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Chapter thirty nine
publish date:
2026-09-23 07:05:00Caspian POV
The days after Desmond's arrest felt strange in a way I hadn't anticipated, the absence of fear leaving behind a kind of disorienting quiet neither Elowen nor I quite knew what to do with.
Priscilla called two days later with an update that felt almost anticlimactic after everything we'd endured to reach it.
"He's been formally charged," she said. "Financial crimes, obstruction, and pending further investigation into your father's death, likely a
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one night to steal my heart Chapter thirty nine
Caspian POVThe days after Desmond's arrest felt strange in a way I hadn't anticipated, the absence of fear leaving behind a kind of disorienting quiet neither Elowen nor I quite knew what to do with.Priscilla called two days later with an update that felt almost anticlimactic after everything we'd endured to reach it."He's been formally charged," she said. "Financial crimes, obstruction, and pending further investigation into your father's death, likely accessory to murder or a related charge depending on how the prosecutors decide to frame Julian's testimony. His lawyers are already discussing a plea arrangement, which honestly might be the fastest path to a guaranteed conviction, given how much evidence we've accumulated.""Would a plea deal mean less time?""Possibly. But it would also mean certainty, and after everything you and Elowen have survived, I think certainty is worth considering, even if it means he doesn't serve the
one night to steal my heart Chapter thirty seven
Caspian POVPriscilla's call came early on a Tuesday morning, her voice carrying an energy I hadn't heard from her since this entire ordeal began."They're moving on the extradition," she said. "The country sheltering Desmond just announced new financial cooperation agreements with several allied nations, part of a broader diplomatic push we didn't even know was happening behind the scenes. His accounts there have been frozen as part of the agreement. Without access to his money, his welcome runs out fast.""How fast?""Days, possibly. Their government has signaled they're willing to expedite the process rather than risk broader diplomatic fallout over protecting a single fugitive." I could hear the barely contained excitement in her voice, unusual for someone normally so composed. "Caspian, this is it. This is what we've been building toward for weeks."I sat with the news for a long moment after ending the call, staring out my study
one night to steal my heart Chapter thirty six
Elowen POVTwo weeks passed with something almost resembling normalcy settling over the estate, the legal proceedings against Desmond and Julian grinding forward in the background while the four of us, Caspian, Noah, and I, found a rhythm that felt startlingly close to an actual life.Noah started calling it home without prompting, a small shift I noticed the first time he said it, climbing out of the car after a trip to the stables and announcing he was ready to go home now, tired and sun warmed and utterly unaware of the significance of the word.Caspian noticed too. I watched something in his face soften every time Noah said it, like each casual repetition slowly stitched closed a wound neither of us had fully named. One evening he mentioned, almost in passing, that he was having the guest wing repainted, something brighter for Noah's room, dinosaurs on one wall and a mural of the night sky on the ceiling, planned with the kind of careful attent
one night to steal my heart Chapter thirty five
Elowen POVCaspian didn't speak on the drive home, his hands steady on the wheel now in a way that felt more unsettling than the earlier tension had, like something inside him had gone quiet in the aftermath of hearing exactly how his father died.I let the silence stretch until we reached the estate, until Noah was checked on and found peacefully asleep, until we were finally alone in our bedroom with nothing left to distract either of us from the weight of what we'd witnessed."Talk to me," I said softly, sitting beside him on the edge of the bed."I don't know what to say." His voice was hollow, exhausted in a way that went beyond physical tiredness. "For three years I told myself grief eventually fades, that time makes the loss easier to hold. And now I find out he was murdered, that he called my name while he was dying, and somehow that knowledge makes three years of grief feel like it wasn't even the right shape of grief at all. Like I
one night to steal my heart Chapter thirty four
Caspian POVDetective Vance called back just after nine, her voice carrying none of the cautious optimism from earlier, replaced instead by the flat, careful tone people use when they're about to deliver something they know will hurt."It's him," she said. "Confirmed. Julian Voss is in custody, and he's agreed to talk, provided his lawyer can negotiate reduced charges related to the financial crimes. He hasn't been charged with anything related to your father's death yet, but he's indicated he's willing to discuss it.""I want to be there.""I expected you would. I can allow you to observe from behind the glass, though you won't be permitted to speak directly with him during questioning." A pause. "Elowen too, if she wants to come. I understand this affects both of you now."Elowen didn't hesitate when I asked her, already reaching for her coat before I'd finished the sentence. "You're not doing this alone. Not this."The drive over was silent, both of us lost in our own bracing, and
one night to steal my heart Chapter thirty three
Elowen POVThe house felt different after Reyes's news, every window suddenly a possible vantage point, every unfamiliar car on the road beyond the gates a source of quiet, gnawing suspicion.Caspian spent most of the morning locked in calls with Detective Vance and Priscilla, coordinating a search that now spanned local police, federal authorities, and Reyes's own network of contacts, all of them chasing a man who had apparently known exactly when to disappear.I tried to keep Noah's routine as normal as possible, breakfast and morning cartoons and a promised trip to see Biscuit the pony, but even he seemed to sense the shift in the air, the way children often do without understanding why."Is something wrong?" he asked, poking at his cereal instead of eating it. "Everyone looks scared today."I knelt beside his chair, brushing his hair back from his forehead. "Grown up stuff, baby. Nothing you need to worry about.""You always say that."The observation landed with more weight than
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