Novel-novel oleh Bliss Ositas

"Who the hell are you?" Charlotte asked, her voice unsteady and slurred, the alcohol still clouding her senses heavily as the room spun slightly around her. Her brows knitted together in confusion and irritation as she tried to pull her hand free from his grasp. Nathan's grip was firm, almost desperate, his fingers wrapped tightly around her wrist as though letting go would make her vanish again forever."Let go of me!" she snapped, her body trembling as she tried to wrench herself away forcefully."Charlie, I messed up, okay?" Nathan said quickly, lowering his voice, forcing calm where panic threatened to break through completely. His eyes searched her face with urgency and desperation. "I know I did. I was blind. I was stupid. I was everything you think I was."Charlotte stopped struggling for a moment, lifting her gaze to him, trying hard to focus through the haze. His face felt oddly familiar, painfully familiar, yet distant at the same time. She stared at him like one would st

The urgent call from Marcel turned out to be strictly work-related, though it came at the worst possible time imaginable. A major client from New York—one Nathan had spent years carefully cultivating, had suddenly requested a face-to-face meeting, insisting emphatically that it had to be Nathan himself. Marcel had explained everything carefully over the phone, his tone respectful but strained, aware of how delicate the situation was with Nathan's current emotional state."Sir, this client doesn't take postponements lightly," Marcel had said, pacing anxiously in his office. "If we delay too long, they might pull out completely. We could lose the entire account."Nathan had stood by the hotel window, staring down at the glowing city below, his reflection faintly visible in the glass. His mind was elsewhere: on Charlotte, on Caleb, on everything slipping through his fingers like sand."Reschedule it," Nathan said flatly, his voice devoid of emotion."Sir—""I said reschedule it," Nath

Nathan walked back outside like a man possessed, his jaw clenched so tight it ached painfully. The night air felt heavy against his skin, doing nothing to cool the rage boiling inside him like molten lava. He barely registered his surroundings as he pushed through the gate with forceful movements.Marcel was just stepping forward when he saw him approaching. "Sir," Marcel said quickly, his voice edged with concern and worry. "Are you all right?"Nathan stopped abruptly, turning just enough for Marcel to see his face; dark, furious, unrecognizable, transformed by anger. He didn't answer. Instead, he reached out, snatched the car keys straight from Marcel's hand without asking, and marched toward the vehicle with determined strides."Sir—!" Marcel called, startled and confused.Nathan opened the car door, got in, and slammed it shut with brutal force. The engine roared to life. Before Marcel could process what was happening, the car shot forward dangerously."Sir Mills! Sir Mills!" M

A sharp knock echoed through the apartment, cutting through the fragile calm that had settled in the room like a knife through silk. Charlotte stiffened instantly, her entire body going rigid. Her hands paused mid-movement as she packed the ointment back into the first-aid box with careful precision. Something about that knock felt wrong: too firm, too impatient, too aggressive."I'll get it," she said quietly, already rising to her feet with a sense of foreboding.Caleb nodded, watching her with a faint frown creasing his features. He had barely adjusted himself on the bed when Charlotte reached the door. The moment she pulled it open, her expression hardened dramatically.Nathan stood there in the doorway.His presence filled the entrance—uninvited, unwelcome, and heavy with unresolved anger and barely contained emotion. His suit jacket was gone, his shirt slightly rumpled and disheveled, his jaw tight with tension. His eyes swept past Charlotte immediately, searching the apartm

By nightfall, the city had grown quieter and more subdued, the earlier rush fading into distant hums of traffic and scattered streetlights that dotted the darkness like small beacons. Nathan stood outside a modest but well-kept apartment building, his posture rigid and tense as he faced Marcel with barely contained emotion. He brought a cigarette to his lips with practiced ease, flicked his lighter open, and inhaled deeply. Smoke curled into the night air, thick and restless, mirroring perfectly the storm brewing inside him."Mr. Mills," Marcel began carefully, his tone respectful, almost hesitant, as if walking on eggshells. "We checked thoroughly. That man is you and Ms. Charlotte's high school senior. And also…" He paused deliberately, as though weighing whether the rest of his words were worth the risk of provoking Nathan further.Nathan didn't look at him directly. He exhaled slowly, letting the smoke drift away, eyes fixed ahead on nothing in particular. "Spit it out," he com

