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CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: WITH THE VIPERS.
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2025-01-11 11:41:08
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THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: RAGED.
AXEL’S POV:"I’m sorry about that," he said, his voice dripping with insincerity. "It seems you were too lenient with her. She needs to know who is in charge. However you want me to compensate you for her troubles, I will." There was so much venom in his tone that it caught even me off guard. This was a man who had spent five years married to Avery, and yet there wasn’t a shred of care or remorse in his voice. To him, she was nothing more than an object—a tool to be used and discarded at his convenience. I studied him for a moment, my eyes falling on the black band on his wedding finger. "I see you replace them like clothes," I noted, mockery in my tone. "Already onto your second marriage, and to her sister, no less. What’s so special about that family that you keep taking their daughters?" Chase’s chest puffed up with pride, as though he had accomplished something worth celebrating. "They’re just pawns in the bigger game," he said, his tone smug. "The kids are gullible."
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-11THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: BRUNO FILIPPO.
AXEL’S POV:The Manhattan docks reeked of salt, rust, and a thin veil of danger that no amount of floodlights could dispel. My boots clicked against the worn concrete as I stepped off the private pier, the chill of the night cutting through the black wool of my coat. Four grueling hours of oversight had passed. My team and I had inspected every corner of the seaport, ensuring the perimeter was secure, every guard in place, and all surveillance equipment operational. I never left things to chance. Not there. Not that night. The shipment had finally arrived—three massive cargo ships docked at my Manhattan seaport. That location was a fortress. I controlled the authorities, paid off anyone who mattered, and left the rest too terrified to intervene. No one dared interfere. I stopped at the edge of the docks, letting the scene unfold. The air smelled of salt and iron, a mix of the ocean breeze and the lingering scent of metal containers baking under industrial lights. Three ships, thei
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-12THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: BREACH OF TRUST.
AXEL’S POV:The flashlight’s beam cut through the dimness, revealing rows of neatly stacked bags, each meticulously labeled. I opened one, inspecting the dried herbs within. They were fragile, their leaves a unique shade of deep green with veins that shimmered faintly under the light. This plant was rare—found only in the most remote corners of the world. Its value lay in its potential, though few knew the extent of it. Satisfied, I exited the container, stripping off the gear and tossing it aside. Bruno stood a few inches away. His short, stout frame seemed to expand, taking up more space than his actual size warranted. His broad shoulders and barrel chest strained against the seams of his tight-fitting shirt, giving him a faintly menacing appearance.His overbearing presence was suffocating. The faint scent of his overpowering cologne further amplifying his already overwhelming presence. His very proximity was almost unbearable. I hated it. “Everything’s in order,” I announced
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-12THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: THE PLEA-DEAL.
AXEL’S POV:From the moment the door creaked open, humiliation poured in like a flood. They hadn’t just locked me away—they’d stripped me of every shred of dignity, leaving me stark naked and freezing in this damp concrete cell. Axel’s men treated me like a toy, their sickening laughter echoing as they took turns hurling crude comments and vile advances my way. Even now, their eyes raked over my bruised, filthy body with revolting hunger, as if my brokenness made me more desirable. My skin reeked from days without a shower, my teeth unbrushed, my breath stale. I could feel my bladder screaming, the pain sharpening with every second I couldn’t relieve it. I prayed for death—but death didn’t come. And here I was again, cornered by two of them. One grinned as he unzipped his pants, exposing himself like it was a joke. "I don’t know why the boss hasn’t let us have our fun yet," he sneered. "I can’t wait to tear you apart with my big dick." The other, a hulking figure with dreadloc
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-17THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: CRAWL.
