Chapter: Chapter 33: The Unseen PlayerHere ream slices through the maze like a knife, freezing my blood in an instant.“Ava!”My name—my real one—echoes across the campus.Jace and I stare at each other for half a second. That’s all it takes.Then we run.Branches whip against my arms as we tear through the hedge maze, slipping out the other side and sprinting across the quad. Students stop and stare, murmuring, confused and alarmed, but I don’t slow down. I don’t breathe. I don’t think.My legs move on instinct—toward danger, not away.“Ava, slow down—” Jace grabs my wrist.“No!” I yank free. “Someone called my name. They know me. They know who I am.”“Ava, we don’t know what we’re walking into—”“That’s exactly why I’m not stopping.”He curses, but runs beside me anyway.The closer we get to the administration building, the louder the noise becomes—not another scream, but frantic voices, footsteps, the sharp sound of someone crying. A crowd has already gathered at the steps.And then I see her.Mira. The friendly outsid
최신 업데이트: 2025-11-17
Chapter: Chapter 32: Truce, Not TrustDarkness swallows everything.For one terrifying heartbeat, I think I’ve gone blind. The locker room is pitch-black, the fluorescent buzz overhead gone silent, like someone ripped the power cord out of the world.My breath catches.Noah’s last words echo in my skull: If you get this… run.I can’t run.I can’t even see.“Ava,” Jace’s voice cuts through the dark, low and rough. His hand finds my arm, steady and warm. “Stay with me.”“I’m right here,” I whisper, though my voice shakes.Something creaks behind us—metal? A locker door? Footsteps?Jace pulls me closer, positioning himself in front of me. My shoulder hits the wall, cold and unyielding, grounding me just enough to breathe.“We need to move,” he murmurs, breath brushing my ear. “If someone cut the lights, they want us trapped.”“Or separated,” I whisper back.He curses under his breath. “Not happening.”The emergency lights flicker on at that exact moment—dim red bulbs casting long shadows across the tiled floor. The room look
최신 업데이트: 2025-11-16
Chapter: Chapter 31: Broken AlliancesSleep is a stranger by the time dawn finally smears gray across the sky. I sit on the edge of my bed, elbows on my knees, staring at the last note like it’s some kind of radioactive object.You’re running out of time.My fingers run over the letters again and again until they blur. Every sound outside my door makes me flinch. Every thought circles back to the same, terrifying truth:Someone isn’t just watching me.Someone wants me gone.Someone wants me like Noah.My breath shudders out. I press my palms to my face and inhale slowly, forcing myself to keep it together. If I fall apart now, I lose. If I panic, I lose. If I trust the wrong person—I don’t even want to think about that outcome.The building hums awake: running water, footsteps, slamming doors. Normal sounds. Safe sounds. Almost enough to make me believe last night was nothing but paranoia.Almost.I shove the notes deep into my bag and tie my hair back, my hands trembling only a little. Fake it until you make it. Noah us
최신 업데이트: 2025-11-16
Chapter: Chapter 30: The First Real ThreatThe note sat in my pocket all night, burning through the fabric like fire. I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t. Every creak of the dorm pipes, every shuffle of feet in the hallway made me jolt upright, certain someone was coming for me.By morning, my head was heavy, my eyes gritty, but the fear hadn’t dulled. If anything, it had sharpened, slicing at me with every thought. Someone knew about me. About Jace. About everything.I’d survived weeks at Blackridge by convincing myself I was the one in control. That I was always one step ahead. But standing in front of my mirror, hair pulled back tight, uniform buttoned to the throat, I didn’t feel like Ava Carter or Eva Sinclair. I felt like prey.I told myself I wouldn’t involve Jace unless I had to. But the universe seemed determined to laugh in my face, because the second I stepped into the quad, he was already there. Leaning against the statue like he owned it, jacket slung
최신 업데이트: 2025-10-31
Chapter: Chapter 29: Enemies UnitedThe problem with secrets is they never stay buried. Not the ones that matter, anyway. And no matter how many lies I pile on top of mine, I can still feel them, scratching from underneath, begging to be let out.That’s why meeting Jace tonight feels like walking into my own grave.We agreed to work together — or at least pretend to. But I can tell from the way he’s waiting under the bleachers, hands shoved in his pockets, shoulders tense, that strategy isn’t the first thing on his mind. His gaze lifts as I approach, shadowed and unreadable.“You’re late,” he says.“You’re impatient,” I shoot back, forcing my voice flat.He huffs a laugh, but there’s no humor in it. “Typical Carter.”I ignore the way my stomach twists when he uses my real name. I should correct him, remind him that as far as the rest of Blackridge is concerned, I’m Eva Sinclair. B
최신 업데이트: 2025-10-31
