MasukThe sound of the soft knocking still echoed in Isolde's head, blending with the thunderous, erratic pounding of her heart. Her ears were ringing violently. She thought her terrible hallucinations had returned amid her loneliness and the hunger twisting in her stomach. However, that unmistakable baritone voice called her name again—calm, deep, and filled with restrained longing.
"Isolde... Open the door. I'm home..."
Without realizi
The sound of heavy footsteps mixed with harsh shouts suddenly tore through the silence of the night on the second floor of Mansion Blackthorne. Before Lucien, Evander, and Azriel could fully process the guard’s warning, the sharp crack of a gunshot muffled by a silencer—ptak!—struck the plaster wall of the corridor, scattering white dust fragments right beside Azriel’s head.“Duck!” Lucien barked in a split second.Without warning, the predator instincts that had been ingrained in the three men for decades in the underworld immediately took over. Lucien lunged forward, shoving Isolde’s body down behind the sturdy corner wall of the corridor for cover. Evander and Azriel moved with lightning speed, lowering their bodies while drawing the semi-automatic firearms concealed beneath their respective jackets.At the end of the northern corridor, three burly
The sound of the soft knocking still echoed in Isolde's head, blending with the thunderous, erratic pounding of her heart. Her ears were ringing violently. She thought her terrible hallucinations had returned amid her loneliness and the hunger twisting in her stomach. However, that unmistakable baritone voice called her name again—calm, deep, and filled with restrained longing."Isolde... Open the door. I'm home..."Without realizing it, Isolde's fingers, wrapped in white gauze, tightly gripped her thick blanket. All the mental defenses she had built over the past week instantly shattered into pieces. The pride that had guarded her heart, the ego that forbade her from appearing weak, and the rejection she had desperately clung to suddenly vanished without a trace. All that remained was an overwhelming fear of loss—the fear that the man's shadow would truly disappear from her world forever.With
The roar of a black sedan's engine thundered loudly as it tore through the streets of Capital City, still wet from the remnants of the morning dew. Inside the stuffy cabin, Evander and Azriel sat side by side without saying a word. The tension between the two young men was palpable, clearly etched into their hardened jaws and fists gripping their respective knees. They had no other choice. Isolde's worsening condition at the mansion had completely crushed the remnants of their ego.The car finally pulled into the basement of the luxurious penthouse building where Lucien had been isolating himself for the past week. Without wasting any time, Evander and Azriel immediately got out of the vehicle and hurried toward the private elevator that would take them directly to the top floor.Ding.The elevator doors opened wide, revealing a silent corridor clad in black marble. Without knocking, Evander immediately pre
The air inside the cream-colored bedroom felt so dense that it could almost be sliced with a knife. The amber bedside lamp cast a dim glow that accentuated the restless shadows on the walls. Isolde sat stiffly on her king-sized bed, both hands tightly clutching the thick blanket until her knuckles turned deathly pale. In front of her, Evander and Azriel stood rigidly, their demanding gazes leaving her no room to escape.The challenge hung in the air, testing every inch of the pride and self-esteem that had served as Isolde's last line of defense all this time.Isolde lifted her chin slightly higher, forcing a cynical smile onto her pale lips, though it looked fragile. She refused to surrender. She refused to appear weak in front of the two men who had always been the source of her fear."Why should I obey your orders, huh?" Isolde's voice sounded hoarse yet trembled violently with defiance. She turned her face away, staring at the food tray on the nightstand with a deliberately disgus
The roar of a luxury car engine entering the front courtyard of Blackthorne Mansion shattered the silence of the early morning. Inside the magnificent main living room, Evander and Azriel stepped inside, breathing heavily, their clothes visibly disheveled. Their nighttime journey to the northern harbor had left traces of tension still etched across the faces of the two young men.They had just met Lucien—confirming that the mature man had truly isolated himself in a secluded penthouse and had no intention of returning to the family's circle of power. However, instead of feeling relieved that their uncle's dominance had completely crumbled, Evander and Azriel's minds were filled with another, far more pressing concern: the girl on the second floor who was slowly destroying herself in silence.Without wasting any time, Evander immediately climbed the stairs one by one in haste. Azriel followed behind him, supporting himself with his wooden cane, as the two young men hurried down the cor
The roar of the night sea wind in the northern sector of the old harbor battered the walls of the rusted shipping containers with a deafening noise. The drizzle that had been pouring over the city since the afternoon had now subsided, leaving behind puddles of saltwater and wet mud that reflected the dim glow of the hanging floodlights from the abandoned warehouses.Inside a deserted logistics warehouse—the place where Lucien had chosen to isolate himself for the past week—the atmosphere was eerily silent until it was suddenly shattered by a violent impact against the main steel door.Bang!The three-meter-high steel door was instantly blasted open, crashing onto the concrete floor with a deafening thud. Two men stepped inside, breathing heavily, their eyes blazing with fury. Evander and Azriel. Behind them, several armed guards stood on high alert, securing the outer perimeter.Lucien, who was sitting on an old wooden chair in the middle of the room while sipping black coffee from a
Isolde sat quietly in the back seat of the car, clutching her small handbag tightly against her chest. Near her feet lay a worn-out suitcase. Her eyes were swollen and sore. Inside her mind, the echoes of cruel laughter from the hotel ballroom still played mercilessly, accompanied by strangers' whi
"Damn... your bodies are far warmer than that curvy woman."Gavin's deep voice came from behind the suite room door. Isolde Ravelyn froze in place. The velvet box in her hand trembled slightly while her chest suddenly tightened."Your fiancée is already waiting downstairs, isn't she?" a woman's pla
Evander leaned casually against the treadmill's handrail, steadily closing the distance between them until Isolde could catch the strong scent of his masculine cologne."I'm getting more curious," Evander murmured, his gaze blatantly dropping to Isolde's chest as it rose and fell rapidly from exhau
"Then why are you wandering around at this hour of the night?" Azriel asked, his voice lowering while his fingers still held the back of Isolde's neck captive."I-I'm hungry!" Isolde squeaked in panic. Her ragged breaths felt warm against Azriel's bare chest."If you're hungry, the kitchen is down







