LOGINZAYDENMy blood froze in my veins, but I didn't flinch.My nails dug into my thigh where I had placed them elegantly on my thigh, the pressure grounding me as I stared at the men surrounding me. I could feel the weight of the gun pointed in my direction without even looking directly at it.Fear was there. I simply refused to let it reach my face.“Before you shoot,” I suddenly said, my eyes sweeping over them, gauging the level of crimes they were capable of committing. “You might want to think again.”Silence settled heavily around us.“Someone has been watching since I came in, ready to swarm in on my order.”My eyes remained absolutely calm, giving nothing away.I let the words hang in the air for a moment, watching their expressions carefully. A slight shift of the shoulders. A tightening jaw. A glance exchanged between two men.I was taking a gamble but they didn't need to know that.“If I don't leave peacefully, not just you but the boss behind you would find their hands full of
ZAYDEN The motorcycle continued towards Crenshaw district with enough speed to make my stomach turn. It had been fifteen minutes since I got on, and I was still clinging to the seat behind the man whose face I couldn't see. But at least he was heading towards the location I had given him, rather than planning some unknown conspiracy. Soon, his speed reduced, and I looked up, still gripping the motorcycle seat. The area appeared lonely and abandoned, with barely any houses that looked occupied. Even the few buildings scattered around seemed to have been forgotten by the rest of the city. Finally, the motorcycle ground to a halt. I inhaled deeply and got down, my legs feeling slightly unsteady beneath me. The place was an abandoned industrial area. I checked my phone again. The GPS was right here. A narrow path stretched before me, leading towards a junkyard framed by overgrown weeds on either side. The weeds brushed against my trousers as I stepped forward, their dry leaves scratc
ZAYDENI looked up at the person, then at the motorcycle's licence plate.His figure and motorcycle didn't match up with anyone I knew.“Why are you not getting on? Aren't you going to Kael?”I inhaled deeply.He could be one of the people who had kidnapped Kael. Otherwise, why would he know exactly what was happening?My fingers tightened around the strap of my bag.There was no time to waste and no other vehicle in sight. I had to take the gamble.I climbed onto the motorcycle and adjusted the bag around my shoulder, keeping my movements as steady as I could.“Be careful on the road.”The driver scoffed, and the motorcycle revved up beneath us.I instinctively tightened my grip as we shot forward.“Which of their bases did they take him? Have you been told?” he suddenly asked.The wind rushed against my face, whipping my hair backward and muffling his voice. But I still heard him clearly.“How are you related to Kael?” I suddenly asked the man, ignoring his previous question.“Just
ZAYDENMy phone beeped once on my desk.My first instinct was to ignore it. Distractions when I'm coding new features were absolutely not acceptable.On second thought, I picked up the phone and clicked on the message.It was a picture of someone bloodied and in chains.My heart dropped straight into my belly and I quickly tapped on the picture, enlarging it.I know those hands.Even without the face, I knew exactly whose bloodied arms and legs they were. Kael.What could have happened?My eyes remained glued to the image, desperately searching for anything that could explain what I was seeing.There was a message attached below the picture.[If you still want to see this brother of yours, come to Crenshaw district. And follow this map.]My hands began to tremble uncontrollably. Fear seized me so violently that, for a moment, I could barely feel my limbs.Kael has been kidnapped.But why? I already paid the gambling debts from last time. Who could be going after him?Sweat coated my u
RONANI barely managed to make it back to the car.The moment I shut the door, I allowed myself to collapse against the steering wheel. My hands wouldn't stop trembling.Bryan had said Zayden’s career was ruined with so much assurance and confidence. As though it were an established fact.What could have happened?If even Bryan believed it was my handiwork, wouldn't Zayden believe worse?My fingers fumbled as I fished out my phone. It took me several attempts to scroll through my contacts before I finally found the number of my private investigator.My secret eyes. The one person I kept away even from Hank and the others.A wise rabbit never makes one hole in case of betrayals and incompetence.For something this delicate, he was the one who should handle it.I tried to type out the instructions, but my muscles failed me. My fingers wouldn't stay steady enough to form a coherent message.In the end, I had to settle for a voice note.Blacklisted? Zayden was insanely talented. What coul
RONANI slowly pushed the door open, and my eyes immediately went to the desk where I knew he would be sitting.He indeed was in the office.But today, there was no whore around him.He seemed to have stopped dating his staff after that incident, looking further away for excitement.My gaze swept across the room before settling on him. Bryan looked up from his computer. A slight smirk lit up his face as he leaned back in his chair, watching me.“The little starlet you intercepted, how did she taste?”My nose wrinkled almost instinctively, and I scoffed. “What? Do you want to settle the scores with me?”I walked over and sat on the arm of a sofa closer to him, my eyes fixed on his face.“Was that the reason you called me here?”He hissed dismissively. “If you want her, you can keep her. I'm never short of women.”My lips curled into a disdainful sneer. So to him, this was something to be proud of?I shook my head wryly. “Why am I not disappointed? Mother must have been so blind to foll
ZAYDENAlthough the driver was moving the taxi as fast as he could, it felt like he wasn't moving fast enough. Tinkers corner. Goodness. How could my brother have fallen so deeply into the abyss without my notice? What kind of elder brother was I? I ran a finger through my hair and exhaled, fists
ZAYDENIt was seven twenty in the evening when the taxi dropped me before the luxury suburban building that was supposed to be home but had felt like a prison for the longest time. Gated community. Two-storey grey building. Manicured lawn. Outdoor backyard kitchen I never seemed to remember ever
ZAYDENMy jaw locked. The room turned stifling, air too thick to breathe, my heart hammering against my ribs like it wanted out. My thoughts frayed at the edges, vision swimming at the corners. Ronan’s eyes gleamed, vicious satisfaction naked in them. His hand slid up my spine, slow and deliberate
ZAYDENOne hour at the gym, and another ten minutes at the school sports facility did nothing to loosen the knots in both my shoulder muscles and chest. It felt like something heavy was crushing me from the inside.It didn’t matter. I had to shove it down and enter the rink. Today was the internal







