Chapter: CHAPTER 66: HE'S NOT THE ONLY ONE The interrogation room was small. White walls. One table. Kyle sat with his head in his hands. Agent Reyes across from him. Damian and I watched from behind the glass. "He's giving us names," Reyes said over the speaker. "Two of them." She wrote on a notepad. Slid it across. Name 1: Derek Vance. Former Cole Industries. Accounting. Fired 9 months ago. Name 2: Marcus Hale. Former Cole Industries. Security. Quit 6 months ago. "Both still in the city," Reyes said. "Both angry. Both blaming you." Damian didn't blink. "Arrest them." "We already did," Reyes said. "30 minutes ago." --- By noon it was on the news. 3 ARRESTS IN COLE INDUSTRIES THREAT CASE FBI SAYS DANGER HAS PASSED Damian turned the TV off. "Is it really over," I asked. "The criminal part," he said. "Yes." He said it like he didn't believe it. --- That night we went home. No officers outside. No cameras. Damian checked the locks anyway. Once. Then stopped himself. "Old habits," he said.
Last Updated: 2026-09-23
Chapter: CHAPTER 65:MID NIGHT 11:58PM. The library was dark. Except for the desk lamp. 4 officers inside. 6 outside. Damian by the front window. Me by the back. "Nothing yet," Officer Chen said into his radio. "Copy," the voice came back. "We've got eyes on the alley." Damian looked at me. "You sure about this?" "No," I said. "But we're doing it anyway." 12:00AM. The lights flickered. Once. Twice. Then the back door rattled. Everyone moved. --- "Police! Hands up!" A shadow ran. Backpack. Hoodie. Kyle Mercer. He didn't stop. He ran between the shelves. Knocked a cart over. Books everywhere. "Stop!" Damian yelled. Kyle turned down the kids' aisle. Cornered. He pulled something out. Lighter. "Don't," I said. He looked at me. Eyes wild behind the mask. "You ruined us," he said. "All of us. For your library." "Put it down," Officer Chen said. Gun steady. Kyle struck the lighter. Flame. My heart stopped. And then I stepped forward. Before Damian could grab me. "Kyle," I s
Last Updated: 2026-09-22
Chapter: CHAPTER 64:THE BLOOD "It's not human." Agent Reyes said it twice. Like she didn't believe it herself. "The blood in the car. Dog. German Shepherd." Damian and I were at the station. 8AM. Coffee cold in our hands. "But," Reyes said. "We got a hit on the other DNA. From the hat." She slid a folder across the table. Name: Kyle Mercer. Age: 32. Former Cole Industries Security. Dishonorably discharged. Missing: 6 months. "Peterson's guy," Damian said. "Yeah," Reyes said. "He has a record. Assault. Vandalism. Hates the Coles." Damian closed the folder. "Where is he?" "We don't know," Reyes said. "But he just posted something." She turned her laptop. Video. Dark. Mask. Distorted voice. "Cole Library. Tonight. Midnight. It burns." 12 seconds. Then black. --- Mara was already at the library when we got there. Shelving books. She saw our faces. Dropped the book. "What," she said. "Kyle," Damian said. "They found him." Her hand went to her mouth. "No. He said he left
Last Updated: 2026-09-21
Chapter: CHAPTER 63: IT'S NOT JUST US The whiteboard in Agent Reyes' office had names. Lots of them. Damian Cole. Ali Carter. Board Member #1. Board Member #3. Sophia Cole. IN CUSTODY. And now: Mara Jenkins. Library volunteer. She's getting threats too, Reyes said. So is Peterson's lawyer. So is the judge from the civil case. Damian stared at the board. It's not just us, he said. No, Reyes said. It's everyone connected to Cole Industries. --- The library was full when we got back. But different. Quieter. Parents kept looking at the door. Damian did his speech again. "We're safe. We're open. We're not leaving." Most people nodded. Some left anyway. I don't blame them, I said. Neither do I, Damian said. He stayed late. Helped shelve books. Fixed the printer. Made coffee. Like if he kept busy, the bad thing wouldn't happen. --- Monday. Letter came to the jail. For Damian. From Sophia. He didn't want to open it. I told him he should. Inside: one page. Her handwriting. Damian, I did
