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Chapter 20
Huling Na-update:
2025-05-16 18:56:12The city looked the same.
But Isla didn’t.She stood at the edge of the rooftop, wrapped in a black wool coat that Christopher had chosen for her—something sleek and nondescript. Her hair, once loose and wild, was now tied in a low braid that disappeared beneath her collar.
To anyone else, she was just another woman staring into the morning haze of steel towers and distant sirens.
But to Isla, every corner of the skyline was a ghost.
She had walked these streets before. But back then, she had believed she belonged here.
Now she moved like a shadow within its bones.
Christopher appeared behind her, a paper cup of coffee in one hand, his gaze calm but watchful. His presence grounded her, but it couldn’t silence the pounding in her chest.
“We’re ghosts in this city now,” she said quietly.
He handed her the cup. “Then we haunt carefully.”
They’d returned under aliases, with falsified documentation provided by one of Christopher’s old contacts. The apartment they were staying in was on the eighth floor of a building that overlooked a deserted train line. Sparse. Untraceable.
Everything about it screamed temporary.
“I thought I’d feel something,” Isla murmured, sipping the bitter drink. “Coming back here.”
“You do,” Christopher said. “It’s just buried under armor.”
She looked at him.
“You’ve been quiet since we arrived.”
He didn’t flinch. “I’m watching. Listening. Like always.”
“Like a soldier?”
“Like a man in love with a woman the world wants to dissect.”
Her throat tightened.
Isla turned away from the city, back toward the apartment. She wasn’t ready to visit the estate. Not yet. But she had to start somewhere.
“We need access to Ethan’s old files,” she said. “The labs. The company.”
Christopher’s jaw ticked. “We’ll need someone inside. Someone who still thinks you’re dead.”
She paused. “Claire.”
A silence stretched between them. Claire—her half-sister. The perfect, polished heir. The girl Ethan protected. The girl who always looked at Isla like she was something defective.
“She won’t help you,” Christopher said.
“No,” Isla agreed. “But I can manipulate her. She thinks she won.”
---Later That Day
The plan was simple: Isla would visit the private wellness center Claire frequented—pose as a newcomer, get close, start the slow burn of psychological tension.
But when Isla stepped through the glossy glass doors, something inside her cracked.
The air smelled like lavender and wealth. She felt underdressed despite the tailored blazer. Her boots clicked on the marble like a countdown.
She spotted Claire instantly.
Seated by the indoor pool, robe tied at her waist, sipping cucumber water while scrolling through her phone.
She hadn’t changed. Same smug elegance. Same disinterest in the world around her.
Isla moved to the front desk.
“I’m here to register,” she said softly. “New client.”
The receptionist barely looked up. “Name?”
“Elena Winters.”
A fake name. A soft voice.
Invisible.
Perfect.
She signed in, passed the biometric scan, and entered the lounge like a phantom.
Claire didn’t notice her.
Isla’s fingers curled around her new ID tag.
So much of her wanted to walk up and scream. To force recognition. To grab her sister by the shoulders and demand, “What did you know? What lies did he feed you?”
But that wasn’t the plan.
This wasn’t the confrontation.
This was the prelude.
A game of shadows.
And Isla was ready to play.
---That Night
Christopher watched her undress by the window. The city lights painted gold across her skin, her face set in quiet resolve. But her hands trembled.
“You saw her,” he guessed.
Isla nodded.
“Did she see you?”
“No.”
He stepped closer, gently reaching out. “You’re burning, Isla. I can feel it under your skin.”
“I need to control it,” she whispered. “If I don’t, I’ll—”
She stopped.
He tilted her chin to face him. “You won’t fall apart. Not here. Not with me.”
Her breath hitched.
And then she pressed her forehead to his chest, fists clenched against his ribs.
“I want it to stop hurting.”
“I know.”
“I want to tear her throat out.”
“I know.”
He wrapped his arms around her.
“Then let it bleed here,” he whispered against her temple. “Not on the battlefield. Not yet. Let it bleed with me.”
She looked up.
And kissed him.
Not out of lust.
But desperation.
A need to feel human again.
To feel herself.