AVERY’S POV:“Follow me,” Axel ordered, the first words he’d spoken since entering the room. Without another glance, he turned his back to me, striding toward the door with the unyielding confidence of someone who expected obedience. I stood frozen, my mind a whirlpool of indecision. My gaze flitted between the lifeless bodies sprawled on the ground, the coat draped over aching skin, and Axel’s broad shoulders retreating ahead of me. Should I stay here, in this concrete hellhole where at least I knew what to expect? If death was inevitable, would it be easier to face it here, where I could see it coming? Or should I follow him, trading one unknown for another, gambling on the faintest possibility of survival? I inhaled shakily, perceiving the metallic tang of blood and my own sweat. My knees screamed in protest as I forced myself to stand. My legs wobbled beneath me like a newborn fawn’s, unsteady and weak after days of immobility. Every muscle in my body felt as though it had
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-17THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER FORTY: DOG BOWL.
AXEL’S POV:The door creaked slightly as I pushed it open, revealing a modest bathroom. I clicked the door shut behind me and leaned heavily against it despite the sting in my legs. My chest heaved as I exhaled, eyes darting over the bathroom's simple layout. The tiles were spotless, gleaming under the soft glow of recessed lighting. A simple shower stall stood in the corner, its glass door streak-free. On the counter beside the sink, neatly folded towels and small bottles of shampoo and body wash awaited me, their clean, floral scent a reminder of how desperately I needed them. Stripping off Axel's jacket, I tossed it onto the floor and grabbed the new toothbrush sitting on the counter. For the first time in what felt like days, I allowed myself the luxury of slowness. Each stroke of the toothbrush over my teeth was methodical, each swish of mouthwash a small victory. I even took my time flossing, savoring the strange normalcy of it. The shower beckoned next. Stepping under the
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-17THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: THE NEGOTIATION.
AXEL’S POV:"You missed a spot," Avery muttered, her audacity stretching as she reached up with her small, trembling hand. Before I could react, she brushed at the edge of my eyepatch, her fingers skimming the streak of egg that clung there. The slap came before I even registered my own movement, a crack that reverberated in the room. She staggered, clutching the edge of the bed for balance, her lip now split and bleeding. Crimson beads welled at the corner of her mouth, and she swiped at them with the back of her hand, glaring up at me with those fiery, rebellious eyes. Damn her. She knew exactly how to push me to the brink, poking at corners of my patience I didn’t even know existed. I wasn’t one to raise my hand to women—if punishment was needed, my men handled it. But Avery was different. Something about her grated against every carefully maintained wall I had, stripping away my control until all that remained was untethered rage. I ran a hand through my hair, exhaling. I hadn
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-07THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER FORTY-TWO: DEAD GIRL.
AXEL’S POV I DIDN’T WANT to discuss this in front of Avery. Her ears might be sharper than I gave her credit for, and I wasn’t about to give her free ammunition against me. Leading Ryan outside, I stopped just past the doorway, shutting it behind us. “Break the news to me,” I ordered, my patience hanging by a thread. Ryan hesitated, which immediately put me on edge. He wasn’t the type to stall unless the situation was beyond repair. “I halted the delivery,” he started. “The trucks offloaded as usual—four total, all taking separate routes. But the one using the Cold Wing route was intercepted by the DEA.” I exhaled sharply. “Okay?” The Cold Wing and Blue Fox routes were my easiest to maneuver. We’d given them those names to keep them separate from the actual transport paths. If a shipment got caught, I always had contingencies. Ryan didn’t react to my casual response. His body became rigid instead. "It wasn't just the materials that were apprehended," he said grimly. "Th
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-08
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THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & THIRTY-TWO: ALWAYS A STEP AHEAD.
AVERY’S POV:"If I could, I'd kill London a second time," Axel growled, his voice gravel-coated and bitter. "She was a traitor. A whore. Imagine the woman I loved, bent over for the Don of a rival cartel like a common street slut. Not just once—but again and again, even when she was carrying my child."He wasn’t yelling. That made it worse. His voice was calm, even fond in a twisted way, as if the memory had hardened into something precious—just not in the way love is supposed to be.His lip curled, disgust tightening every word. “She didn’t just betray me. She betrayed her father. Our family.”I stood frozen, every inch of me recoiling. My mouth went dry. Axel’s rage was volcanic—rising, spilling, burning everything in its path.“At first, I had my suspicions,” he said, almost too calmly. “But I dismissed them. Turned a blind eye. You know why?” He scoffed and looked away, his jaw twitching. “Because I loved that loose hole.”He laughed, but there was no joy in it—only the sound of a
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & THIRTY-ONE: I TOOK MY OWN LIFE.
