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Chapter 92

Author: TemsRay
last update Last Updated: 2025-07-27 17:00:59

The gentle hum of a coffee machine filled the cozy air of the café. Snow dusted the windows outside, turning the view into a picture-perfect postcard, but inside was warmth, chatter, and the quiet tapping of fingers against a keyboard.

Lia sat in the corner booth, wearing a cream knitted sweater over her now slightly visible baby bump. Her face was fuller, cheeks kissed with a natural glow. Her hair was longer now, dark curls framing her face softly. She looked… peaceful.

She wasn’t rich yet, but she was getting there.

After arriving in Europe, she started small tutoring English online, ghostwriting romance novellas, taking weekend courses in business management. It was grueling, and lonely sometimes. But every night she slept without fear. No nightmares. No locked doors. No Ruben. No blackmail. No threats. Just silence and safety.

Her startup skincare line, LustraGlow, had just secured its first distributor. Daph helped design the logo. A local Norwegian influencer promoted it withou
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  • One Heart, Which Brother?   chapter 172

    The bar was almost empty, save for the faint hum of jazz leaking from an old speaker and the bartender cleaning glasses without paying attention. Smoke curled in lazy swirls above half-drained bottles and ashtrays, a haze that blurred sharp edges.Ruben sat in the corner booth, coat draped across the seat beside him, a glass of bourbon untouched in front of him. His eyes were fixed on the door, sharp and calculating, though his chest was tight. He hadn’t agreed to this meeting out of peace. He agreed because some wars had too many graves already and Julian’s was still fresh enough to sting like salt on open skin.When the door creaked, Ken walked in. He looked nothing like the man who once carried himself like a king. His shoulders were heavy, his knuckles still bruised from a fight that never ended, and his eyes bloodshot, hollow dragged across the room until they locked with Ruben’s.Neither spoke at first. Ken slid into the opposite seat, ordered nothing, and sat with his hands cla

  • One Heart, Which Brother?   171

    The morning light spilled across the Delwunco estate, but it didn’t soften the heaviness that had settled over its halls. Lia stood at the window of the master bedroom, a black silk robe draped across her shoulders, a steaming cup of untouched coffee cooling on the table beside her. Her eyes weren’t on the gardens or the blue of the sky they were on the framed photographs of Julian that filled the walls and shelves. His smile followed her everywhere, his absence pressing into her chest like a phantom weight.She didn’t hear Ruben approach until his reflection appeared behind her in the glass. His hands slid into his pockets, his face drawn and tired from nights of watching her spiral deeper into silence and plotting.“You can’t keep this up forever,” he said quietly.Her eyes flicked to him in the glass, cold and sharp. “Can’t I?”Ruben exhaled, bracing himself. “I spoke with Daphne. She wants to take you out. Just the two of you. A day away from all of this.”Lia’s lips curved into s

  • One Heart, Which Brother?   chapter 170

    The warehouse reeked of iron and rot. Shadows clung to the concrete walls, thick with the smell of blood and sweat. Lia stood at the center, her black heels clicking against the floor as she moved forward, unflinching, regal in her silence. Her eyes were locked on the trembling man bound to the chair, his face bruised, his shirt soaked with sweat and blood.Julian’s killer.For weeks, she had dreamed of this moment. A thousand times, she had imagined how it would look, how it would feel. And now, here he was helpless, cornered, awaiting her judgment.The man tried to speak, his voice breaking through cracked lips. “P….please… I didn’t mean for it”Lia raised a single finger, silencing him before he could finish. “Do not speak his name.” Her tone was sharp, merciless. “You lost the right to speak at all the moment his blood stained your hands.”Behind her, Ruben and Ken watched. Ruben’s chest was tight, his fists buried deep in his pockets as if to keep himself from interfering. Ken’s

  • One Heart, Which Brother?   chapter 169

    The rain fell in sheets outside the glass windows of the Delwunco estate, streaking the view of the gardens in blurred shadows. The storm had rumbled all evening, but inside the study, silence reigned heavy, suffocating, broken only by the faint crackle of the fireplace.Lia stood near the tall window, dressed in black silk that clung to her figure like armor. Her presence had shifted since the wedding; she was no longer the soft-spoken woman who once begged for peace. Now, she was sharp, deliberate, every gesture edged with control. In her hand was a glass of red wine, untouched, her eyes fixed on the distorted reflection of lightning.Behind her, Ruben sat in his leather chair, shoulders bowed under the weight of something heavier than grief. He watched her in silence, his hand wrapped around a half-empty glass of bourbon. He had fought wars, bled for his family, rebuilt empires from dust yet in this moment, he felt powerless before her quiet wrath.“You’re too quiet,” Ruben finally

  • One Heart, Which Brother?   chapter 168

    The ballroom of the Delwunco estate had never seen such a gathering, not even during Ruben’s reign at his most feared height. Now, it was Lia’s domain. The chandeliers burned brighter, the marble floors gleamed as though polished with blood itself, and the walls carried a silence that demanded obedience.But it wasn’t just the grandeur that stunned everyone who stepped inside. It was her.Lia.She stood at the center of the room, draped in a gown that seemed more like a warning than attire. Midnight black velvet clung to her frame, slit dangerously high on one side, the neckline daring, sharp as a blade. Her hair was pinned back, a crown of obsidian stones resting against it not of royalty, but of conquest. She wasn’t dressed as a bride anymore. She was dressed as a ruler, the kind that could smile while plotting your downfall.Ruben sat beside her at the head table, but even he looked more like an accessory than her equal. His face bore exhaustion, guilt, and the shadows of a man who

  • One Heart, Which Brother?   chapter 167

    The city never truly slept, but that night, the Delwunco estate burned with a silence so heavy it felt like mourning all over again. Chandeliers glowed faintly against the midnight air, their golden shimmer stretching across the marble halls like candlelight over a crypt.Lia stood at the highest balcony, draped in a gown of deep scarlet that swallowed her slender frame like living flame. From below, she could hear Ruben’s men voices low, plans whispered. But she wasn’t listening to them. Her gaze was fixed on the horizon, where the city pulsed with life, commerce, and blood.Her empire.Not Ruben’s. Not Ken’s. Hers.She lifted a glass of wine, her lips brushing the rim but never drinking. Her reflection in the darkened glass doors was unrecognizable now—the soft woman who once wept over promises was gone. In her place was something sharper, colder, alive with venom.Behind her, footsteps. Heavy, measured. Ruben.“You’re awake again,” he murmured, his voice heavy with concern. “You ha

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