Share

Chapter 135 The Ashes of Truth

Author: Royal Jay
last update Last Updated: 2025-07-21 19:12:16

— Ethan's POV —

Irene wouldn’t stop crying.

Her tiny fists flailed in the warm room, her cheeks blotched red, breath hiccupping in panicked gasps. She wasn’t hurt. She wasn’t hungry.

But something in her eyes…something shook me. That same look I saw in the mirror at eight years old when my world shattered and no one came to fix it.

I didn’t know how to hold her right. My arms were stiff, mechanical. Sophia gently reached and adjusted my elbow, her voice low.

"Support her neck more. She’s… she’s just scared. We all are."

Irene nestled closer to my chest, finally letting out a trembling sigh, her cries softening into little whimpers. My throat burned.

I looked at Sophia. Her lashes were damp, her lips parted like she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. She hadn’t said much since we buried the boy—Subject A‑17.

My blood, but not my child. A clone? A stolen incarnation? Whatever he was… he died protecting Irene. Protecting us.

The air between us crackled with a pain we
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • A Twist of Fate with the Callous Billionaire    Chapter 164 The Corner Light

    — Ethan's POVThere’s this moment, before full waking, where your body still thinks it’s safe. Where the weight of the day hasn’t climbed on your chest yet. Where maybe... maybe the world forgot you long enough to let you rest.But it never lasts.I opened my eyes slow.Sophia was already up. Not in the bed. Not in the room.Just the shape of her left behind on the sheets. Still warm.I sat up. Blankets twisted. The light through the blinds cut in thin, sharp.The kind of light that makes you think something happened, even if it didn’t.I found her in the hallway.Curled up by the corner window. Legs to her chest. One of Irene’s blankets wrapped around her shoulders like armor made from old things.She didn’t look at me.But she knew I was there."Couldn't sleep?"She shook her head. Barely."Bad dream?""Not even," she said, voice thin. "Just... couldn’t turn it off."I sat behind her. Legs on either side. Pulled her back into me. She fit there like she was made for it.We watched t

  • A Twist of Fate with the Callous Billionaire    Chapter 163 The Things That Don't Knock

    — Ethan's POVI woke up with her weight still on my chest.Sunlight smeared thin across the blinds, pale, reluctant. The kind that doesn’t really warm anything. The kind that shows you the dust in the corners.Sophia was still asleep. Barely. That almost-sleep where the body stays but the mind’s already reaching for something.I didn’t move. Just let myself listen.Irene snoring faint down the hall. The ticking of the kitchen clock that always runs a little fast. The fridge humming. The house breathing slow.No knocks.No envelopes.No wind yet.But something felt... off. Like the quiet was leaning too hard on the windows.Eventually she stirred. Curled tighter into me."Did you sleep?" she asked. Her voice still gravel."Some."She didn’t ask more. Just nodded against my chest.We stayed like that a bit.Then Irene's voice broke through. Shouting something about waffles and battle armor.We both laughed, but hers cracked.She got up first. I followed.We moved slow through the kitche

  • A Twist of Fate with the Callous Billionaire    Chapter 162 Where the Quiet Breaks

    —Ethan’s POVThere was this second... right before I opened my eyes. Like the world hadn’t made its choice yet. Whether to let us have peace or not. Like maybe if I just... didn’t move, didn’t breathe too loud, we could stay.But the second broke.Like it always does.I opened my eyes to the ceiling again. Cracks I hadn’t noticed before. Funny how stuff shows up when you start looking for it.Sophia was still asleep. Kinda. Breathing deep, but her brow was pulled like she was fighting something. Quiet wars in her dreams.Irene mumbled in his sleep down the hall. Something about rockets and clouds. His voice was soft. Fragile, almost.I sat up. Then ran a hand through my hair. My mouth tasted like rust and regret.There was that itch again, deep behind the ribs. Like something was coming. Or already here.I padded down the hallway. Cold floor. Familiar creaks.Kitchen. Coffee.Burned it this time. Bitter. Left it.The window showed fog. Thick, pressed against the glass like the world

  • A Twist of Fate with the Callous Billionaire    Chapter 161 What the Shadows Forgot

    — Ethan's POVI opened my eyes before the alarm. Not that it mattered. Sleep hadn’t really stayed long.Just fragments. Faces. A door creaking where it shouldn’t. Footsteps I couldn’t place. The sound of Sophia breathing beside me, sometimes too quiet. Like she was holding it in.I lay there a minute. Maybe five. The ceiling blurred into nothing. My hands were numb.She shifted beside me. Not quite awake. Not quite not.I got up slow. Didn’t want to wake her yet. Pulled on jeans from the floor. Shirt from the back of the chair. Same one I wore yesterday. Probably the day before.Kitchen was still. Irene's little blue cup was in the sink. He always forgets to rinse. There was a trail of cereal from the counter to the fridge. He’d call it a “breadcrumb map to treasure.”Coffee. The smell helped. A little. I let it burn my tongue.The back window fogged. Cold sneaking in. Maybe that was good. Real. Honest.I stood there too long.Sophia's voice behind me. “Hey.”She looked like she’d b

  • A Twist of Fate with the Callous Billionaire    Chapter 160 Beneath the Skin of Silence

    —Ethan's POVMorning crept in without asking. That kind of pale, reluctant light that doesn't really warm anything, just shows you what you didn’t want to see.Like how I hadn’t slept. Not really.Sophia was curled on her side. Fists tight under her chin. Hair everywhere. She looked young. Tired. Small, almost.The phone was still on the nightstand, black screen hiding something it had already told me."We warned you."That sentence kept echoing. Over and over. Like it had weight now. Like it meant more than just words on a screen.I slid out from the bed carefully. Didn’t want to wake her. Didn't want to see that look on her face again.In the kitchen, the floor felt colder than usual. I stepped over the creaky board out of habit.Irene’s art project still lay half-finished on the table, some kind of cardboard dragon, glitter everywhere. One wing bent like it’d fought something and lost.Coffee. I needed coffee. Something real. Bitter. Sharp.The kettle took forever. I stared at the

  • A Twist of Fate with the Callous Billionaire    Chapter 159 When the Sky Hangs Low

    — Ethan’s POVThe sky muffled itself in gray again. Not the sweeping storm of last night, but a heavy stillness, like the air couldn’t decide whether to bend or break.I sat on the porch steps, beer long gone warm. Rain tapped the gutter above. Droplets lingered at the edge, poised to fall. You could sort of hear them think before they dropped.There’s a strange comfort in that.I glanced at the window, Sophia’s silhouette inside framed by golden light. She was folding laundry. Simple socks and shirts. But every motion she made was precise, careful, like art.Inside, Irene banged his toy drum again, practicing for a concert he’ll hold at dinner.That small chaos felt sacred.I took off my boots. Wiggle toes in the damp wood. There was something calming about ground you could feel.The screen door squeaked.She slid outside. Blanket around her shoulders. Eyes clear like glass after rainfall.“Cold?”“A little.”She leaned into me. Blanket pattered to the wood.I watched the horizon t

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status