Chapter: Chapter Forty-threeThe smell of Frank's fresh blood on the kitchen floor was a harsh reminder that our victory over Elena had come at a terrible cost. With the help of Marco and Darius, we managed to carry Frank back upstairs. By the time the first light of dawn slipped through the heavy curtains of his bedroom, Elena's sleek black sedan had already disappeared down the gravel driveway, leaving the house entirely ours. Frank drifted in and out of a restless sleep, caught between fever and exhaustion. His skin burned beneath my touch, yet his body shook with violent chills every few minutes. The stitches I had carefully sewn only hours earlier had torn open, leaking blood and clear fluid onto the fresh sheets. “Jane...” His voice was weak, his eyes fluttering beneath heavy lids. He tried to turn onto his side, but the movement pulled at his wound, and a sharp gasp of pain escaped him. "Don't move, Frank. Please, just stay still," I begged, my bare knees dug into the edge of the mattress as I pressed
Last Updated: 2026-07-09
Chapter: Chapter Forty-twoFrank had finally fallen into a fitful, shallow sleep. His fever was rising, his broad shoulders twitching every few minutes as his body fought the trauma of the twenty lashes. I had used up the last of the ice in his room, trying to keep his temperature down.Leaving him wrapped in clean sheets, I quietly slipped through his bedroom door, clutching the empty silver ice bucket against my chest like a shield.I kept my bare feet silent against the cold stairs, heading toward the kitchen. All I wanted was ice, a glass of water, and a single moment to breathe without the weight of Frank’s agonizing groans crashing down on me.I pushed open the heavy swinging door to the kitchen. The room was dark, illuminated only by the silver moonlight cutting through the arched windows."You walk through these halls as if you belong here." A voice sliced through the darkness. I flinched, nearly dropping the ice bucket. Elena sat at the massive marble island, a half-empty crystal glass of amber liquid
Last Updated: 2026-07-07
Chapter: Chapter forty-oneThe sound of the fifth strike tore through the study, and with it, a piece of my own soul felt like it was being ripped away. I kept my hands pressed so tightly over my mouth that my own teeth bit into my knuckles.I couldn’t look away. Frank had told me to stay hidden with his eyes, but he hadn't told me to close them. If he was going to bleed for me, the very least I could do was bear witness to his sacrifice.By the tenth strike, Frank's white shirt was ruined, torn apart and soaked with blood. Deep red marks covered his back, and blood ran down his skin with every blow. He sucked in uneven breaths through clenched teeth. His arms were shaking violently, his large hands gripping the edge of the desk so hard that the wood groaned under his weight. Yet, he didn't scream. Not once. Every time the cane fell, he swallowed the pain, letting out only a low grunt.Across the room, Elena had turned her face away, weeping softly into a lace handkerchief, but her tears weren't for her son’s
Last Updated: 2026-07-06
Chapter: Chapter fortyBefore Enzo could take the insult any further, Frank raised a hand, his expression softening as he turned his attention away from the angry father and looked directly at the young woman sitting across from him. "Layla," Frank said, his voice dropping into a calm, respectful tone. "Look at me." Layla paused, her manicured fingers freezing against her diamond ring as she slowly lifted her gaze to meet his. "You are an exceptionally beautiful woman," Frank said, and though the words sent a tiny squeeze through my heart, his tone was entirely devoid of lust. It was the voice of a man stating an undeniable fact. "You are intelligent, you are mafia royalty, and I am certain there is a long line of men in this city who would give everything they own just to have a fraction of your attention. You deserve a husband who looks at you like you are the only thing that matters in this world. You deserve a man who is entirely whole, and entirely yours." Frank took a slow, heavy breath, leaning
Last Updated: 2026-07-04
Chapter: Chapter Thirty-nineWhen he opened his eyes, he had a desperate and confused look I had never seen on him before."No," he hissed, his grip on my arm tightening just enough to make me feel his desperation. "Nothing has been decided. Do you hear me, Jane? Nothing.""Your mother seems to think it has," I whispered, my heart hammering against my ribs, wanting to believe him so badly."My mother doesn't run this family. I do," he muttered, his breath warm against my cheek. He glanced back nervously at the study, the muffled sound of Enzo Valenti’s deep, rumbling laughter filtering through the thick wood. "But you cannot be down here." He released my arm, his fingers brushing against my cheek one last time in a way that felt like a goodbye."Go back upstairs. Lock the door," he pleaded. "Let me handle this. I swear to you, I will come for you the second they leave."Before I could answer, he turned on his heel, straightened the cuffs of his shirt, and smoothed down his jacket. In the span of a single breat
Last Updated: 2026-07-03
Chapter: Chapter Thirty eightThe zipper of my ruined silk dress caught against the fabric, a sharp snag that sounded deafening in the empty bedroom. I didn’t care. I yanked it up, ignoring the way the torn seam exposed a slice of my thigh.I didn’t look in the mirror. I didn’t need to see the dark bruises blooming on my collarbone or the ghost of Frank’s touch written in red flushes across my skin. Elena wanted me to slink away in the dark, carrying the scent of her son like a brand of shame. But my spine, once collapsed under her cruelty, was rigid now. I stepped out of the bedroom, my bare feet sinking into the hallway carpet. I had abandoned my heels; they were weapons Elena had thrown, and I refused to stumble on my way to the truth. The house, which had been a sanctuary, a quiet fortress where Frank’s murmurs against my ear made the rest of the world vanish, now felt like the ribs of a great beast that had swallowed me whole.As I approached the staircase, the muffled voices grew distinct. Elena hadn't li
Last Updated: 2026-07-02
