24THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN: FRACTURED LOYALTY.
AXEL'S POV: The last four days had been the most normal of my life. No blood, no deals, no threats. Just Avery and me, isolated in paradise. I woke up with her in my arms, spent afternoons watching her run barefoot on the beach, cooked meals with her, did laundry—laundry—for the first time in my life, and learned the sound of her laugh by heart. We made love in every corner of the house, and at night, she read bedtime stories to Sea over FaceTime, her voice soft and full of warmth. But the illusion of peace had to end. Reality was waiting, and it arrived with a phone call. As I zipped the last suitcase into the helicopter, my phone buzzed in my pocket. One of my men in China. My gut twisted even before I answered. "Sir… our operation in Beijing has been shut down."I went still. "What the fuck did you just say?" "It’s on hold for now. The entire production facility was suspended until further notice." My grip tightened around the phone. "Who the hell ordered this?" "The o
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-24THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT: CHECKMATE.
AXEL'S POV:I stood at the entrance, arms folded, pacing from one end to the other. Vaughan was an hour late, and I wasn’t exactly known for my patience. Devon watched from one corner, his stance rigid, while Baron hovered near the gates with his squad. Ryan was nowhere in sight, likely cleaning up from our earlier… discussion. Then, headlights flared in the distance, cutting through the darkness like a blade. A black SUV rolled up the long driveway, as if taunting me with every inch it covered. When it finally stopped, Vaughan stepped out. Alone. I raised a brow. Either he was stupid, or he was making a statement. No security. No backup. Just him. And what the hell was he wearing? Track pants. Sneakers. A plain T-shirt like he was on his way to the gym instead of dining with a Don. Disrespect dripped from every inch of his presence. He might as well have spat on my shoes. I straightened, rolling my shoulders back. I wasn’t about to let him see that his lack of etiquette i
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-24THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER NINETY-NINE: FOREVER GONE.
AXEL’S POV:The night was merciless. Sleep remained out of reach, chased away by the storm inside my head. I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling, then turned onto my side, restless. Vaughan’s words played in a loop, scraping at my pride. Rusty. Was that how they saw me now? Was I losing control, letting distractions dull my edge? Frustrated, I slid out of bed, careful not to wake Avery. The soft rise and fall of her breath filled the silence, but even that did nothing to calm me. I needed answers. I moved to my study, flipping through reports, files, anything that could tell me what I had failed to see. Who the hell are you, Vaughan?Hours passed. I kept searching. The deeper I dug, the less sense it made. There were barely any records on him—like he had appeared out of thin air. That alone was a problem. No one in this world was a ghost. No one except the dead. A knock at the door. I looked up, rubbing the exhaustion from my face. "Come in." Devon entered, his expression
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-24THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED: ASHES AND PROMISES.
AVERY’S POV:The more I learned about Axel, the more my heart broke. My hatred for him had diminished so easily, almost effortlessly. How could I hold onto anger when I saw the truth so clearly now? He had been a boy betrayed, discarded, and left to navigate a world that had never once been kind to him. The only person who had truly loved him—his mother—had been taken from him. And with her death, any chance of salvation had died too. Now, all he knew was rage and hatred. Exhaling softly, I rubbed slow circles on his back as he stood motionless, watching the flames consume what remained of his father. The funeral home was eerily silent, save for the low hum of the cremation chamber. The fire’s glow flickered in Axel’s dark eyes, reflecting something deeper than grief—something restrained, something raw. When Laurent died, something in Axel had gone with him. The light in his eyes, the faint smile he had begun to wear over the past week—it had all vanished. If I wasn’t mistake
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-26THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & ONE: VOLUNTEER.
AVERY’S POV:I tried to be there for Axel. To understand him, to love him, to give him what no one else had ever given him—patience. In return, he started to open up in ways I never imagined. He told me things that seemed impossible for a man like him to say. Deep secrets, old wounds, regrets. It was as if, piece by piece, he was handing me the fragments of his soul, trusting me to keep them safe. But as much as I loved Sea, as much as I loved Axel, I knew I couldn’t just exist within these walls. I needed something of my own. Something beyond being a mother, a spoiled wife, or a woman lounging around a mansion all day. So, I decided to volunteer at a hospital. The nearest one wasn’t near at all, but that didn’t matter. I needed this. Axel had been reluctant, naturally, but after thorough research—and his personal approval—I had finally gotten the green light. Early in the morning, Axel drove me with his guards, Sea nestled between us in the backseat, humming a tune. She was hal
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-27THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & TWO: TAKEN.
