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Chapter Thirty-Four: Ashes and Aftermath

Author: Edie Maxwell
last update Last Updated: 2025-06-26 16:27:51

The sky was heavy with dark clouds as the police van drove down the winding country road. Inside the vehicle, two officers sat stiffly in the front seats with their eyes darting from the rearview mirror to the road. In the back, Noah sat cuffed and bleeding with his right hand wrapped in gauze from the gunshot wound he gave himself.

But even injured, his eyes were full of fire.

“Stop shifting around back there!” one officer shouted, glancing over his shoulder.

Noah didn’t respond. He sat still for a moment and then suddenly, he lunged forward and slammed his shoulder into the cage divider.

“Hey! Sit the hell down!” the second officer barked.

But it was too late.

In a blink, chaos erupted inside the van.

Noah kicked violently at the side door. He threw his weight into the walls. The van swerved sharply.

“Control, Unit 6 requesting backup! Suspect is...”

The officer’s words cut short.

The van skidded, tires screeching on wet gravel. It veered off the road and smashed through the metal r
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  • The Bride's Revenge, The Heir's Escape    Chapter Forty-Four: Justice and Goodbye

    The next morning came with a heavy silence. The streets outside the Hamilton mansion were still, and the sunlight broke through the windows like a quiet blessing. Inside the house, there was a calmness, a strange peace that hadn’t been felt in years. After everything, the fights, the pain, the losses, it almost felt unreal.Meanwhile, at the police headquarters, Noah Smith sat in a holding cell. His wrists were cuffed tightly, red from the steel digging into his skin. He didn’t speak. He didn’t ask for a lawyer. He just sat there, still as stone, eyes fixed on the white wall in front of him. His hair was disheveled, his face pale, and the burns on the side of his neck and hand were bandaged, but they stung with every breath.The officers didn’t look at him with pity. They looked at him like a ghost finally caught. Some even whispered that this man had cheated death, burned in an explosion, vanished for years, and returned wearing another face. Now, he was just a man: broken, exhausted

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  • The Bride's Revenge, The Heir's Escape    Chapter Forty- two: Slip and Shadows

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  • The Bride's Revenge, The Heir's Escape    Chapter Thirty-Nine: Quiet Smiles, Quiet Schemes

    Ava sat at the edge of the bed, phone in hand, her thumb hovering over the dial button. She stared out the window, where the sky was slowly turning orange with sunset. For some reason, her heart beat faster than usual.Still, she pressed the button and called.After a few rings, the line picked up.“Hello?” Jim’s voice came through, calm and low.“Hey… it’s Ava,” she said softly.“Oh, hi,” he responded quickly, but politely.“I spoke with my husband, and there’s a job opening at Warner Architect. Just a small role to start with. Kind of like an intern-slash-site-assistant. You’d be helping on real projects, though.”There was a small pause before he replied, “Wow. That’s... that’s amazing. Thank you.”“You’re welcome,” she said, managing a little smile. “You start next Monday. Liam says you should come by the firm at 9 a.m. He’ll personally meet you.”Jim cleared his throat. “I’ll be there. I promise. Really grateful for this, Ava.”“No problem,” she said, though her fingers were slig

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