Nathan strode toward her with long, furious steps and grabbed her wrist roughly, yanking her sharply to his side with barely controlled violence. His grip was tight, possessive, burning with panic and jealousy all at once, his fingers digging into her skin hard enough to leave marks."Who the hell is this guy?" he demanded harshly, his finger stabbing the air toward Caleb with aggressive accusation, his eyes blazing like fire. "Answer me, Charlotte!"Charlotte spun on him instantly, her own anger exploding to the surface like a volcano that had been dormant for far too long. "None of your business!" she snapped viciously, her eyes boiling with fury as she struggled against his iron hold. "Let go of me right now!"She jerked her hand violently, wrenching free from his grip with considerable effort, and moved straight back to Caleb's side as if drawn there by instinct and necessity. Without hesitation, she reached for Caleb's arm, grounding herself in his solid, reassuring presence."C

Bosco and Elliot were halfway to the car when the iron gate creaked open behind them. The sound made both of them turn at the same time, irritation already forming on Bosco's lips until he saw who it was.Their mother.Megan stepped in slowly, as if unsure whether she was welcome or trespassing. She looked thinner than either of them remembered, her shoulders slightly hunched, eyes tired but searching. The evening light caught the silver threads in her hair, traces of time and hardship neither son had been prepared to see. For a heartbeat, the world froze.Bosco's breath left him in a rush. "Mom?"The word came out broken, disbelieving. He'd imagined this reunion countless times, rehearsed what he might say, how he might react. None of it prepared him for the rush of emotion that hit him now—relief, joy, anger, love, all tangled together in his chest.Elliot didn't wait for confirmation. He crossed the distance in three long strides and wrapped his arms around her. Bosco followe

Margaret's hands trembled as she spoke. At first, her words came out uneven, tangled in sobs she had kept buried for years. Bella stood stiffly in front of her, arms folded across her chest like a shield, but she didn't interrupt her. Not this time."They found out," Margaret began, her voice thin and fragile. "I don't even know how. One day I was just a housekeeper, invisible, careful. The next day, men I had never seen before were standing too close to me, smiling too politely. They knew your name. They knew your school. They knew where we slept."Bella's lips quivered. She looked away briefly, fighting for composure, then forced herself to look back."They told me to leave the country," Margaret continued, her voice cracking. "They said if I loved you, if I wanted you to grow up breathing freely, I should disappear. Not just leave. Vanish. They said accidents happen to children whose mothers don't listen."Bella sucked in a sharp breath, tears finally spilling despite her effort t

Bella had just stepped out of the mall, the glass doors sliding shut behind her with a soft mechanical sigh. The afternoon air hit her face, warm and dusty, carrying the usual city mix of exhaust fumes and street food. She adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder and headed toward the road, eyes already scanning for a cab. Her mind was elsewhere; half on Jack’s silence, half on Julia’s face from afar, half on the restless ache that had refused to leave her chest since prison gates opened.Then a voice cut through everything.“Bella.”She stopped mid-step.Her heart didn’t just skip. It slammed, hard enough to steal her breath. Slowly, too slowly, she turned.The woman standing a few steps behind her looked older, thinner, her hair streaked with grey and pulled back neatly, but the face,God, the face, was unmistakable. Time had carved lines into it, but it hadn’t erased it.Bella’s lips parted.“Mom?” she breathed, the word slipping out before she could stop it.The sound of it

