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CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT: Lavender and Gunpowder
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2025-07-18 22:27:24
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A Deal With Desire CHAPTER TWENTY NINE: The Woman with the Gun
His gun pressed into the small of her back.Julian hurried across the street to Maria's apartment. She led the way up the dimly lit corridor, wincing as Julian's grip tightened around her arm.Her hands shook as she jangled the keys. They fell and she bent to pick them up, shaking violently. Her breath came in short bursts as she unlocked the door. It creaked open.The smell of must and ammonia hit Julian's nostrils. He grimaced, shoving her inside.An old rocking chair creaked beside a small TV.“Sit,” he ordered, kicking the door shut behind him. Maria covered her face and sat in the chair. She whimpered, hiccupping behind trembling hands.“I only did what I was asked–”“Save it! I don't fucking care. You killed a woman. Why?”Sweat poured down her neck as Maria hiccupped and heaved.“You better start talking.”She shook her head.“I owed them a favour. I had to do it. My kid…they took her” Julian's teeth chattered. He had hoped it would be so easy–get Maria to confess and be done
A Deal With Desire CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT: Lavender and Gunpowder
JULIAN'S POV Pain radiates up my arm, but it’s nothing compared to the ache in my chest.Adele’s been gone a week, yet I still hear her footsteps in the hallway, her laugh echoing down the stairs, the sound of her teacup clinking against porcelain.My wife.My Adele.Gone.The doctors called it a psychotic break.I call it a scream.One I didn't hear until it was too damn late.I pace the kitchen like a madman. The smell of stale coffee clings to the air, but all I can smell is her lavender and honey and the ghost of everything I didn’t say.She used to sit at the counter, curled into the end stool, humming songs I never bothered to learn the names of. Always adding too much sugar to her tea. My phone buzzes. A text. My heart stutters.“Found her. Call me in five”My breath catches. Nurse Shirley. Finally.My hand tightens around the phone. I set a timer. Five minutes. No room for error.I lean on the counter, vision blurring.God, Adele… how did this happen?How the hell did she
A Deal With Desire CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN: The Day Grief Turned to War
Grief didn’t come in waves for Adele Hawthorne.It came like a flood. Drowning. Merciless. Final.She stood motionless in the hospital parking lot, the world spinning too fast and yet not moving at all. Her hands trembled at her sides, clenched into useless fists. Julian reached for her, but she recoiled.“Don’t” she whispered. The word was barely audible. But it stopped him cold.Inside her, something had shattered. And something else had taken its place. Something sharp.Her mother was gone. Not by illness. Not by accident.By murder.And the woman who did it–Shirley had vanished like smoke. No records. No full name. No trace.Just antiseptic and citrus lingering in the air like a haunting.Julian tried again, stepping closer. “We’ll find her, Adele. I swear on everything”But Adele wasn't listening.She was staring at nothing and everything. Her mother’s laughter. Her warmth. Her braiding Adele’s hair just hours ago. It looped in her mind like a cruel film reel.A tear slid down h
A Deal With Desire CHAPTER TWENTY SIX: The Day The Light Died
ADELE'S POV The day I lost my father and brother, my world paused. The days bled into nights. But I had my mother. There was hope.Today I lost her too. Where do I go from here? Something inside me is dead. I sat rigid in the doctor's office, Julian by my side. I gripped his fingers so tight, desperate to feel something. The room was cold, like it had moved on. The doctor was saying something. My ears struggled to tune in. It doesn't matter anymore anyway. Nothing matters.But I just saw her. My nerves tingled with a strange feeling. My gut twisted. I had to know.“What exactly happened to her? Because I was with her just before…” Just before she died. The words hung in my throat.“We performed the autopsy, and erm…there were some anomalies”I sat up straight. Julian rested a tentative hand on my back. What anomalies? Julian echoed my question.The doctor shifted uncomfortably and adjusted his glasses on his round nose.“Well erm… your mother died of a heart attack, but it wasn
A Deal With Desire CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE: Goodbye for Now
ADELE'S POV The hospital loomed over me ominously.I stepped out of the car and signalled the driver to find a secluded parking space. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow on the glass doors as I approached them. My heart beat faster with each step I took. I haven't seen my mother in months. So much has happened. Despite the 90% board vote that made me Co-CEO, I walked around with a hole in my chest.Julian and I had become strangers. Distant, formal, cold. The kind of silence that echoes. We barely spoke to each other, save for board meetings and public events.That's the way it's supposed to be, but I can't help but feel a longing for what we once had, no matter how fake it was. Pushing it all to the back of my mind, I pushed through the glass doors and the smell of antiseptic and air conditioning hit my nostrils, pulling me into that sterile quiet only hospitals have. Too clean, too still, too full of ghosts.I froze in front of my mother's ward, my hand hovering over t
A Deal With Desire CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: Checkmate, Mr Hawthorne
JULIAN'S POVThe boardroom was still reeling.I stood frozen at the head of the table, the echo of Adele’s declaration ricocheting off the walls. Her perfume still lingered in the air, daring anyone to speak out of turn. But nobody did.The board members exchanged cautious glances. Alexander leaned forward, clearing his throat."Julian, I wasn’t aware you had made such a…dramatic decision. Co-CEO? That’s quite the surprise."I forced a smile while my insides turned to lava. "We were discussing her involvement more deeply. Adele is well-qualified. She has an MBA, a Master's in Accounting, and a solid track record at Lustré Interiors before her... hiatus."He arched his brow. "And the appointment? It wasn’t cleared with us."I could feel the storm building."We’ll arrange a formal vote next week. For now, treat it as a transitional leadership role. She’s here to help navigate the Satoshi merger."Adele stood tall, chin raised, smile polite but razor-sharp. She wasn’t intimidated. Not a
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