AVERY’S POV:Axel coughed violently, blood splattering the stone beneath him. His limbs were twitching now—shock setting in. His breaths were ragged like each one hurt more than the last. The kind of pain that looks more animal than human. Still, he tried to speak."Devon…” he managed, gasping between words. “How… did I ruin your life? You… you pledged allegiance to me. Swore on your mother’s life. You said I saved you. You—”“Oh, please,” Devon cut him off, sneering. “I told you what you wanted to hear. You’re so arrogant. So hungry to be worshipped. That story about the boy you saved? It was real. I just found him. Killed him. Took his place.”The courtyard stilled.Devon’s voice turned cold. “He was a drunk, anyway. I did the world a favor.”My blood chilled. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.Axel’s face twitched. Whether from pain or betrayal, I didn’t know. His hands were slick with blood now, trying weakly to press down on his wounds. His lips quivered, mumbling words I could
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & THIRTY: THE SHOTS OF BETRAYAL.
AVERY’S POV:I was drenched in blood. It had soaked into the white of my temple robe, turned my hands sticky, and clung to my skin like guilt. Akira’s body—now wrapped in linen, still and pale—lay in front of me. Her death had left a hollow in my chest that no scream could fill. I cried until I couldn’t anymore, until the pain became dry and raw like my throat. She had just begun to teach me how to live through this pregnancy, how to breathe again in a world that felt so suffocating. And just like that, she was gone. Snatched from me as quickly as she'd come.The others sat quietly around her body. No chants. No songs. Just silence thick enough to choke on.Then came the chaos.Gunshots. Screams. The kind of terror that twists reality in half. My head jerked toward the sound, and my heart thudded in my throat. I scrambled to my feet, wiping at my tears, suddenly alert."What’s happening?" I asked the nearest person—a small Orion boy, no older than eight, trembling beside a pillar."T
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED &TWENTY-NINE: THE LIGHT THAT FADED.
AVERY’S POV:I stopped counting the days. Time moved like molasses, thick and slow, as we lived under the constant shadow of fear. We were caged like animals—patrolled, watched, starved of dignity. Devon wasn’t the man I remembered. Whatever light used to be in his eyes had long been smothered by something cruel and cold. The once-easy smile he wore like a badge was now replaced by a stone-hard jaw and the hollow stare of a man long lost to the dark.He used to be kind.Now, he hit my brothers for speaking too loud.But I didn’t hate Devon.I hated the man who turned him into this. The one who gave the orders. Who turned my protector into a monster.Axel.I couldn’t fight back. I didn’t have the strength. And worse—I’d brought this ruin to my people. The earth was ransacked, torn apart by metal and greed. The same land that once glistened under the sun was now a wounded body, bled dry by machines. They dug up every corner, searching for a 'precious mineral' as I overheard one of the g
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & TWENTY-EIGHT: LONDON'S BACK.
AXEL’S POV:From where the car stopped, a jet was already waiting on the tarmac, beneath the pale morning sky. Less than two hours later, I was in our new location—a fortress tucked deep into the outskirts, reinforced and brimming with security. I showered, shaved, trimmed the unruly beard. Cedric stitched the gash on my brow and reset two of my ribs without a complaint. My knuckles were still bruised, but the fresh set of clothes—black shirt, tactical trousers, leather boots—made me feel human again. Strange how luxury used to feel normal. Now, even clean water felt sacred.Cedric didn’t speak much, but I could tell from his eyes that he knew we were standing in the middle of a long war—and that everything, even moments like this, had consequences. He’d been brought by Baron, apparently to save Ryan. Since then, he hadn’t stopped working. He patched, treated, and kept morale up without asking for thanks. That alone earned him more of my respect.Ryan had updated me as soon as we lan
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & TWENTY-SEVEN: THEY WANTED HIM DEAD.