---
Pinakabagong kabanata
In love with my step father in law Chapter 51
---Chapter 51: The protocol The air filtration system kicked in overhead, allowing the silence that fell after Victor's collapse. His breathing grew shallow, the paralytic substance which was given to him has already taking effect—slowing him down but not making him go silent.Ethan movesmaking sure locking Victor’s wrists into the cuffs. Christopher quicken his pace towards the his weapon, still on command, until Isla raised a hand. “It’s clear.”Christopher lowered his gun, his eyes locking with Isla’s. “You alright?”She didn’t answer immediately. Her pulse was still racing, her body alive with adrenaline and fury. “Definitly alright,” she muttered, turning her attention back to Victor. His head turned slightly to one side, eyes flickering.“No much time Isla said, her voice steadier than she felt. “The serum’s window is short. We need to start the extraction.”Ethan pulled out a small case and cracked it open. Inside, an interface rig—neural extraction pads, fiber-linked monit
In love with my step father in law Chapter 46
Chapter 46 —Beneath the boardThe night did not bring peace. Not to Isla. Not to the house that still held too many echoes of her mother’s silence. The rain had softened into a hush by midnight, but inside the walls, the weight of memory still pressed down like an invisible fog.She had tried to sleep. Curled under the same floral quilt that had once brought her comfort as a child, she had closed her eyes and listened for calm—but her thoughts refused to quiet.Elena’s face haunted her. Not as she’d last seen it, sick and pale, but younger—laughter in her eyes, rebellion in her smile. Victor’s words had painted the woman she used to be with strokes so vivid, Isla felt like she’d never really known her mother at all.At 3:14 a.m., Isla rose. She lit the lamp by the window and padded barefoot across the old wooden floor. The room had changed little since she left for college. Faded posters, a stuffed bear on the bookshelf, her name still etched in the corner of the dresser drawer.She p
In love with my step father in law Chapter 45
Chapter 45 — Her ShadowsVictor didn’t sit. He leaned against the potting table, eyes on the wilting petals of the orchid he’d trimmed minutes ago. It felt like time had stopped moving in this room. The rain outside kept falling, but neither of them could hear it now.Isla waited. Not because she was patient—she wasn’t—but because she needed to hear the truth fall from his lips. Not written. Not hinted. Just spoken, like a confession he’d owed her all along.“I met Elena when she was nineteen,” Victor finally said, voice low, worn thin with memory. “Your grandfather hired me for private security work. She hated me on sight.”Isla folded her arms. “That doesn’t surprise me.”Victor gave a faint smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “She called me arrogant. Said I had no business watching over her like she was some prize to be guarded. But she was already deep into things her family didn’t want to see.”“Like what?” Isla asked.“Politics. Rebellion. Secrets. Your mother was always drawn to
In love with my step father in law Chapter 44
Chapter 44 — The Letter She Shouldn't Have FoundThe storm outside hadn’t relented, and neither had the one in Isla’s chest. Thunder cracked the sky like it was splitting open secrets of its own. In her mother’s old bedroom—the one no one had touched since her passing—Isla stood barefoot, holding the yellowed letter that had just undone everything she thought she knew.She hadn’t come in here looking for truth. She came because sleep wouldn’t hold her, because her mother’s perfume still clung faintly to the wardrobe door, and because something had pulled her there. Fate, maybe. Or ghosts.The envelope had no name. Just a date from over two decades ago—before Isla was born. But the handwriting, the looping, graceful strokes, were unmistakably her mother’s.She read it again.> My dearest Victor,I still hear your voice when the world goes quiet. I still taste your kiss when I close my eyes. I should hate you, I should wish you gone, but I can’t. You live in me.I fear what this secret
In love with my step father in law Chapter 43
