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홈 / Romance / The Torn Vows / Chapter 14: Seed of Doubt

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Chapter 14: Seed of Doubt

작가: Rita Scott
last update 최신 업데이트: 2025-10-21 08:32:49

The glow of Gabriel’s laptop screen lit the dark study. The house was quiet—too quiet. I had gone upstairs an hour ago after their tense, half-finished conversation in the kitchen. He would kiss my forehead, tell me to sleep. He hadn’t followed. He couldn’t.

The email sat at the top of his inbox, the subject line screaming at him:

“You deserve to know the truth.”

No sender’s name. Just a jumble of numbers. Anonymous.

His cursor hovered. Logic told him to delete it. But something in the back of his mind—something sharp and restless—clicked it open.

The first thing he saw was a picture.

Eve.

Not the person he saw at home, tired and quiet, wrapped in cardigans. This Eve was dressed sleek, standing in a dimly lit restaurant. She wasn’t alone. Across the table sat a man—handsome, expensive suit, leaning too close. The picture froze them mid-smile, glasses of wine raised, his hand brushing hers.

The caption below it made Gabriel’s chest tighten:

“This is the woman you think is loyal. Ask he
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  • The Torn Vows    Chapter 46: The Warehouse of Ghosts

    The air inside the warehouse was colder than the rain — still, metallic, filled with the ghosts of things left unfinished.I moved through the dark, my flashlight slicing the air in trembling arcs. The smell of oil, dust, and old machinery clung to everything, like the bones of Gabriel’s family empire still refusing to die.“Sebastian,” I whispered, pressing a hand to my earpiece. “Talk to me.”Static crackled. Then his low voice:“South wing clear. Two heat signatures ahead — one moving, one still. Could be her and Gabriel.”“Her?” My pulse stumbled. “You mean Emily?”He hesitated. “You said she was dead right.”“She was,” I breathed. “She—she was.”The air seemed to tighten around me as I said it.I crept forward, every sound magnified — my own heartbeat, the soft click of my shoes against the wet floor. Then, faintly, beneath it all, I heard something.A lullaby.I froze. My throat closed up.Lila’s lullaby.The sound looped through the warehouse, distant and eerie, coming from a s

  • The Torn Vows    Chapter 45: Shadows Don't Stay Buried

    The rain didn’t stop.It just changed — slower, heavier, colder — a curtain instead of a storm.I sat in the backseat, staring out the window, my reflection ghosted against the passing lights. My phone buzzed once on my lap — a missed call.Lila.My daughter’s name blinked across the screen like a heartbeat. I lifted it halfway, then lowered it again. I couldn’t answer. Not yet. Not when my voice still shook.“Hey,” Sebastian said softly from the passenger seat. “You should call her back.”My throat ached. “What do I tell her? That her father’s world is built on ghosts?”Sebastian didn’t answer. He just looked at me, and for a moment, something unspoken passed between us—a softness he didn’t usually let through. Then he turned back to the road.In the driver’s seat, Gabriel was silent. His grip on the wheel was steady, but his knuckles were white. The flash drive sat in the cupholder, small and deadly as a secret.“She saw us,” he muttered finally. “That woman — she wanted us to find

  • The Torn Vows    Chapter 44: The Escape, The Woman in the Fog 

    The sirens were getting closer.Fast.Red and blue lights began to flicker faintly against the low-hanging fog, washing the street in colour. The smell of gunpowder mixed with rain and oil was thick in the air.I knelt beside Emily’s still body, numb. My fingers were slick with rain and blood, but I couldn’t make myself move. Couldn’t look away from Emily’s open eyes — glassy, unfocused, almost peaceful.“She’s gone,” I whispered.Gabriel crouched beside her, his breathing ragged. “Eve—”“She was trying to tell us something,” I said, voice shaking. “She said she didn’t finish it.”Sebastian staggered closer, holding his wounded arm. “Whatever she started, someone else just finished for her.” He looked toward the retreating glow of the SUV, barely visible through the mist. “And they’re cleaning up loose ends.”Gabriel’s jaw tightened. “We’re the next loose ends.”The sound of sirens grew louder — multiple vehicles now, engines revving as they turned into the street. Tyres splashing thr

  • The Torn Vows    Chapter 43: The Shot

    The night split open.Rain hammered against the cracked windscreen as my scream tore through the dark. The car jerked sideways, tyres skidding on wet asphalt, glass raining over my lap. I shielded my face, heart slamming against my ribs.“Eve!”Sebastian’s voice came from somewhere behind the haze of sound and flashing lights. He grabbed the steering wheel, wrenching it straight. The car groaned, spun, then slammed to a stop against the guardrail with a metallic crunch.For a moment, everything went still — except the rain.My breath came in shallow gasps. My hands shook, blood streaking across my knuckles where the glass had cut me.“Eve, talk to me!” Sebastian’s voice broke through the chaos. He reached across the console, cupping my face. “Are you hurt?”I shook my head, dazed. “I—I think I’m fine.”Then I froze.A dark figure moved through the downpour ahead. The headlights caught him for a heartbeat — soaked shirt clinging to his chest, eyes wild with panic.Gabriel.He ran towar

  • The Torn Vows    Chapter 42: The Confession

    Rain continued to fall, slower now, softer — as if the storm itself was holding its breath.I stared at Gabriel, unable to move. His words hung in the air like smoke.She’s not working alone.“What does that mean?” I whispered. “Gabriel, what do you mean she’s not working alone?”He looked at me the way someone looks at a wound they caused — equal parts regret and terror.“Eve,” he said, voice low and rough, “you shouldn’t have come here. You shouldn’t have brought Sebastian.”Sebastian stepped closer, jaw set. “You’re going to have to start explaining, Grayson. Because right now, it looks like everyone’s been lying — you most of all.”Gabriel’s eyes flicked to him sharply. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”“I know enough,” Sebastian shot back. “Emily’s fake pregnancy, Marcus’s disappearance, that crash — everything leads back to you. So go ahead, tell us how deep this goes.”My heart pounded so hard I could barely breathe. “Gabriel,” I said, voice trembling, “what happened

  • The Torn Vows    Chapter 41: The Break In

    Darkness swallowed the room.A second ago, there had been light — the humming fluorescent above them, the faint drip of rain against the roof — and now it was gone.My breath hitched.“Sebastian?”“I’m here.” His voice came low, controlled, somewhere to my right. “Stay quiet.”My pulse thundered in my ears. I could smell the cold metal, the damp cardboard, and the old dust stirring in the air. Outside, footsteps approached — slow, deliberate.Then the sound of keys.Metal scraping metal.Sebastian’s hand brushed my arm. “Back wall. Now.”We moved in near-silence, shuffling along the cluttered floor until our backs hit the cold sheet of the wall.My fingers grazed the edge of the table — the one still littered with the files and photographs.I heard the lock turn.The door creaked open.Pale light from the street filtered in, outlining two silhouettes. Emily’s voice floated through the dark, soft and cold.“Stay close to me.”The man followed her inside. His voice was low and rasped. “

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