AVERY’S POV:The morning started like any other. Axel was already gone when I woke up, leaving a note on his pillow that simply read, "Call me once you’re up." It made me smile. Despite everything—the walls he’d built over the years, the hardened exterior—he was always looking out for me. I went through my routine: a quick shower, a simple black dress paired with flats for comfort, and then waking up Sea, who, as usual, groaned and tried to negotiate five more minutes of sleep. "No, ma’am," I teased, tickling her side. "Up, up, up!" She whined but sat up, rubbing her eyes. "You’re so mean." "Mean?" I gasped dramatically. "And here I was, thinking I’d get an award for Best Mom of the Year." Sea giggled, swinging her tiny legs off the bed. "Okay, okay! I'm up!" After breakfast, we headed out. Baron and a squad of five guards took charge of Sea, while Devon went with me. "Good morning, Mrs. Blackwood," he greeted as he opened the car door. "Morning, Devon." He didn’t sp
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-27
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THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & FORTY-EIGHT: FOUND THE GHOST.
AVERY’S POV:"His base would be in Miami. That’s our territory," Axel muttered, scrolling furiously through search results. "He has to be somewhere we already have dominance and power. So why the hell am I finding it difficult to trace him?""Maybe try your own homes," I said, biting into the cracker the hostess handed me. “The biggest and most discreet ones. You know, the kind no one ever talks about but everyone knows not to touch.”He stilled, glanced at me, then nodded slowly. “You’re right. He’s smart enough to hide in plain sight.”As he resumed his search, I finally allowed myself to chew. The snacks weren’t much, but they beat the dry, tasteless scraps I’d been surviving on at Orion. This was the first thing resembling real food I'd had in days."Serena," Axel called suddenly, not even lifting his eyes from the screen."Yes, Mr. Blackwood?" the flight attendant responded immediately, turning like she’d been waiting."Contact the tech team. Tell them I want the real-time locati
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & FORTY-SEVEN: THE NEW BLACKWOOD.
AVERY’S POV:We never noticed how much Orion had changed the nights we snuck out. The darkness cloaked everything, and in our desperation, we didn’t pay attention or question anything.But daylight doesn’t lie.It wasn’t until we came back down the slope—mud caking our boots, sunlight breaking through the trees—that we saw the truth. Burnt farmlands. Caved-in homes. Charred wooden posts where old lanterns used to hang. The trail had looked enchanted once. Now, it looked like a forgotten battlefield.The two men who guided us stopped near a cluster of boulders, gave a respectful nod, and wordlessly turned back. They didn’t look back once. Axel and I kept walking. And walking. It was torturous, but eventually, we came to a little town that looked almost deserted.Axel hurriedly found a payphone and made a phone call which my brain couldn't register due to how hungry and tired I was. My legs throbbed and my stomach kept reminding me how long it had been since that quick meal back in Or
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED &FORTY-SIX: NOT THE SAME.
AXEL’S POVIf I was still sane, it was only because my mind had already survived worse. That was the only explanation I had for not snapping the second we stepped foot back in the village.They saw us before we saw them.A shrill scream pierced the air, followed by the unmistakable hiss of metal drawn from sheaths. Blades flashed in the fading light. Men ran toward us with their swords raised, eyes wide with terror—not rage."Stay back!" someone yelled. "Don’t come any closer!""You shouldn't be here!" another man cried, backing away with trembling hands. "We buried you! You’re not real! You’re ghosts—vengeful spirits!"I tensed, stepping in front of Avery instinctively.Akira raised both hands, her voice strong but calm. "Peace! Peace, it's us!" she called out. "It's truly us. We've returned."The group hesitated, their weapons still raised, eyes darting between us like they were waiting for us to vanish in smoke. A woman dropped her bowl of water. It shattered on the ground."How is
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & FORTY-FIVE: IT'S TIME.
AVERY’S POV:“What?” Axel blinked. “That has to be a joke.”Akira gave him a look. “When have you ever known me to joke?”“But—seven years?”She nodded. “It started counting differently once our spirits left the House of Judgment. One day in this temple equals one year in the human world.”I stared at her, trying to process. “So... when I was yelling at you two to wake up, that was normal time. But once we began the process—”“Time shifted,” she said. “You experienced four normal days and seven spiritual days. In the human world, it’s been over seven years.”Axel let out a breath. “So technically, I’m fifty-two now? Avery’s thirty-one? And Sea—” He paused. “She’d be thirteen.”“Not quite,” Akira replied calmly. “You didn’t age. None of us did. We still look, feel, and are the same age as when we first entered. But the world we’re going back to… it moved on.”I looked at my hands, then at Axel’s face. He hadn’t changed. Neither had I.“But everyone we left behind…” I whispered. “They c
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & FORTY-FOUR: THE KICK THAT GAVE HOPE.