Julia stood alone in her office long after the building had emptied. The lights on her floor were dimmed automatically, leaving only the soft glow from her desk lamp and the vast stretch of city lights beyond the glass wall. From this height, the city looked calm, obedient even, as if nothing ugly ever happened beneath its surface.She knew better now.Julia rested her palms against the cool glass, her reflection faintly superimposed over the skyline. The warehouse replayed itself in her mind in fragments; the trucks, the reinforced locks, the way the manager's eyes sharpened when he recognized her. She hadn't gone there to be brave. She'd gone because not knowing had become unbearable.Every step forward was costing her something. Sleep. Safety. Innocence she hadn't realized she still carried.Her phone buzzed on the desk behind her.Julia didn't turn immediately. She stared at the city a second longer, as if memorizing it, then finally walked back and glanced at the screen. Unkn

Julia parked farther away than necessary, stepping out of the car with the quiet deliberateness of someone who did not want attention but was prepared for it anyway. The NovaCorp warehouse sat at the edge of the industrial district, its steel body stretching wide and low, painted in clean corporate colors that suggested order, innovation, harmless productivity. On paper, it was just another logistics extension for a tech company. In reality, it felt wrong the moment Julia stepped onto the concrete.The air smelled heavier here. Not oil or rust. Something else. Something lived-in.She walked slowly, heels clicking softly against the ground, eyes scanning details she had trained herself not to ignore. Trucks lined the loading bay, engines off, drivers nowhere in sight. At first glance, they looked legitimate. NovaCorp logos stamped boldly on the sides, the same blue-and-silver palette repeated with mechanical precision. But Julia’s gaze lingered.These were not tech delivery trucks.

Bella arrived early.The café Jack had chosen sat on a quiet street most people only passed through, never stopped at. The music was playing but not loud. Just dim lighting, polished wood, and a soft hum of conversation that blended into anonymity. Bella liked that. It meant nothing said inside would echo loudly enough to follow her out.She took a seat near the back, her coat still on, her bag placed deliberately on the chair beside her. She ordered nothing. Waiting was part of the message.When Jack finally walked in, she felt it before she saw him. The air shifted. He scanned the room once, then again, slower the second time. Not the casual glance of a man used to owning every space he entered, but the careful sweep of someone measuring exits.Bella smiled to herself.He spotted her and approached, posture relaxed, face arranged into the familiar charm that had worked on too many people for too long. But when he reached the table, she noticed the cracks immediately.“Bella,” he s

The storm that followed Alex’s release shook New York to its core.For three full days after Dennis discovered the evidence Alex gave him, the station became a war zone—meetings behind closed doors, state officials going in and out, lawyers hovering like bees, phones ringing non-stop. But the moment the police finally released Alex Spencer, the entire city erupted. Angry protests gathered outside the precinct, people demanding answers from the justice system they trusted. The media tore into the police with merciless headlines, questioning their competence and their integrity.“How can a murder suspect be released?”“What happened to justice for Martins Cooper?”“Is New York police now controlled by powerful elites?”The noise grew louder every hour.Amara watched everything on TV with a hand pressed against her mouth. She didn’t know what to think. She didn’t know whether to be relieved that perhaps Alex truly wasn’t the monster she thought or terrified that she might still be wr

The chair screeched lightly against the floor as Amara pulled it out. She didn’t sit gently, she dropped into it, her breath sharp, her eyes burning like she was forcing herself not to explode. The interrogation room felt smaller with her inside, as if her fury had filled every corner. Alex sat opposite her, his hands cuffed and fixed to the metal table. The chains made a soft rattling sound whenever he shifted, but he barely moved.She couldn’t even look at him at first. Her chest rose and fell in slow, angry waves, the weight of betrayal clinging to her skin like thick fog. Then finally, her eyes snapped to his.“Tell me the truth,” she said, her voice trembling, not with weakness but with a rage she had held back too long. “Why would you do this to me?”Alex swallowed. His voice came out quiet but steady.“I didn’t do anything to you, Amara.”She laughed—a painful, disbelieving sound.“Don’t insult my intelligence,” she snapped. “Roland and Eva confessed. They mentioned you. You