Chapter: Chapter 28: BlackmailThe first note should have been enough to scare me off. A warning, clear and simple. But Blackridge doesn’t operate in warnings—it operates in weapons. And tonight, I’m the one with a knife at my throat.The second note comes folded and tucked neatly into my history textbook. I find it when I open the book to take notes, the paper sliding out and landing on my desk. My pulse spikes before I even unfold it, because I already know what it’ll say.Hand it over. Or everyone learns who you really are.The tape. The flash drive sitting hidden inside my desk drawer under a false bottom I built myself. Proof of Noah, proof of Jace, proof of everything. Whoever’s pulling the strings knows I have it.My throat tightens. Around me, class drones on. The teacher’s chalk squeaks across the board. Students yawn, scribble, pass notes of their own. No one sees me freeze, no one notices the world narrowing to a single sente
최신 업데이트: 2025-10-30
Chapter: Chapter 9 – The Missing HeartMy hands wouldn’t stop shaking.No matter how many times I told myself to breathe, to think, to stay calm, they just wouldn’t stop.The message on my phone glowed like fire.He’s with me.Those three words didn’t just cut through me—they killed something inside me.Luca was already calling out orders, his voice steady but sharp. Sofia stormed into the room with two guns slung at her sides, and even through the chaos, the world around me blurred.I couldn’t hear. Couldn’t think.All I saw was my son’s face.Alessio’s laughter from this morning.His little hands clinging to my fingers.His sleepy voice asking, “Mama, can I have pancakes again?”And now he was gone.“Amara!” Luca’s voice snapped me back, loud, commanding. “Look at me.”I blinked, realizing I was still holding my phone like it might turn back time.“He has him,” I whispered. “He has my son.”Luca took the phone gently from my hand, reading the message. His jaw tightened, his gray-green eyes darkening. “No name. No number
최신 업데이트: 2025-10-29
Chapter: Chapter 8 – The Wolf’s ShadowI didn’t sleep that night.No one did.The house was too quiet, the kind of quiet that didn’t feel peaceful—just heavy. Luca’s men had doubled the guards, Sofia hadn’t stopped pacing, and every time the wind hit the windows, I flinched.Not because I was afraid.Because I was angry.He’d followed us. He’d photographed my son.He’d found me.The moment I closed my eyes, I saw his face again in that courtyard—calm, confident, untouchable. Like the past five years hadn’t burned him at all.But I’d seen the flicker.The moment his eyes landed on Alessio, something inside him cracked.And I was going to use it.By dawn, I was in the strategy room, hair tied back, robe thrown over silk pajamas. The coffee in my hand had long gone cold. Sofia was already there, leaning against the table, scrolling through a tablet.She looked up when I walked in. “You didn’t sleep either.”“Sleep is a luxury,” I muttered, setting my cup down.“Yeah, well,” she said, yawning, “you might need it before you sta
최신 업데이트: 2025-10-29
Chapter: Chapter 7 – Blood Between ShadowsThe sound of guns being cocked always hits the same way—it freezes the air. Makes everything too sharp, too quiet, like the whole world’s holding its breath waiting for the first drop of blood.That’s what it felt like standing in the middle of Luca’s courtyard, caught between the man who had once destroyed me and the man who’d taught me how to rebuild.Luca’s men aimed steady, their hands sure. Marco didn’t flinch. And Dante—he just stood there in that dark tailored suit, his expression carved from calm fury, like he owned the ground we stood on.His eyes were still the same. Storm-gray. Unforgiving. The kind of eyes that could make a person forget how to breathe.But I wasn’t that person anymore.“Call them off,” I said to Luca quietly.He didn’t look at me. “Not a chance.”“Luca.”His voice stayed low, cold. “He’s trespassing on my land.”“I know,” I said, stepping forward. “But this isn’t how this ends.”Luca’s jaw flexed. “He’s lucky I haven’t ended it already.”Dante’s smirk fli
최신 업데이트: 2025-10-29
Chapter: Chapter 6 – A Deal with the DevilThe room smelled like power.That particular mix of whiskey, gunmetal, and smoke that always clung to war plans. The map stretched across the table looked more like a body we were about to dissect.Luca stood at the head, sleeves rolled up, his quiet authority filling the space. Sofia lounged beside him with a cigarette dangling from her lips, her eyes sharp, amused, like she was already picturing Dante bleeding.And me? I was trying not to think about how much of my soul I was about to trade for revenge.Luca’s voice cut through the low hum of conversation. “We move on the North docks first. Matteo Rinaldi has debts with half the city. You can use that.”“Already planned to,” I said, tracing my finger along the map. “He’s desperate. Desperate men are predictable.”Sofia smirked. “Predictable men are easy to break.”“Good,” I replied, glancing up. “Because I’m done playing gentle.”Luca’s eyes flicked toward me. For a second, something unreadable passed between us. Admiration, maybe.