Chapter: Chapter Sixty-fiveAvery’s POV Lilith's fingers remained locked around my arm as she dragged me down the remaining steps. The deeper we descended, the more panicked everyone became. No one spared me a second glance. Every pair of eyes was fixed on the growing disaster beyond the walls. When we reached the passageway leading to the courtyard, I let my steps falter again, allowing my knees to buckle just enough that nearly all of my weight sagged against her. Lilith stumbled with a strangled curse, barely managing to keep us both upright. "For Goddess's sake," she hissed, yanking me forward so violently my shoulder nearly tore from its socket. "Walk!” I swallowed hard and deliberately let my feet drag across the uneven stone. "I'm trying," I whispered, my voice trembling convincingly. "Everything hurts.” The words had barely left my mouth before she spun around so abruptly that I nearly walked straight into her. "No!" she shrieked, her voice echoing violently through the corridor. "You're doing
Last Updated: 2026-08-24
Chapter: Chapter Sixty-fourAvery’s POV Don't thank me yet, Avery. Seth's words lingered in my mind like smoke after a fire. What did he even mean by that? Crossing the room slowly, I pretended to look at my reflection again while my eyes searched the room instead. There. The small pair of scissors Seth had used a moment ago to trim the bandages still lay on the washstand. I stared at the scissors, my mind racing. Had he forgotten them? Or had he left them there? I glanced towards the door, listening for footsteps in the corridor before reaching for them. The cold metal disappeared into my palm. Whether it was a mistake or a message, it didn't matter. *** The sudden uproar ripped me from a deep sleep. I jolted awake in a cold sweat, disoriented and confused. Shouts echoed through the corridors outside my door, followed by the unmistakable pounding of heavy boots against the floorboards. My breathing quickened as my heart pounded against my ribs. Before I could even swing my legs over the edge of the
Last Updated: 2026-08-21
Chapter: Chapter Sixty-threeAvery’s POV. Yes, Moon Goddess. Let me die here. Now. I stared at my reflection, hardly recognizing the person staring back at me. Dark circles lined my eyes, and my hair fell over my face in tangled strands. I squeezed my eyes shut and ran a hand through my hair, trying to push the tangled mess away from my face. The movement sent fresh pain shooting through my ribs, but I sucked my lower lip between my teeth and forced myself to breathe through it. When was the last time I smiled? The day before Mia died. Then my life was ripped away from me. I didn't know if I was capable of smiling anymore. I forced the corners of my mouth upward. The woman in the mirror didn't smile back. Her eyes stayed hollow. The expression crumbled almost as soon as it formed. The anniversary of her death was only a few days away, and I was trapped here with a rapist bent on taking revenge for things I knew nothing about. No. I refused to die here. If I wanted to leave this place alive, I couldn't ke
Last Updated: 2026-08-12
Chapter: Chapter Sixty-twoLucian’s POV “Raith,” I repeated, the name tasting like ash and blood on my tongue. The rogue on the floor laughed, choking on his own blood. His severed arm still twitched a few feet away, fingers curling uselessly. The second one whimpered, cradling his shattered knee. “Where is Raith?” I asked, standing over the rogue whose arm now lay severed on the floor in a spreading pool of red. He tried crawling away from me, nails scraping desperately against the concrete. I heard the drag of his body, the panicked hitch in his breathing. I stepped forward and grabbed his leg, dragging him back face-first across the floor. There was a particular stink to men faced with the consequences of their actions. They reek of fear because they know they are going to die. “Where is Raith?” I asked again, my voice cold and devoid of emotion. I heard his breath hitch, the way his throat bobbed as he worked to swallow. “F-fuck you, Nightfall. You think Raith’s just going to hand her over?” I smi
Last Updated: 2026-08-10
Chapter: Chapter Sixty-oneLucian’s POV “Vance,” I called out, my voice low and rough. My cane struck the ground once, steadying me. “Has the location been confirmed?” Vance stiffened somewhere to my right. I heard the shift in his boots, the slight catch in his breathing. “Yes, Alpha. Two rogues are in the old storehouse.” The three workers, the ones who had begged and pissed themselves while claiming they were “just cleaning the cells,” were already dead. The last one's body still swayed gently from the ceiling, like a broken puppet dripping slowly onto the stone floor. But before I ended him, he had talked. He had spilled everything in broken, sobbing words. The rogues who had kidnapped and sold Avery at the auction were operating from an old storehouse three miles west of the black river near the abandoned mill. He had given me names, routes, and even a rough description of the place. It sounded real. Detailed enough to chase. I had listened to every desperate syllable while the bond screamed in
Last Updated: 2026-08-09
Chapter: Chapter SixtyAvery’s POV “Get in and wash yourself. I’ll be back in twenty minutes.” Lilith paused at the doorway and pointed at me. “Don’t do anything stupid, or you’ll regret it.” She left, locking the door behind her. For a moment, I just stood there, stunned she was actually giving me privacy. I stripped off the filthy gown with trembling fingers and lowered myself into the hot water. I scrubbed as quickly as I could, hissing when the soap hit the wounds on my back. Tears mixed with the bathwater, but I wiped them away angrily. I had just finished drying myself with the towel when the door unlocked. Lilith returned with an armful of dresses, laying them across the bed one by one like she had all the time in the world. “Stand up,” she said, crossing her arms. I didn't move. Her smile thinned. “I said stand.” Something in her tone made it clear she wasn’t asking anymore. Slowly, I rose. Lilith lifted a red dress and held it against me, tilting her head as she assessed me like an o
Last Updated: 2026-08-06
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