The tension inside Spencer Group's executive boardroom was the kind that made the air feel heavy and oppressive, as if every breath carried physical weight that pressed down on the lungs. The long mahogany table, polished to a mirror shine, reflected the harsh fluorescent light overhead, until James walked through the double doors and silence rippled across the room like a swift wind cutting through tall grass.He took the seat at the head of the table—Alex's seat. The chair reserved for the President. The symbolic throne of power in this corporate empire.A bold declaration on its own, spoken without words.His expression was stone cold, carved from granite, his posture sharp and rigid, his fingers clasped together in front of him on the polished wood like a general ready to announce war to his troops. The senior executives exchanged worried looks across the table, their eyes darting between James and each other, searching for answers no one had. Everyone had heard about Alex's su

The sky was still grey with early morning fog when the police hotline rang. The officer on duty answered, barely awake, expecting another false alarm or noise complaint. Instead, the caller spoke quickly, breathlessly.“Good morning, officer. I—I think I just dropped off the man you people are looking for. The CEO… the one on the news.”The officer sat upright.“You mean Alex Spencer?”“Yes! Yes, him!” the taxi driver said. “I swear it’s him. Same face, same height, same hair. He told me to drop him at the old Spencer Group plant on Riverside Industrial Lane. That place is empty now.”Within minutes, a full SWAT team was deployed.The convoy sped through the city, sirens slicing the morning air.As they approached the abandoned property—an old manufacturing plant Spencer Group shut down years ago, the scene was chilling. Weeds curled up the cracked walls. Windows were broken. Rusted machinery stood in the courtyard like metal skeletons.Dennis stepped forward, signaling silently to

Inspector Dennis stood in his office long after Roland and Eva’s confessions were typed, recorded, signed, and sealed. The cold weight of everything he had just uncovered pressed down on him until his breath turned shallow. Outside his door, officers buzzed with frantic disbelief, whispering Alex Spencer’s name in tones that carried shock, rage, and something close to betrayal.Dennis finally picked up his pen.His hand trembled but not from fear. From fury.From the deep, unsettling knowledge that the man the world had praised for years… the man powerfully rooted in New York’s corporate and political landscape… the man Amara once loved, and his city respected… had orchestrated murder.In clear, bold handwriting, Dennis signed his name beneath the arrest request.Then he stamped it.WARRANT FOR THE ARREST OF ALEX SPENCER.A chill swept through him. There was no going back.He walked straight to the operations floor, lifted the warrant for his entire team to see, and declared:“Full

Three days had crawled by since the Inspector General placed that impossible, dangerous command on Inspector Dennis— release Roland and Eva… or lose everything.Three days of a voice echoing in his head like poison.Three days of wrestling fear, law, duty, and conscience.Yet, the suspects remained exactly where they were.Not because Dennis forgot.Not because he hesitated.But because the moment the call ended that day, something in him rose, something too rooted in integrity to be pushed aside.After pacing his office like a man trapped inside two lives, Dennis had grabbed his keys and driven straight to the Attorney General’s office, cutting through traffic with a speed fueled by conflict.He didn’t wait to be announced. He walked in and faced the AG—the only man powerful enough, fearless enough, principled enough to challenge the kind of monster who stood behind the IGP’s strange order.For almost twenty minutes, Dennis spoke.Not as a junior officer bowing to authority.Not as a

The O’Neil boardroom had not felt this volatile in years.Voices overlapped, sharp and impatient, bouncing off the glass walls like sparks. Files were scattered across the long table. Someone had pulled a financial report up on the screen, red figures glaring like an accusation.“This is not a collapse,” Melissa snapped, standing with both palms pressed flat against the table. “It’s resistance. Markets resist change before they stabilize.”A senior executive scoffed openly. “Three institutional investors don’t ‘resist.’ They leave.”“They’re bluffing,” she fired back. “They always bluff.”Alex sat at the head of the table, fingers steepled, jaw clenched. He had barely spoken in the last twenty minutes, letting the argument burn itself out. But when Melissa laughed sharply and added, “Celine was never irreplaceable,” something in him snapped.“Enough.”The word cut through the room like glass.Melissa turned toward him, startled. “Alex—”“I said enough,” he repeated, rising to his

