Chapter 117**Bryan’s POV** I swallowed hard. “If you touched her…” My voice broke before I could finish. I forced it steady, steel where there was only breaking glass inside me. “If you hurt her, Bella, I swear to you…I’ll…” “You’ll what?” she cut in smoothly, rising from the couch with the grace of a predator circling its prey. Her bandaged head flexed as she stood, and her smirk widened. “You’ll go to the police? Tell them your wife kidnapped your mistress? Tell them the grieving wife, who nearly bled out from sorrow, is actually a criminal mastermind?” She stalked closer with every word, her bare feet silent against the rug, her silk nightgown whispering with movement. Her laughter bubbled up again, cruel and triumphant, twisting my insides into knots. “Oh, Bryan. Do you even hear yourself? No one will believe you. Not a soul. You’ll look pathetic, weak and isn’t that the real crime in your world? A man like you, reduced to begging for scraps of truth about your mistress from
Chapter 116: Perplexed **Bryan’s POV** I returned home again, the mansion no longer felt like mine. It reeked of a life I didn’t want anymore. It reeked of lies, of betrayal, of everything I was desperate to cut away from. The polished marble floors gleamed under the chandeliers, the scent of fresh roses clung to the hallways, yet the air itself felt rotten. Staff whispered as I passed, their eyes flicking nervously toward Bella’s wing of the house. The heavy doors there were shut tight, as though the darkness itself had bolted them. Maria intercepted me halfway down the corridor, her apron balled in her fists, her eyes red-rimmed. “Sir… I can’t do this anymore. I’m leaving. Tonight.” Her voice cracked, fear threaded through every syllable. I should have begged her to stay, should have tried to reassure her. But this wasn’t the time. Something bigger consumed me, gnawed at me. “I’ll call you,” I said flatly, my voice barely my own. And then I walked away straight toward Bella.
Chapter 115**Bryan’s POV** I sank into the corner of the living room, the silence pressing harder now that the uniforms were gone. My back pressed against the wall, knees bent, elbows heavy on them. In my hand, I clutched her scarf that she’d left draped across the couch earlier. I held it so tightly it hurt, the soft fabric twisted in my grip like a lifeline. Every time I let my eyes close, she was there. Christiana’s smile, soft and shy. Her tears, glistening and raw. The way her hand would hover protectively over her stomach, on our child. My future. A sharp pain tore through me at the thought of them both gone, stolen into some darkness I couldn’t reach. My chest ached, my throat burned, and nausea coiled inside me until I thought I might break apart. “God please, keep her safe. I can’t afford to have anything happen to her. Please,” I whispered into the hollow quiet, my voice cracking under its own weight. I pressed my palms hard against my eyes until I saw stars, until t
Chapter 114: Who Took Christiana? **Bryan’s POV** I saw her phone lying on the coffee table, the screen dark, face down. My heart plummeted. Christiana would never have left without it. The sight was like a punch to the ribs, knocking the breath out of me. If it was still here, then she hadn’t left by choice. She was taken. The word burned through me like fire. The door to Christiana’s apartment was still hanging open when I stumbled back outside. My legs felt unsteady, my hands trembling so badly I could barely pull my phone from my pocket. The night air was sharp, but it offered no relief. The weight pressing down on me was suffocating, thick with dread. I felt powerless. If something happened to her… or to the child she carried… My stomach twisted violently. The bile rose up, burning my throat, but I forced it down. I couldn’t afford to fall apart. There was only one person I knew who might have an idea where she could’ve gone if she had not been taken like is suspect. E
Chapter 113:**Bryan’s POV I stared at Bella, wondering what sort of devil possessed her “So this… all of this… was about money.” “Of course it was,” she said smoothly, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. “You were perfect. The perfect man to guarantee I would never go back to being… nothing.” Her lips twisted. “Do you know what it’s like to be invisible, Bryan? To be the girl everyone overlooks? To be reminded, every second, that you are replaceable, worthless? I swore I would never feel that way again. I desired to be like Christiana. I dated her father to have her kind of life, but I didn’t want to settle with an old man like Giveon Salazar, I wanted someone hotter, someone I can show off to my friends, one who is active in bed, one who I wake up to, looking at his handsome face… and then you came along.” Her voice cracked, but her eyes stayed hard. “You were the answer to my prayers. And I won’t let that go. Not for anyone. Not even Christiana.” The venom in
Chapter 112 : Are you the devil? Bryan’s POV “Are you the devil?” The words tore from my throat, hoarse, broken, desperate. My chest heaved, my voice raw, but I couldn’t stop staring at her, at the blood streaking down her forehead, running in jagged trails across her cheekbones, dripping steadily down her neck. Her eyes caught the dim light, wild and glittering, feverish with something I couldn’t name. She had that twisted, unnatural curve of her lips, too wide, too pleased, too wrong. It didn’t belong on Bella, didn’t belong on any human face. She was the devil, no doubt. She stood in the middle, her silk dress torn and hanging askew, her bare feet sticky against the polished wood floor where droplets of blood had already begun to pool. The rise and fall of her chest was sharp, unhinged, as though every breath fuelled the madness burning inside her. “Yes,” she whispered at last. The sound crawled down my spine. Her voice cracked, raw yet sharp, like glass breaking under press