최신 업데이트: 2025-10-28
Chapter: Chapter 5 – Fire in Her VeinsAmara's POVMornings in the Romano estate didn’t start with silence.They started with war being built.The sun climbed lazily over the courtyard, spilling light across the cobblestone path where Luca’s men trained like clockwork—boots striking ground, guns being checked, orders being shouted in low voices. It was the rhythm of power, steady and dangerous.I stood at the window with a mug of coffee warming my hands, my silk robe brushing against the tops of my thighs. Alessio’s soft laughter carried through the hallway behind me, cutting through the steel of the world outside like a beam of light.Five years ago, I’d woken up to loneliness.Now I woke up to this—power wrapped in quiet, and a little boy with Dante Moretti’s eyes.“Mama!” Alessio’s voice echoed down the hallway, followed by quick footsteps.I turned just in time for him to barrel into the room, holding a toy plane in one hand and dragging one of the house cats with the other. His dark hair was a mess, his little tuxedo
최신 업데이트: 2025-10-23
Chapter: Chapter 4 – The Don Meets the QueenAmara's POVFive years laterThe chandeliers above glittered like captured stars, their light scattering across the room in soft golden shards. Laughter spilled through the ballroom, warm and practiced, the kind of laughter that belonged to people who hid knives beneath their silk.The Romano annual gala wasn’t just a party. It was a stage. And tonight, I wasn’t a guest.I was the performance.The heels on my feet clicked against the marble floor with steady rhythm, my black silk dress gliding around me like smoke. My hair was pinned up, exposing the sharp lines of my jaw—the same face Dante Moretti used to touch with careless fingers. I wasn’t that girl anymore. The one who had looked at him like he was the sun.Now, I was the storm that followed after.“Breathe,” Sofia murmured from behind me, her sharp eyes sweeping the room as she handed me a champagne flute. “Your game face is perfect, but your fingers are too tight.”I forced my hand to relax. “I’m fine.”“You’re lying,” she sai
최신 업데이트: 2025-10-23
Chapter: CHAPTER 21 — THE MAN WHO NEVER LOVED MEFor a second, the world doesn’t just go quiet.It stalls.Every memory I’ve ever had of Ethan flickers through my mind like someone yanking a string of lights—our first dinner, our first kiss, the way he’d tuck hair behind my ear, the late-night talks about future homes and wedding colors and vacations we’d never take.My mother’s words ring like a bell that won’t stop vibrating:“Your father groomed him to destroy you.”I blink slowly, as if I’m trying to wake up from a dream that plays too real, too sharp.“No,” I whisper. “No. That’s insane.”My mother meets my eyes with that same sick, trembling sadness. “Honey, I wish it were.”Miles doesn’t try to intervene.Daniel doesn’t object.Nobody gives me a lifeline.I’m drowning in silence.“What are you talking about?” I ask—my voice too soft, too childish, too desperate. “Ethan loved me. He wasn’t—he couldn’t—”“Scarlett,” Daniel says gently, “look at the footage again.”I do.And there he is.In my father’s vault.Moving with certain
최신 업데이트: 2025-11-22
Chapter: CHAPTER 20 — THE VAULT THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE OPENEDFor a few heartbeats, nobody speaks.The words your father feared you echo through the room like they have their own pulse, bouncing off the walls until they lodge under my skin and stay there. My mother stands completely still, her posture soft but immovable, like marble sculpted into grace.Daniel looks furious, his jaw locked tight.Miles looks like someone unplugged his emotions and replaced them with pure alarm.And me… I feel weightless. Hollow. But also painfully aware of every breath I pull in.“What do you mean he feared me?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady. It trembles anyway.My mother doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, she takes off her gloves one finger at a time, revealing small, faint scars on her palm—scars I’ve never seen before. She smooths the gloves, folds them neatly, sets them on my father’s desk.It’s such a gentle motion that it unnerves me more than anything else.“Scarlett,” she begins, “your father… he wasn’t only powerful. He was dangerous. And his