It was night when the convoy pulled up outside Celine's house. The guards straightened instinctively, recognizing the car before the doors even opened. Alex stepped out first. His suit was neat, but the stiffness in his shoulders betrayed him. Two senior executives followed behind him, men who once walked past Celine's office with confident nods, men who had voted without hesitation when her nameplate was altered.There was something almost theatrical about their arrival; the carefully chosen hour, the synchronized movements, the rehearsed expressions of contrition. But beneath the performance lay genuine desperation. They weren't here to negotiate. They were here to beg.Celine watched from the living room window as they approached. She did not rush to the door. She stood still, arms folded loosely, breathing evenly, watching the way Alex's steps slowed as he neared the entrance, the way one executive tugged at his collar despite the cool evening air. She waited until the bell

Inside O'Neil Corp, the air felt heavier than usual. It started subtly. Conversations paused when certain names were mentioned. Meetings ended with too many unresolved points. Executives lingered in hallways long after discussions should have been over, voices lowered, glances cautious.The unease moved through the building like a slow-moving fog, invisible but suffocating. It settled into corners where important decisions were made, into elevators where silence spoke louder than words, into coffee breaks that lasted longer than they should because no one wanted to return to their desks.Two senior managers stood near the glass wall overlooking the trading floor."Have you noticed the delays from Zurich?" one asked quietly."They haven't signed off on phase two," the other replied. "They're asking questions. Too many questions.""About what?""About leadership."That single word passed between them like a warning.Across the building, emails were being drafted and redrafted. Invest

Alex barely noticed the time. His jacket lay abandoned on the back of the chair, his tie loosened, sleeves rolled up as he leaned over his laptop, scrolling through projections that refused to settle into anything reassuring. The door flew open without a knock.“Sir—” his assistant gasped, already halfway into the room.Alex snapped his head up. “What is it?”The young man shut the door behind him, breath uneven. “We’ve got a problem. A serious one.”Alex straightened. “Slow down. What is it?”“They’ve started calling,” the assistant said, walking forward and placing a tablet on the desk. “Three already. More emails coming in. They’re issuing warnings.”“Warnings about what?” Alex demanded.“About leadership.” He hesitated, then said it. “They’re threatening to pull out if Celine doesn’t return.”The room went still.Alex laughed once, sharp and disbelieving. “That’s ridiculous. She resigned.”“They know,” the assistant replied. “They don’t care.”Alex’s fingers tightened around the

Daniel stood outside Celine's door long after midnight, his jacket creased as though he had slept in it, his hair uneven, his face drawn tight with exhaustion. One hand rested against the wall beside him, the other shoved into his pocket like he needed something to hold onto. The security guards noticed immediately. One of them studied his face for a second longer than necessary before speaking quietly into the intercom.There was something about the way he stood there, vulnerable yet resolute, that made even the hardened security detail pause. This wasn't a man showing up on impulse. This was a man who had wrestled with himself and lost, or perhaps won, depending on how one looked at it.When the door opened, Celine froze.For a brief moment, she forgot how to breathe. This wasn't the Daniel she had coffee with. This wasn't the composed man who spoke calmly about rebuilding lives. This was someone stripped bare."Daniel…" she said softly, the word slipping out before she could st

The industry function was not meant to matter to Celine.She attended only because Emilia insisted that disappearing entirely would invite the wrong kind of speculation. It was a neutral event, an annual infrastructure and policy summit held in a hotel ballroom overlooking the city. No speeches that made headlines. Just executives, consultants, and policymakers exchanging careful smiles and safer opinions over wine that cost more than it tasted.Celine arrived late and stayed near the edges, dressed simply, her presence understated but unmistakable. Some people noticed her immediately and pretended not to. Others stared too long before correcting themselves. She had become that kind of figure, no longer in power, yet impossible to ignore.She was halfway through a quiet conversation with a regional regulator when she felt it. Not recognition. Not fear.Familiarity.She turned, slowly, and there he was.Alex stood near the bar, a glass in his hand, posture rigid in the way of someon