Share

21. Roxie

Author: Amy Tetteh
last update Last Updated: 2021-07-21 06:51:06
Ann was nowhere to be found that night.

Not at the cabin. Not at her apartment. Not at work.

Rex and Judith had scoured every possible location they knew she might have gone to—places that once felt like Ann’s quiet sanctuaries. But now? They were just empty, silent spaces that echoed with absence. When they reached her workplace—Craves, the popular café where Ann pulled long shifts after school—there was nothing. The lights were dim. The music subdued. But as soon as Rex and Judith walked through the doors, the room seemed to freeze.

People stopped talking. Heads turned.

It was as if a storm had entered in silence.

The manager on duty blinked in surprise as Rex pushed his way to the counter, ignoring the gasps and whispers that followed his presence like a shadow.

“We’re looking for Ann,” Rex said flatly, urgency wrapped around every word. “Have you seen her?”

The girl behind the register shook her head slowly, clearly startled. “She hasn’t been here since her last shift. Two d
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • The Lovely Loner   59. A King In The Shadows

    But what neither Judith nor Martha noticed—Was that the door hadn’t fully latched shut when Rex left.And just down the corridor, in the private waiting alcove marked Authorized Personnel Only, a man sat still in a velvet chair, unreadable in the dim light.King.He’d frozen in the shadows like stone.Judith’s smirking confession, her theatrical tone, the way she delighted in her deception like a child spinning a web from glitter and venom—it poured through the thin crack in the door like spilled wine.The blood was real.But the victim?Crafted.He had come to check on her. Alone. Unannounced.He’d walked the polished floors of the VIP wing with quiet steps, his hands in his pockets, still dressed in the last remnants of the gala’s grandeur—black tie askew, cufflinks glinting under the hallway lamps. There was something restless in his gait when he arrived—half-worry, half-curiosity.Even the city—the mighty, roaring heart of it—had quieted into a hush. The VIP wing of the medical c

  • The Lovely Loner   58. A Beautiful Lie

    The sterile quiet of the hospital suite was broken only by the gentle hum of machines and the rhythmic hiss of the oxygen flow.Judith stirred.Her eyelids fluttered open with slow precision, as though even waking was a performance. A pale beam of early morning light filtered through the drawn curtain, softening the edges of the pristine room. The faint scent of antiseptic clung to the air, mingling with the sharpness of her own dried blood.She blinked once. Twice.And then she saw him.Rex.Seated beside her bed, still in his wrinkled tuxedo shirt, the buttons half undone, his jacket draped on a nearby chair. His posture was stiff, his jaw clenched so tight it could shatter teeth. He hadn’t shaved. His cufflinks were still on. And his hands—those hands—were resting on his knees, as if he didn’t know what to do with them anymore.He looked exhausted.But he was there.Exactly where she wanted him.“…Rex,” she whispered, her voice delicate with strain.He jolted slightly, like a man r

  • The Lovely Loner   57. No Tears Left

    Chapter Title: No Tears LeftThe drive home was quiet.Alaric didn’t speak, and Annie didn’t ask him to. She sat beside him in the passenger seat, arms crossed, blood still faintly crusted under her nails, her reflection flickering in the black-tinted glass. City lights danced across her face, but none of them reached her eyes.She didn’t feel the cold.She didn’t feel anything at all.The moment they reached her front gate, Alaric pulled into the driveway and stepped out before the engine had fully stopped. He opened her door wordlessly, offering a hand, but Annie stepped out on her own.Her heels touched the stone path like ghosts.“I’m calling Roxie,” Alaric said as they reached the porch.“You don’t have to.”“I’m not asking.”She didn’t argue.Inside, the lights were low. The air smelled faintly of jasmine and linen. Annie kicked off her shoes at the door, her steps soft on the hardwood as she walked into the living room, arms wrapped around herself like armor.Alaric followed, h

  • The Lovely Loner   56. Hours Of Blood And Silence

    The washroom’s silence was replaced by chaos the moment the doors closed behind Alaric and Annie. Behind them, Judith lay sprawled across the marble floor, pale as the porcelain sink, blood still leaking in fine threads across her wrist and pooling in the folds of her designer gown. Her breathing was shallow. Her eyelashes fluttered like moths against her cheeks. “Rex,” King said lowly, eyes sharp, “we have to move now if we want to make it tie hospital on time. Now.” Rex didn’t answer. He was already on his knees, scooping her fragile body into his arms. She weighed less than he remembered. Or maybe he was stronger than he’d ever needed to be. The crowd cleared without needing to be told. Judith whimpered, barely conscious, head rolling into the crook of his shoulder. Her blood had already begun to soak into his shirt. King moved ahead, calling out for the valet, shouting for the car. He didn’t care that they were the elite of the elite. Tonight, nothing mattered except th

  • The Lovely Loner   55. The Weight Of Belief

    The tension in the washroom had calcified. It clung to the marble walls, to the cracked silence, to the blood drying in thin, rust-colored lines across Judith’s wrist.Everyone stood frozen — not from concern, not from compassion, but from something darker: certainty.Certainty that Annie Yin — the woman who stood in the center of it all, angelic and bloodstained — was guilty.Until a new voice tore through the corridor like lightning.“Move.”The footsteps that followed weren’t rushed, but deliberate. They struck the tiles in a rhythm that commanded attention — slow, firm, unapologetically confident.It was not the walk of someone arriving late.It was the entrance of someone who belonged.Alaric Devereux.His presence moved like an omen. Before anyone saw him, they felt him — a sudden vacuum of nonsense, of doubt, of pretension.And then he stepped through the doors.He was tall, sharp-jawed, dressed in midnight — a tailored suit cut so clean it looked like it might bleed if touched

  • The Lovely Loner   54. When Angels Burn

    The heavy double doors burst open.A gust of cold air from the corridor swept into the room, fluttering the gauzy curtains at the far end and carrying with it the scent of champagne and garden roses from the grand ballroom. But inside this private washroom — sterile, elegant, cold — it might as well have been the opening of a tomb.King was the first to enter. His tall frame cut through the air like a blade, flanked by two high-ranking members of the elite circle — men and women who were more accustomed to whispering behind velvet ropes than responding to crises. Their expressions were tight with alarm, eyes scanning quickly, sharply.And behind them, Rex Radford.He entered like a storm long overdue — broad-shouldered, composed only in appearance, with the eyes of a man who’d tasted ruin and come back thirsty for more. His presence darkened the threshold. The lights above seemed to dull as he stepped in.Their polished shoes echoed across the marble, steady and severe.And then—They

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status