Last Updated: 2026-09-20
Chapter: CHAPTER 62:THE CALL FROM PRISON The call ended at 12:03AM. Peterson's voice was still in the room. "I don't know who’s doing this. But it's not me." Damian sat on the edge of the bed. Elbows on knees. Head down. You believe him, I asked. I don't know what I believe, he said. He stood up. Checked the locks. Front door. Back door. Windows. Again. Come to bed, I said. In a minute, he said. He didn't come. --- I woke up at 3AM. Alone. Found him in the living room. Sitting on the floor. Back against the couch. Phone in his hand. Can't sleep, I said. No, he said. I sat next to him. He put his arm around me. Didn't say anything. Just held me. For hours. --- 6AM. My phone buzzed. News alert. BREAKING: SECOND ARSON ATTEMPT COLE INDUSTRIES FORMER HQ - DOWNTOWN FIRE CONTAINED. NO INJURIES. There was a photo. Our old building. 12th floor. Black around the windows. Fire trucks below. Damian saw it over my shoulder. Stood up immediately. It's starting again, he said. Agent Reyes call
Last Updated: 2026-09-19
Chapter: CHAPTER 61:THE PACKAGE "Close the library. Or next time it's not paper." The note was under the photo. Block letters. Black marker. Damian put it on the table. Didn't touch it again. Agent Reyes already had the bag. Evidence. Prints. DNA. We'll find him, she said. But until then, you don't come here alone. I'm not leaving, I said. Ali, Damian said. No, I said. This place is ours. We don't run. He looked at me for a long time. Then nodded. Fine, he said. But I'm here too. Every day. Every hour. --- Friday night. We did "Safety Night" anyway. Damian wanted to cancel it. I said no. If we cancel, we let him win, I said. So we put chairs in a circle. Agent Reyes at the front. Two officers by the door. 50 people came. More than we expected. Moms with kids. Old men from the block. Lila with a notebook. The barista from 3 streets over. Reyes taught us how to check cars. How to walk with keys between fingers. How to scream. We practiced. Loud. In the library. Kids though
Last Updated: 2026-09-18
THE BILLIONAIRE'S TEMPORARY WIFE
Elena Moore never imagined that the worst night of her life would lead her straight into the arms of a billionaire.
After discovering her boyfriend's betrayal and learning that her family is about to lose everything, Elena receives an unexpected offer from Adrian Blackwood—the cold, ruthless CEO everyone fears.
Six months.
A marriage contract.
No love.
Adrian promises to save her family from financial ruin if Elena agrees to become his temporary wife. Desperate and with nowhere else to turn, she accepts.
But living under the same roof changes everything.
The man who was supposed to remain distant becomes fiercely protective. Their arguments turn into undeniable chemistry, stolen glances become dangerous attraction, and the rules they promised to follow begin to disappear.
Just when Elena finally realizes she is falling for her husband, Adrian's former fiancée returns, determined to destroy their marriage.
Then Elena discovers the contract was never as simple as Adrian claimed.
He didn't choose her by accident.
He had been searching for her long before they met.
Now Elena must decide whether to walk away before her heart is destroyed—or risk everything for the man who was never supposed to love her.
Because their temporary marriage was only supposed to last six months.
Their love may have to last forever.
