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Chapter 174

Author: add-mide
last update Last Updated: 2025-10-11 22:54:23

The morning light was gray filtered through clouds heavy with last night’s storm. The city looked washed out quiet as though holding its breath after something it couldn’t name.

Ryan woke to the sound of the printer whirring. For a moment, he thought he was dreaming until the smell of coffee reached him, sharp and bitter. He pushed off the couch, rubbing at his eyes. Adrien was already dressed, sleeves rolled up, a stack of papers spread across the table like pieces of a crime scene.

He wasn’t frantic. That was the unsettling part. Every movement was deliberate measured, mechanical. He adjusted files, checked something on his laptop, printed another document. The cold precision of it made Ryan’s stomach twist.

“How long have you been up?” he asked softly.

Adrien didn’t look up. “Couple of hours.”

Ryan glanced at the clock. It was barely past six. “You didn’t sleep.”

He crossed to the counter pouring coffee into two mugs Ryan took one, fingers brushing Adrien’s briefly The warmth did n
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    The city outside was slick with reflections neon signs bending in puddles, headlights stretching like ghosts across wet asphalt.Inside the safehouse, Adrien’s fingers worked methodically over the keys, tracing digital pathways through layers of encryption. Every few seconds, the screen flashed with new strings of code, numbers, and red error flags.Ryan sat on the couch behind him, his shoulders tense. The silence had teeth.“How long before Hale gets the trace?” he asked quietly.“Thirty minutes,” Adrien said, not looking up. “If Viktor’s using a live relay we’ll catch his real signal the moment it blinks.”“And if he’s not?”“Then he’s smarter than I thought.”Ryan exhaled, rubbing a hand down his face. “You’re gambling with your life on a theory.”Adrien’s lips twitched faintly. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”That answer made Ryan’s stomach knot. There were moments small, unguarded moments when he caught a glimpse of the person Adrien used to be. Before the games, before the mur

  • A Story That Doesn’t Belong To You   Chapter 185

    The safehouse was silent, save for the hum of old wiring and the steady tick of rain against the cracked windowpanes. Morning light hadn’t reached this part of the city yet too far from the skyline too lost in the industrial shadows to see anything but gray.Adrien hadn’t moved in hours.He sat before the dusty desk the laptop open code spilling endlessly across the screen. His eyes tracked every line, every fragment as if he could peel Viktor’s presence out of the digital static. The glow of the monitor sharpened the cut of his jaw, the exhaustion hollowing his face.Behind him Ryan stood with crossed arms, fighting the urge to intervene.The room smelled faintly of burnt coffee and wet concrete. They’d locked every window checked every door twice, even reset the router three times. But the message ROUND TWO BEGINS still hung between them like a loaded gun.Ryan finally spoke. “You’ve been at it since we got here.”Adrien’s fingers didn’t stop typing. “And?“And you haven’t said a wo

  • A Story That Doesn’t Belong To You   Chapter 184

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  • A Story That Doesn’t Belong To You   Chapter 183

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  • A Story That Doesn’t Belong To You   Chapter 182

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  • A Story That Doesn’t Belong To You   Chapter 181

    The docks were a different kind of quiet not the comforting kind that came with peace but the watchful silence before something broke. The water was black and still, reflecting the faint orange of the streetlights. Rusted containers stacked high like tombs loomed on both sides of the narrow road, and somewhere in the distance, a chain creaked in the wind.Adrien parked the car two blocks away. “We go on foot from here,” he said slipping on his gloves.Ryan zipped his jacket higher against the chill. “You’re sure he’s here?”Adrien’s expression was unreadable. “He wants me to think he isn’t Which means he is.”Ryan exhaled through his nose. “That logic makes me want to throw up.”“Good,” Adrien said dryly. “Means you’re still alert.”They moved through the shadows, steps silent on wet asphalt. Adrien’s movements were all precision no wasted motion, no hesitation He’d been here before, in a hundred different ways Only this time, the ghost he was hunting shared his blood.When they reach

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