최신 업데이트: 2025-11-22
Chapter: Chapter 19 — Things Break Quietly Before They ShatterFor a moment, nobody moves.My mother stands in the doorway like she was carved out of stillness. Elegant. Controlled. Beautiful in a way that feels almost weaponized. Her presence fills the room the way perfume does—soft, invasive, impossible to ignore.Miles blocks me like a wall.Daniel stands at my father’s desk, face unreadable.And I’m frozen with the black folder pressed against my chest, my fingers gripping the edges like it’s the only thing keeping me upright.My mother’s eyes don’t leave the folder.“Give it to me, Scarlett,” she repeats, quieter this time. Too gentle. Too careful.A tone she uses when she’s about to break something without raising her voice.I swallow. “Mom… what are you doing here?”She finally looks at my face.And the smile she gives me is wrong.It’s the smile she uses at charity galas, when reporters shove microphones at her and she has to pretend everything is perfect. That smile has never belonged in a moment like this.“I came because you’ve put you
최신 업데이트: 2025-11-16
Chapter: Chapter 18 — The Things We Don't SayI don’t breathe at first. Not because I’m scared—well, okay, a little—but mostly because everything inside me jerks to a stop. Like my mind, my heartbeat, even my legs just decide to disconnect from reality for a second.Because the man stepping out of my father’s office isn’t some stranger.He isn’t a ghost.He isn’t even someone I expected to ever see again.It’s Daniel Hart.My father’s old lawyer. My father’s old shadow. My father’s old… problem solver.And the moment his eyes meet mine, I swear something invisible snaps tight between us.He looks older—gray at the temples, sharper around the jaw, a little more worn—but his expression is exactly the same as the last time I saw him five years ago: unreadable, polite, and quietly dangerous.“Scarlett.” His voice is calm. Too calm.I don’t know whether to turn around and run, or step forward and scream at him, or pretend I’m hallucinating, because honestly, that might be easier to accept.But my voice decides for me.It jumps out bef
최신 업데이트: 2025-11-16
Chapter: Chapter 17: The ArchitectThe air around us went still. Even the city noise seemed to fade — no cars, no wind, no birds. Just silence and that man’s calm voice echoing through it.Cole still had his gun raised, finger tight on the trigger. I could see the muscle in his jaw twitching — a tell he only showed when he was about two seconds from pulling it.“Don’t come any closer,” he said flatly.The man didn’t even flinch. He just clasped his hands behind his back, like he was giving a press conference. “I’m not here to hurt her,” he said. “Quite the opposite, in fact. I’ve been trying to find her.”“Congratulations,” I muttered. “You found me. Now start explaining before he shoots you.”The man smiled faintly, like my threat amused him. “My name is Dr. Elias Mercer,” he said. “I was part of Project E from the beginning. In fact… I designed it.”The words hit harder than they should’ve. Designed it. Like I was something built, not born.Cole took a step forward, gun still steady. “You’ve got ten seconds to explai
최신 업데이트: 2025-11-12
Chapter: Chapter 16: The BloodlineI stared at the screen until my eyes burned.The words didn’t change. They just sat there, cold and certain:Daughter of Vanessa Quinn. Presumed deceased.It didn’t make sense. It couldn’t. I was Scarlett Evans. I had my father’s eyes. My mother’s smile—or at least, the mother I thought I had. So how could I belong to someone else?I leaned back in the passenger seat, every muscle stiff. “This is fake,” I whispered. “It has to be.”Cole didn’t respond right away. He was scrolling through the files, expression tight. The rain had stopped outside, but the car was still fogged up from our breath and nerves. The world felt small—like we were sitting inside a snow globe that had just been shaken too hard.“There’s more,” he said finally, his tone low. “Look—these aren’t just documents. There are logs. Experiments. Notes from doctors, not lawyers.”“Experiments?” My voice cracked on the word.He clicked into another folder. A scanned report appeared—clinical, sterile, full of numbers and ja
최신 업데이트: 2025-11-12
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