Chapter 43 – Fractured ReflectionsThe clock ticked in the background, the only sound in the room as Isla stared at her reflection in the mirror. The dim light from the bedside lamp cast a shadow across her face, highlighting the lines of weariness that had begun to settle in. She had always been so careful, so controlled. But now, the pieces of her life, of who she was, were splintering.Victor’s letter. Christopher’s distance. Her own conflicted heart. It felt like the whole world was unraveling, and she was trapped in the middle of it, unable to break free.She traced her fingers over the cold glass, as if seeking some comfort from the woman she had been. But there was no comfort to be found in that reflection. The woman staring back at her wasn’t the one she had once known. She didn’t recognize the way her eyes had lost their light, the way the corners of her lips turned downward with each passing day.Her mother’s words rang in her head: “You cannot hide from yourself, Isla.”The
In love with my step father in law Chapter 42
Chapter 42 – Where the Silence WaitsThe night in the Kane estate felt colder than usual, though the fireplace in Isla’s room still burned softly. Shadows danced along the walls, whispering secrets only the darkness understood. Isla sat at the edge of her bed, the worn envelope clutched tightly in her hand. It had been tucked behind a drawer in the attic, hidden away like something shameful.She hadn’t opened it yet.Something inside her wasn’t ready. Maybe it was fear—fear that the words inside would mirror her own feelings. Or worse, that they’d reflect everything she didn’t want to admit.Christopher had been distant these past few days. He lingered in the study, spoke less, touched her only when she reached for him first. But when he did, his grip said more than words ever could. He was slipping too, caught in a past neither of them fully understood.Isla stood and paced the room. Her breath came faster than it should, her fingers trembling slightly as she tore open the envelope.
In love with my step father in law Chapter 41
---Chapter 41 – Fragments of the PastThe house was quiet, too quiet.Isla stood in the hallway of the manor, her hand resting on the banister that had once seemed too grand for her small palms as a child. Dust clung to the edges of the floorboards, and the scent of old paper and forgotten memories lingered in the air. Something had shifted inside her since uncovering the letters. They hadn't just been correspondence between old lovers—they were pieces of her mother’s soul, carefully folded and hidden.Now, she couldn’t stop seeing her mother’s face in a different light. Not just as the woman who’d raised her, but as a woman who had once loved deeply, desperately, and perhaps... recklessly.Victor Kane.That name, once a ghost Isla avoided, had become an obsession. The letters spoke of him not just as a man, but as a tempest. A savior, a destroyer. And something inside her ached at the familiarity in his words—how easily they echoed the ones whispered to her in the dark by Christophe
In love with my step father in law Chapter 50
Chapter 50: The Red Room ReturnsThe facility was buried beneath an abandoned psychiatric hospital in the outskirts of Marlowe. Cold, metallic, and eerily silent. The only sound was the hum of generators buried beneath layers of concrete. Isla stood at the entrance to the Red Room, a door marked with faded letters and smeared fingerprints—as if the ghosts of its past occupants had tried to claw their way out.She inhaled deeply. Her palms were sweaty despite the chill in the air. Her fingers brushed over the transmitter embedded in her collarbone, a tiny device Ethan had inserted the night before."You hearing me?" she whispered."Loud and clear," Ethan's voice came through the earpiece. "Christopher's tracking your position. Stay sharp."She pushed the door open.Inside, the Red Room was exactly as she'd feared: clean, clinical, and laced with hidden horrors. The walls were padded, but beneath the padding she saw the outlines of old restraints, bloodstains carefully painted over. In
In love with my step father in law Chapter 49(2)
Chapter 49: The Red RoomPart 2The house was quiet again, but it was no longer peaceful. The silence wrapped around Isla like a noose, drawing tighter with each breath.She stared at the scattered contents of the "Project Lyra" folder. Diagrams of brain scans, personality overlays, pain tolerance experiments. Pages marked with observations like:"Subject shows strong response to maternal visuals.""Behavioral correction through sensory deprivation achieved moderate success.""Mirror empathy nearly complete—98.7% personality alignment."She felt her throat close. Victor hadn’t raised her to be loved—he had raised her to reflect.“Do you think I’m still her?” she asked suddenly, her voice brittle. “Am I still Isla? Or just… Lyra’s second coming?”Christopher came to her then, kneeling before her, eyes dark and intense. “You are you, Isla. You survived his programming. You still question. That alone proves it. If you were just an echo, you wouldn’t be trembling right now. You wouldn’t b
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