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Ch. 22 – Blood on the Tiles

Penulis: Pauline Maxwell
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-12-06 02:09:20

For a moment, everything stopped.

The mansion corridor—usually polished, quiet, almost museum-still—was chaos frozen mid-breath. The shattered vase lay in pieces, blood streaked across the marble like someone had dragged a paintbrush dipped in crimson, and the heavy scent of gunpowder lingered in the air.

Mark’s knees hit the cold tiles with a dull thud, his body folding forward as if his strength had finally evaporated. Mia dropped beside him instantly, her hand flying to his hair, pushing it back from his forehead. His skin felt fever-hot and trembling.

“Mark,” she whispered, voice breaking without permission. “Hey—stay with me. Look at me.”

He lifted his head slowly. His eyes were blurry but locked on hers, as if she was the only thing anchoring him to consciousness.

“Mia…” His voice was rough, dragged across gravel. “Don’t… leave.”

Her breath caught.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here.”

Her fingers brushed along the line of his jaw, instinctively soothing, even though a part
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