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Chapter 33

last update Huling Na-update: 2025-05-18 23:03:12

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Chapter 33: Hidden Truths

Ethan leaned against the cold concrete wall, every breath visible in the frigid night air, his heart pounding as though it tried to break free from his chest. The warehouse loomed in front of him like a mausoleum of forgotten memories, its broken windows gaping like hollow eyes staring into the abyss. That cryptic message echoed in his mind: She’s closer than you think.

Closer. Isla.

The word both comforted and unsettled him. Relief was buried beneath a heavier weight—fear. Every step Ethan took toward uncovering the truth seemed to drag him deeper into a labyrinth of shadows, a world Mira Kane had fought desperately to shield her daughter from, but now Isla was trapped right at its center.

Ethan pulled the tattered letters from his coat pocket. Mira’s handwriting was delicate but desperate, scrawled on yellowed pages that smelled faintly of old smoke and lost hope. He carefully smoothed a page under the faint glow of his phone’s light. The words were a mixture of confessions, pleas, and warnings that clawed at his heart.

“Victor was never the man you think he was. He wore masks, Ethan. Promises that were lies. Love twisted into chains. I kept secrets, but Isla must never know the truth... You must protect her, even if it costs you your soul.”

His throat tightened. Mira’s words were a lifeline and a curse. Protect Isla—but from what? From Victor’s long shadow? From Christopher’s cold control? Or from some darkness that Mira couldn’t even confront herself?

A sudden creak shattered the silence. Ethan’s head snapped up, muscles coiling. The footsteps were slow but deliberate—unmistakably Ezra’s.

“I see you found my little message,” Ezra’s voice slid through the dark like a knife, low and chilling.

Ethan didn’t flinch. “You won’t touch her.”

Ezra stepped forward, a ghost in the dim light. “I’m not here to hurt Isla, Ethan. I’m here to show her what’s been hidden.”

“By pulling her into the nightmare you’re living?”

Ezra’s smile was thin, cruel. “I’m offering her the truth. Christopher’s protection? A fairy tale. Just another layer of the facade Victor built.”

Ethan’s jaw clenched so hard it ached. The lines between friend and enemy blurred in the fog of deception.

“We’ll see whose lies unravel first,” Ethan spat, eyes burning with defiance.

Ezra retreated deeper into the warehouse, vanishing into the maze of shadows. Ethan followed, each step heavier than the last, as memories pressed down on him—memories Mira’s secrets had tried to bury.

The inside of the warehouse was a tomb of forgotten things: rusted machinery, shattered glass crunching underfoot, dust motes dancing like ghosts in the stale air. At last, Ezra stopped beside an old crate.

“Here,” Ezra said, voice echoing in the emptiness. “Everything you need to understand is here.”

Ethan knelt, pulling open the crate. Inside were stacks of files and faded photographs—Isla’s past wrapped in layers of half-truths and hidden fears.

His fingers trembled as he sifted through the papers, finding letters between Mira and Victor—letters soaked in threats, desperation, and sorrow. They painted a picture of a woman caught between love and terror, desperately trying to protect Isla from the man who was supposed to be her father.

And then he found it—a folded envelope, sealed with wax, untouched. Inside was a letter in Mira’s handwriting, but the words made Ethan’s blood run cold.

“You will never escape me. And neither will she.”

Beneath the signature was a name Ethan had never seen before.

A name tied to the darkest corners of Victor Kane’s past.

The cage around Isla’s life was tighter than he ever imagined.

Ethan pressed the letter to his chest, feeling the weight of the past crushing down on him. Mira’s warning was clear—there were enemies closer than he dared to guess.

And now, with Ezra Quinn back in the game, the shadows were closing in fast.

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