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Chapter 26
publish date:
2026-09-11 08:33:10
Latest chapter
ASHES OF HER MERCY Chapter 30
Shattered Glass and AshesLucian's POVGuilt isn't a sharp pain that comes and goes; it is a suffocating, invisible weight that fills your lungs until every breath feels like swallowing broken glass.The cabin of my private jet was pitch black except for the pale blue glow of the digital flight tracker mounted on the bulkhead. Thirty thousand feet above the freezing Atlantic, the engine’s low, monotonous rumble sounded like a funeral dirge.On the leather table in front of me lay the legal petition Seraphina had filed in London. Next to it was Chloe’s brown leather ledger, open to the page where two years of calculated destruction had been carefully noted down in neat, fluid handwriting.I sat alone in the quiet darkness, staring at my hands.My knuckles were pale, the skin stretched tight over the joints. These were the hands that had signed the medical release forms six months ago. These were the hands that had held the pen while doctors prepped Seraphina for another painful bone ma
ASHES OF HER MERCY Chapter 28
Venom in the FoundationLucian's POVBetrayal rarely arrives with a roar; it creeps into a home like dry rot, quietly chewing through the supports until the whole structure collapses under its own weight.The air in Chloe’s luxury brownstone on the Upper West Side smelled of white lilies, expensive vanilla candles, and the faint, chemical bite of antiseptic, the perpetual perfume of a woman who had spent five years playing the fragile, dying victim.Outside, the late afternoon sun was drowning in a sea of bruised purple clouds over Central Park. Inside, the silence was deafening.Chloe was at her physical therapy appointment on 72nd Street, escorted by two of my private security details. I was supposed to be at the office finalizing the European logistics transfer. Instead, I stood in the middle of her sunlit dressing room, staring at the bespoke mahogany vanity table I had imported from Paris for her twenty-fifth birthday.My chest felt hollow, a cavern scooped out by six months of c
ASHES OF HER MERCY Chapter 29
Fractured GlassLucian's POVSilence in a high-rise apartment has a weight to it, heavy enough to crush the lungs if you stay still for too long.On the screen, Seraphina’s voice was still echoing in my mind, cold and absolute, declaring default on Vance Global's European line. But in the living room, the only sound was the shallow, terrified rasp of Chloe’s breathing.She hadn't moved. Her hand was still half-raised, frozen in mid-air as if she could magically reach out and erase the leather-bound ledger sitting on the glass table between us."Lucian..." Her voice trembled, a delicate, fragile thread meant to pull at every protective instinct I had cultivated over the last five years. "Darling, please. You’re, you’re confusing things. I don't know what that book is. Someone put that there to frame me"."Shut up," I said.I didn't roar. I didn't throw the glass. My voice was a flat, dead line, stripped of every ounce of warmth I had ever given her. That quieted her faster than a strike
ASHES OF HER MERCY Chapter 27
Iron and VelvetSeraphina's POVPain is an honest teacher. It doesn't lie, it doesn't make promises it can't keep, and it certainly doesn't hide behind a wedding ring.My bare foot slammed into the heavy leather striking bag, the sharp impact shuddering up my ankle, through my knee, and settling deep in my hips. The sharp crack echoed off the exposed brick walls of the private gym in the basement of the London estate. Sweat dripped off the end of my nose, stinging my eyes, but I didn't stop. I couldn't."Again, Seraphina," Mikhail’s rough, gravelly voice barked from the edge of the mat. He was a former Spetsnaz instructor Harper had hired at absurd expense, a man who didn't care that I had once been Mrs. Lucian Vance. To him, I was just raw, soft material that needed to be hammered into armor. "Your pivot is slow. If a man of Vance’s size pins you against a desk, a weak hips-turn won't save you. Drive through the heel. Break his knee."I sucked in a ragged breath, wiped the sweat from
ASHES OF HER MERCY Chapter 26
Haunted SanctuaryLucian's POVThe double heavy oak doors of the penthouse private elevator slid open with a soft, mechanical hiss, releasing Chloe into the vast, gleaming expanse of the foyer.The sharp, rhythmic clack, clack, clack of her designer stilettos instantly shattered the quiet I had preserved like a sacred tomb for six long months. Behind her, three estate porters hauled an endless parade of leather luggage, garment bags, and monogrammed trunks, their heavy footfalls thudding against the imported Italian marble."Oh, Lucian, darling," Chloe gushed, her voice light, airy, and suffocatingly out of place as she tossed her silk scarf onto the obsidian entryway table. "It’s so good to finally move out of that dreary hotel. I know it’s been a painful adjustment period for both of us, but having me here will help clear the ghost of her out of this place. We can finally redesign the West Wing!"I didn't answer. I stood near the floor-to-ceiling glass wall, staring out at the rain
ASHES OF HER MERCY Chapter 25
Buried AshesLucian's POVThe damp chill of the private hangar off Terminal 4 clung to the wool of my coat like a shroud. Outside, London rain lashed against the corrugated steel, a low, relentless drumming that sounded too much like water against the hull of a boat.I didn't take off my gloves. I couldn't. My hands had been cold for six months, ever since the phone call came through in the middle of a board meeting in Manhattan. An offshore explosion. Unrecoverable remains. Deep water.The official maritime police report sat on the metal folding table in front of me, its edges warped by the damp air. Beside it lay three thick, black binders, my own private forensic team's findings, compiled over five agonizing months of bribing harbor masters, pulling sonar logs, and tearing through Coast Guard telemetry.I pulled out a cigar, silver cutter snapping in the silence, but I didn't light it. I just held it, staring at the high-resolution photograph clipped to the top page of the pol
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