AXEL’S POV:A cold pressure squeezed my chest, but I forced it down. I couldn’t afford to think. Not now.I looked at him—his blood pooling beneath him, face a mess of terror and agony. He was nearly gone, and I was already losing interest.With one swift motion, I sliced off his dick.Then, without hesitation, I pried open his jaw and hacked off his tongue.His legs came next—each cut as clean as the last, each one a punishment, a lesson, a warning. I left him writhing in his own blood and filth, a hollowed-out shell of the man who once smirked in my face."You call those torture games?" I said, stepping over him. "Come learn from me."Then I drove the blade into his right eye. A sickening squelch echoed through the stillness.The men around me flinched. Some looked away. Others stared in stunned silence."Take me to my daughter," I said, my voice flat, final.Ryan stepped forward, nodding once, his expression unreadable. He gestured toward a blacked-out SUV idling nearby."You need
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & TWENTY-SIX: GETTING THE INFORMATION.
AXEL’S POV:"She's fine," Baron said, steady and sure. "She's with Katie and our men at the safe house."Relief punched through me like cold air after drowning."Where the hell have you been, Baron? How did they even escape?"He exhaled, like he’d been holding the memory in too long. "Boss, it wasn’t easy. When the first explosion hit, I went straight for Sea. Found her curled up in a corner of her room, shaking. Wrapped her in a blanket, threw her over my shoulder, and ran. On the way out, we ran into Ryan—he was barely hanging on, bleeding like hell, but still breathing. He pushed us toward the escape tunnel. We managed to gather Katie and a few others. But before we could get back for the last group..." He paused. "The whole place went up in flames."My heart staggered in my chest. Sea was alive. That was all I needed to hear. That was enough to breathe again, enough to fight again.We’d made it outside now. Armed, masked men formed a silent wall around the perimeter. I stayed aler
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & TWENTY-FIVE: COULD ONLY BE ONE MAN.
AXEL’S POV:When thoughts went to the people that mattered in life, I tried to brace myself for that clean slice that would end it all. Or worse—he might do it messy, on purpose. Just to draw it out. Just to hear me scream.My mind found my mother first. I hoped she was in a better place, waiting for me, arms open. Maybe death wasn’t an end. Maybe it was our reunion. And maybe, just maybe, I'd recognize my father too. But guilt didn't let me rest there. It crawled up my throat, settled in my chest. Laurent. I should’ve made time for him. I should’ve asked questions, cared more, listened better. And what about the others—the lives I took? Would they be waiting on the other side too, not with open arms, but fists and rage?"Forgive me, Sea," I whispered in my head. "Wherever you are."I breathed in deep, slow. Vaughan was taking his damn time, drawing out the moment like it was some kind of art. That was the thing about death. Sometimes, the silence before it was louder than the act it
THE WIFE YOU LEFT CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & TWENTY-FOUR: IT WAS NEVER RYAN.
AXEL’S POV:"Not only did I think you were stupid," I began, the taste of blood already pooling at the edge of my tongue, "you're archaic." I kept my eye away from Vaughan. "What’s this? The 1980s?""Seal his mouth. We're about to start filming," he snapped without missing a beat.They pushed me to my knees, the cold bite of concrete pressing into my skin. My hands were tied behind me, and my neck was bared like an offering. An execution. The kind you only read about or see in cartel footage—until it's your turn."Axel, let me tell you before I end you," Vaughan sneered, circling me like a wolf. "You were powerful. But you were also blinded—by pride, by selfishness. You were so easy to manipulate. Infiltrating your organization? Child’s play. Turning you against your second-in-command? A masterpiece."My jaw tightened. What was he driving at?"It was never Ryan, Axel." He crouched down to my level, voice low like a lullaby laced with poison. "This entire game was engineered to divide