AVERY’S POV:Apparently, I might not get everything back.But I have Axel. I have Akira. And for now, that was enough.Nothing’s been the same since I woke up seven days ago. Not even the way the air feels in my lungs. It’s lighter—but heavier, somehow. Akira had waited until the second morning to tell me.“There’s no heartbeat,” she said.Just like that.Axel looked just as stunned as I felt. His grip on my hand didn’t loosen, though. If anything, he held tighter.Later that night, while I stared up at the cracked ceiling, unable to stop the tears from creeping into my ears, he pulled me against him and said, “I’d rather let a child I’ve never met go than lose you. We’ll make another one, Avery. Don’t be too sad.”He’s been like that ever since.Solid. Ridiculous. Unshakable.When my sadness slips in, he trains with me. When I get too quiet, he cracks a joke—sometimes awful enough to make me roll my eyes, but it works.What surprised us both was how different we were. I took time to
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & FORTY-THREE:NEVER BEEN HAPPIER TO SEE THE MOON.
AXEL’S POV:"You can’t mention any of this to anyone," Akira stated. "The last time we tried to be inclusive, half of us were wiped out, and the rest were exploited. Once this is over, we’d prefer to be left in peace. Our existence must remain a secret. We have so much to rebuild. Our land… it was ripped in two."That was my doing. I meaning the ripping the land into two part.And I swore, right then, to rebuild it for them. Every stone, every torn root, every inch of earth that had felt the weight of destruction—I would give it back.I understood her fear. People destroy what they don’t understand. And this place—this divine, terrifying place—was a miracle the outside world would dissect like a corpse. They wouldn’t see wonder; they’d see something to own. Something to use."I’ll respect your wish," I said quietly."Thank you."But my curiosity wasn’t done with me yet. "Tell me about this place. How was it founded? Who rules here—do you have a president? Prime minister? Or is this mo
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & FORTY-TWO: SECRETS OF THE DIVINE.
AXEL’S POV:An invisible force surged through me like a pressure wave, ripping the air out of my lungs. Before I could blink, I was flung backward—lifted off my feet like a ragdoll and hurled through the air. The floor caught me with a punishing thud, pain ricocheting up my spine as the breath whooshed from my chest.I groaned, sprawled across the cold earth, my limbs momentarily useless.“Axel, quit it!” the woman snapped. “You’ve done enough already to piss off everyone. Just sit and wait.”I sat up slowly, dust clinging to my skin and frustration burning in my gut.“Do you think you care more about her than I do?”I didn’t reply. I didn’t have to.Because she didn’t love Avery as much as I did to care. So I thought. I didn’t need to hear it from her mouth to know I’d been screwing up left and right. Every time I acted on impulse, people paid the price. The burden of my mistakes stared back at me, and I reflected on the catastrophic consequences of my errors. If only I had been mo
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & FORTY-ONE: THE IMPOSSIBLE.
AXEL’S POV:I came back like I was clawing my way through layers of nothingness. Everything was silent—then not. It was like drowning in an ocean without water, suffocating on something I couldn’t see until I burst through some invisible surface and inhaled like I hadn’t breathed in centuries.My eyes shot open.Bright. Too bright.I blinked, once—twice. The light didn’t burn. I could see. Both eyes. Clear, like someone had lifted a veil from the world.The realization slammed into me harder than the bullet had: I was alive.No. No, that wasn’t possible.I tried to move and found myself tightly bound from neck to ankles. The rough texture of cloth wrapped around every inch of me—like a preserved relic, like something meant to stay buried.I’d been dead.The memory returned like lightning. The sound of gunshots. The searing heat in my chest. Blood. So much of it. And then the dark."Avery," I rasped, voice hoarse like it hadn’t been used in weeks—or ever.Her eyes widened like she’d se
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & FORTY: AN ANSWER.
AVERY’S POV: Swallowing hard and exhaling, my body felt like brittle glass. “If anyone should be punished... it should be me. Yes, it should. I—” I staggered, stammering, my chest tightening as guilt tore through me. “I brought all this... on them. I cursed. I lashed out. I lost control. Take my life, just bring them back. Please—please!”My hands shook as I looked down at the blood still clinging to my skin. “The child... the child was innocent,” I mentioned, then screamed, “Do you hear me?! They didn’t do anything! This baby has never done a single wicked thing in their entire life! What about Akira that lived a pure life? And Axel—he didn’t even know about the baby! He never got to know!”I choked on my own sob, clenching my fists. “Oman!" I shouted, lifting my head. “Kore! Where are you?! If I am yours—if I carry even a drop of your blood—then show up! Do something! Show me mercy! Please! I’m not begging as a warrior or a vessel. I’m begging as your child. I’m just a daughter ask