Read
Chapter: CHAPTER 20-THE WOMAN BEHIND THE LIES My father's warning echoed through the warehouse. "Don't listen to her." I stared at my mother. She was still tied to the chair, her face pale and exhausted. Beside her stood the woman Adrian had spent years believing was simply his mother—the elegant woman who had looked at me with cold disappointment from the moment I entered the Blackwood family. But now something had changed. She wasn't looking at Adrian like a mother. She was looking at me like I was the person she had been waiting for. "Your father has been lying to you for twelve years," she repeated. I felt Adrian's hand tighten around mine. "About what?" I asked. My father's expression became desperate. "Elena, don't believe her." My mother's eyes filled with tears. "Thomas is trying to protect you." Adrian stepped forward. "Then somebody start explaining." His voice was calm, but I could hear the anger underneath it. His mother finally looked at him. "You still sound like your father." Adrian froze. "Wha
Last Updated: 2026-09-23
Chapter: CHAPTER 19-THE FATHER WHO WAIKED OUT OF THE SHADOWS My father's name had been dead for twelve years. I had grown up believing that. I had watched my mother struggle through birthdays, holidays, and every ordinary day without him. I had learned not to ask too many questions because every question seemed to reopen a wound she was trying desperately to hide. Thomas Moore had been the man in the old photographs, the father whose face I could barely remember, and the man whose death had shaped my entire childhood. Now Adrian was standing beside me, staring at the photograph on his phone. My father was alive. And he was standing beside my mother. "Elena," Adrian said quietly. I couldn't answer. My fingers were trembling so badly that I had to clasp my hands together. The photograph had been taken inside a private hospital room. My mother was sitting on the edge of a bed, looking exhausted but conscious. And behind her stood a man I had spent twelve years believing was dead. My father. "We're going there," I finally whispered. Ad
Last Updated: 2026-09-22
Chapter: CHAPTER 18-THE MAN WHO NEVER DIED My mother's husband was alive. The words followed me all the way down the stairs. I couldn't understand them. My father had died when I was young. My mother had spent years grieving him, raising me alone, and refusing to speak about the past. There had never been another man in our home, never a name that suggested she had married again. So how could Charles Blackwood say that her husband was still alive? "Adrian." He stopped near the entrance and turned toward me. "What?" "Your father said my mother's husband is alive." "I heard him." "Who is he?" "I don't know." I stared at him. "You don't know?" "I didn't even know your mother had another husband." Neither did I. My mind raced through every memory I had of my childhood, searching for something I might have missed. A photograph. A name. A familiar face standing beside my mother. Nothing. Adrian came closer. "Elena, look at me." I did. "Whatever happened before we met, none of it changes what I feel for you." My
Last Updated: 2026-09-21
Chapter: CHAPTER 17-THE FATHER WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD I couldn't move. The man standing in the doorway was supposed to have been dead for twelve years. Charles Blackwood. Adrian's father. The man whose death had changed everything. The man whose company had collapsed. The man whose name had become a painful memory in the Blackwood family. Yet he was standing in front of me. Alive. My mother was trembling beside me. Adrian looked as though someone had taken the ground from beneath his feet. "Father?" Charles stared at him. For a long moment, neither of them moved. Then Charles slowly stepped into the room. "Adrian." Adrian shook his head. "No." His voice was barely a whisper. "No, you're dead." "I know what you were told." "You were buried." Charles's expression tightened. "A body was buried." Adrian's eyes widened. "What?" Richard stepped into the room behind Charles. "Your father couldn't allow the world to know he survived." Adrian turned toward him. "You knew?" Richard smiled faintly. "For twelve years.
Last Updated: 2026-09-20
Chapter: CHAPTER 16-THE BLACKWOOD ESTATE The road to the old Blackwood estate seemed to stretch endlessly into the darkness. I sat beside Adrian in the back of the car, watching the city disappear behind us. The farther we traveled, the quieter everything became. Tall trees surrounded the narrow road, their branches reaching over us like dark fingers, while the headlights barely illuminated what waited ahead. Adrian hadn't said much since we left. Neither had I. His hand rested between us on the seat, close enough that our fingers occasionally brushed whenever the car moved over a bump. Neither of us mentioned it, but neither of us moved away either. I kept thinking about the message. COME ALONE, ADRIAN. My mother had supposedly sent it. But if she was being held somewhere, why would she ask Adrian to come alone? And why would whoever was behind this want me there too? "You're thinking too much." I looked at Adrian. "How do you know?" "Because you've been staring at the same tree for five minutes." I glanced t
Last Updated: 2026-09-19
Chapter: CHAPTER 15- THE SECRET BETWEEN OUR FATHERSI couldn't speak.Adrian's words kept repeating in my head.My father may have been the one who started all of this.I looked at the photograph in his hand. Two fathers stood beside each other, smiling as though they had trusted one another completely. Yet somehow, twelve years later, one family blamed the other, my father was dead, Adrian's father was dead, and both families had been left carrying wounds nobody understood."You're saying your father was involved?"My voice barely came out.Adrian stared at the photograph."I don't know.""You just said he might have started everything.""I said I don't know."He rubbed his hand over his face, and for once, the powerful billionaire who always seemed to have an answer looked lost.I had never seen Adrian like this."Then tell me what you do know."He looked at me."My father died twelve years ago. Everyone believed his company collapsed because of financial fraud and betrayal from one of his closest partners.""My father?"Adrian nodde
Last Updated: 2026-09-12
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