MasukShare
Chapter 38
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2025-05-18 23:15:37---
Chapter 38: The Fractured Truth
Isla sat alone in the dimly lit study of Christopher’s penthouse, the ledger open on the polished mahogany desk before her. The faint glow from the city lights spilled through the floor-to-ceiling windows, painting long shadows across the room. Outside, the metropolis buzzed with oblivious energy, but inside, the air was thick with secrets and tension.
Her fingers hovered over the ledger’s fragile pages, hesitant to turn the next leaf. Each entry was a thread in the tangled web of Victor Kane’s empire—a web that had entangled her family, her past, and now, her present.
Christopher entered quietly, closing the door behind him. His eyes, usually sharp and commanding, softened when they met hers.
“You’ve been at it for hours,” he said, his voice a calm anchor in the storm around them.
Isla didn’t look up. “There’s so much here... so many names. So many lies.”
He stepped closer, pulling out the chair beside her. “You don’t have to do this alone.”
She finally met his gaze, the vulnerability she tried so hard to conceal breaking through. “I don’t want to be alone. But I’m afraid of what comes next. Victor isn’t just a man with money—he’s a monster with reach. If he finds out we’re digging, he won’t hesitate to destroy everything... or everyone.”
Christopher’s jaw tightened. “Then we need to be smarter. We need a plan that keeps us two steps ahead.”
Isla swallowed hard, the weight of the ledger suddenly heavier. “And what about us? What if this—” she gestured between them “—puts more than just our lives at risk?”
He gave a small, rueful smile. “Isla, I’ve spent years protecting my family from men like Victor. But you? You’re different. And maybe... I’m tired of watching from the sidelines.”
Her breath caught. The confession hung between them, raw and electric.
Before she could answer, a sharp buzz shattered the fragile moment. Christopher reached for his phone and frowned.
“Marcus,” he muttered, answering swiftly.
“Christopher,” Marcus’s voice was tense, edged with urgency. “You need to get to the warehouse on 14th. Now. Something’s happened.”
Isla’s heart sank. “What kind of something?”
“Victor’s men. They’re tearing the place apart—looking for something. Probably the ledger.”
Christopher’s expression hardened. “We’re on our way.”
---
The warehouse was a cavernous relic on the outskirts of the city, abandoned and forgotten by most. But to Victor Kane, it was just another pawn in his sprawling game.
Isla’s breath misted in the cold night air as they approached the grim structure, its broken windows like dark eyes watching them. Marcus was already there, standing tense near a pile of overturned crates.
“They’ve been through everything,” Marcus said grimly. “But they didn’t find the ledger.”
“How?” Christopher demanded. “Where is it?”
Isla’s eyes darted around, heart pounding. “I hid it. Last night. In the old vent shaft near the back.”
Christopher nodded sharply. “Let’s get it before they come back.”
The three moved carefully through the shadows, the sound of distant sirens and barking dogs fading behind them. Isla’s hands trembled, adrenaline sharpening her senses.
As she crawled into the narrow vent, memories of her childhood floods back—the secret places she and her mother had hidden things. This was more than just a mission; it was personal.
Finally, her fingers closed around the cold metal box she had slipped inside. She pulled it out carefully and handed it to Christopher, who secured it in his bag.
“Good work,” Marcus said quietly. “But Victor’s not going to stop.”
Isla nodded, fighting the urge to collapse. “Neither will we.”
---
Back at the penthouse, the weight of the night pressed heavily on them. Christopher unpacked the box carefully, revealing stacks of documents, coded messages, and photographs—proof of Victor’s crimes.
Isla sank into the leather armchair, exhaustion pulling at her.
Christopher sat beside her, the space between them charged with unspoken feelings.
“Why did your mother fight so hard?” Christopher asked softly.
Isla’s eyes filled with tears she refused to shed before. “Because she knew the cost of silence. She wanted to protect me—from Victor, from everything he stood for.”
He reached out, brushing a stray tear from her cheek. “And now you’re carrying that fight.”
She nodded, voice trembling. “I don’t know if I’m strong enough.”
Christopher’s hand closed over hers. “You’re stronger than you think. And you don’t have to do this alone.”
---
The following days were a tense blur of meetings, coded messages, and whispered phone calls. Isla and Christopher built an unlikely alliance of trusted friends and insiders, all risking everything to bring Victor Kane down.
But with each step closer to justice, the darkness around them grew thicker.
One night, Isla woke to the sound of her phone buzzing relentlessly. A text appeared on the screen:
“Stop digging, Isla. Or everything you love will burn.”
Her hands shook as she showed Christopher.
He was grim. “Victor’s sending a message.”
Isla’s mind reeled. This wasn’t just about money or power—it was about control. About fear.
But fear was something she refused to give in to.
---
In the quiet moments, Christopher and Isla’s relationship deepened—layered with tension, desire, and the fragile hope of something more.
One evening, Christopher pulled Isla close, his breath warm against her ear.
“We’re going to get through this,” he whispered. “Together.”
And for the first time, Isla allowed herself to believe in a future beyond the shadows.
---
Bab terbaru
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
Anda juga akan menyukai
Satisfying Her Darkest Fantasies
Shile858.7K DibacaBlack Card
R.C.BRIE15486.9K DibacaMy Marriage Is A Contract
Marvy494.2K DibacaTwins in Her Womb: Sir President, Please be Gentle
Heap Heap1.8M DibacaThe Flames of The Phoenix
AmIta_sD439 DibacaThe Billionaire’s Vow
Arin_writes41 DibacaIn Bed With My Step-uncle
Ashley Wright491 DibacaMy Ex, the Widowed Billionaire
Sacred Heart505 Dibaca
