LOGINChapter 252 Ethan's POVI barely had time to register Pascal moving toward me before his fist connected with my face.Hard.The impact was brutal, explosive, sending my head snapping to the side, pain radiating through my jaw and cheekbone.I tasted blood immediately."Don't you ever talk to my mother like that again," Pascal snarled, his face inches from mine, his eyes burning with rage.I spat blood onto the concrete floor and turned my head slowly back to look at him.And I laughed.It was a harsh, bitter sound, but I couldn't help it.Because this was pathetic."You're a coward," I said, my voice rough but steady. "You've been hiding for years like a scared little rat. And now you're trying to steal what someone else built."Pascal's expression darkened."Steal?" he repeated, his voice dangerously low. "Walker Industries belongs to me. I'm Grace's son. Her real son. Not some bastard child of a maid."I grinned, even though it made my split lip throb.He wanted a reaction. Wanted
Chapter 251 Cynthia's POVI was livid.Beyond furious.The fear was still there, making my heart race and my hands shake — but it was being rapidly overtaken by pure, white-hot rage."What's the point of this?" I demanded, my voice echoing through the warehouse. "Why did you have to kidnap us? What do you possibly hope to gain from this?"Grace turned her attention to me, her smile widening."Oh, Cynthia," she said, her tone patronizing. "Always so dramatic. So emotional.""Answer the question," I shot back.Grace's expression shifted into something darker."I did what I had to do," she said simply. "Twenty years ago, things didn't work out the way they were supposed to. Jerome's plan failed. He died. And I was left with nothing."She leaned forward slightly, with her bandaged head from that fall at the verandah. The gauze was slightly stained at the temple — yellowish at the edges, like the wound beneath it wasn't quite done bleeding.It made her look more frightening, not less."B
Chapter 250Cynthia's POVPain.That was the first thing I registered when consciousness slowly dragged me back to the surface.Sharp, throbbing pain radiating from the side of my head where I'd been hit.My skull felt like it was splitting open, each pulse of my heartbeat sending fresh waves of agony through my temple.I tried to raise my hand to touch the spot, to assess the damage.But I couldn't move.My arms were stuck.Panic flooded through me instantly, cold and sharp, cutting through the fog of pain.I forced my eyes open, blinking against the dim light, trying to focus.Where was I?The room—no, not a room, a warehouse—was massive, dark, and cold. The kind of cold that seeped into your bones and settled there. High ceilings with exposed beams. Concrete floors. The faint smell of dust and rust and something else I couldn't quite identify.And I was tied to a chair.My wrists were bound tightly behind me, the rope cutting into my skin. My ankles were similarly secured to the ch
Chapter 249Kevin's POVI was losing my mind.Completely, utterly losing my fucking mind.I ran through the hospital corridors like a man possessed, my footsteps echoing off the sterile walls, my voice hoarse from shouting."I need to see your security footage!" I demanded at the nurses' station for the third time. "Right now!"The nurse behind the desk—a middle-aged woman with tired eyes and the patience of a saint—looked at me with barely concealed frustration."Sir, I've already told you," she said slowly, like she was talking to a child. "We've called security. They're pulling the footage now. You need to calm down—""Calm down?" I repeated incredulously, slamming my hand on the counter. "My sister is missing! She came into this hospital thirty minutes ago and now she's gone! So no, I'm not going to calm down until someone tells me where the hell she is!"Another nurse—younger, clearly uncomfortable with the confrontation—stepped forward hesitantly."Sir," she said gently, "is it
Chapter 248Julian's POVTony’s hips snapped forward one final time, burying himself so deep I felt the blunt stretch echo through every nerve. A broken moan tore out of me as heat flooded inside — hot pulses that made my thighs shake and my toes curl against the sheets. He came with a low, guttural sound against the side of my neck, teeth grazing skin, hips grinding in slow, possessive circles like he was trying to fuse us together permanently.I was still clenching around him when the first aftershocks hit him. His cock twitched hard inside me, spilling another weak spurt, and the sensation tipped me over again. My second orgasm was quieter but deeper, a rolling wave that started in my pelvis and radiated outward until even my fingertips tingled. I spilled untouched between our stomachs, smearing sticky heat across both of us as my body jerked in his arms.He didn’t pull out.Instead he stayed seated deep, softening only gradually while he mouthed wet, open kisses along my throat, m
Chapter 247 Nikolai's POVI sat comfortably in the Laurent family's elegant sitting room, a cup of expensive coffee in my hand, listening to Victoria and Helen chat animatedly about Christmas traditions, family stories, and their plans for the day.It was… nice.Warm.The kind of family atmosphere I hadn't experienced in years — not since my father had passed, not since I'd been left alone to navigate the corporate world and the crushing weight of grief. Back then, Christmas had become just another day on the calendar. A date I'd learned to move through efficiently, without sentiment, without the softness that holidays demanded. I'd gotten very good at that — at moving through things without feeling them.Victoria Laurent had embraced me with an openness that still surprised me.She'd insisted I stay for Christmas.Insisted I was "family now."Insisted that a young man like me shouldn't spend the holidays alone.And I'd accepted.Not just because I genuinely appreciated the warmth an
Chapter 31Cynthia’s POVThe night had unfolded into a blur of laughter, music, and glittering champagne flutes clinking, but my mind wasn’t on any of it. Until the spotlight shifted toward the stage.“Ladies and gentlemen,” the host, Gaby Vincent announced, his voice ringing through the hall, “ple
Chapter 26Cynthia’s POVThe car ride to the gala was supposed to be relaxing… soft jazz playing in the background, city lights slipping past like lazy fireflies, the kind of atmosphere where silence feels comfortable and elegant.But Kevin’s sulking had other plans.He sat beside me with his arms
Chapter 23Cynthia’s POVEthan sighed and lean back in his seat, his hand brushing over his face.“Maybe she’ll come back,” he said quietly, almost to himself. “Maybe she lost her memory or something. I don’t know. I just… I feel guilty and angry. She left because of me, I know that. But how could
Chapter 29Cynthia's POVI should've felt relieved, maybe even proud that I didn't let Anna play her usual games again. But all I felt was tired... and that empty, painful feeling in my chest that always came when I thought too much about Ethan.It hurt more than I expected.Three years apart, and







