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Chapter 20: Kidnapping

ผู้เขียน: babymo1909
last update ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-08-12 18:57:15

University Underpass

2:15 P.M.

Moonstone University’s south parking deck always felt two degrees colder than the rest of campus. Even in early afternoon, the air was sharp, damp with the faint tang of motor oil, and laced with the faint metallic bite of concrete dust.

Fluorescent lights flickered overhead in a steady, mechanical blink like tired eyelids refusing to stay open casting long, fractured shadows across the painted lanes. The wind hissed through the concrete pillars in hollow howls, a low, uneven whistle that made the place feel both empty and watched.

Most students were in afternoon lectures, their chatter swallowed by classrooms far away. Only the occasional distant footfall echoed faintly up the ramps, swallowed just as quickly by the layered silence.

From the dim stairwell, Lyra emerged.

She was swathed in an oversized hooded coat the color of pale winter ash, headphones draped loosely around her neck, their cord trailing into her coat pocket. One hand cradled an iced la
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  • Doted by the Ruthless Billionaire   Chapter 26:The House That Knows Her

    There was silence for a moment, then her grandfather's voice cut in, gruff but trembling. "You better not scare us like that again, Lyra. You hear me? I don't care how smart or stubborn you think you are. You're our granddaughter, and you're not allowed to have heart attacks before our bedtime."Lyra let out a weak laugh, one that caught in her chest. "I'll try not to."Elias reached over then, his hand closing warmly over hers, steadying her again. She glanced at him, and he gave the faintest nod."Grandma..." She hesitated, twisting the edge of the blanket between her fingers. "There's something else I need to tell you."Her grandmother sniffled. "What is it, darling?"Lyra took a breath, her eyes locked on Elias's. "I'm... moving out of the house."Her grandfather barked a short laugh. "About time. That place was choking life out of you. But where are you going? With whom?"Lyra's lips curved into the smallest smile, though nerves tugged at her chest. "With Elias."For a heartbeat,

  • Doted by the Ruthless Billionaire   Chapter 25: The Crack in Her Porcelain Mask

    At night the hospital was in a strange place. The corridors were hushed, bathed in cold fluorescent glow, but behind every closed-door life continued machine beeping, monitors blinked, footsteps of nurses echoed softly like ghosts moving through the halls.In one quiet private room on the east wing, Elias stood at the window, sleeves rolled up, jacket abandoned on the visitor's chair. His tall frame was restless, pacing back and forth as though the linoleum floor beneath him might catch fire. The faint rhythmic sound of Lyra's monitors the soft "beep, beep, beep" seemed to taunt him with its calm, when everything inside him was a storm.He pulled out his phone, thumb hovering over a name he hadn't dialed in years."The old man's going to laugh at me," Elias muttered under his breath. His jaw tightened, then softened. "But I don't care. I need this done tonight."With a decisive breath, he pressed the call.The line picked up after two rings."If this isn't about someone dying, Elias,"

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