บททั้งหมดของ Hate Me, Desire Me: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

CHAPTER 30: Ghosts

SOLA'S POINT OF VIEWThe flight home was sterile, thick with false calm. Every vibration of the engine felt exaggerated, like the plane itself was trying to whisper something to me. The air smelled of recycled nerves and cabin pressure, but it was the quiet that unnerved me most. There were no crying babies, no loud businessmenbusinessmen, just silence and the low hum of something I couldn't name. I stared out the window as clouds broke around us, feeling the gravity of everything I had left behind.Shanghai shimmered below in its smog-laced glory, the city slipping away like a half-remembered lie. Eli's face flashed behind my eyes, that smirk, that stare, that f**king cryptic way of speaking like he knew exactly what would happen next. His words clung to me, wrapping around my ribs and sinking in deep. We hadn't touched, not really, but I felt the echo of him in my bones. I hated how much I remembered.The tea beside me had long gone cold. I hadn't taken a sip, hadn't moved beyond th

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Chapter 31: The Fashion Show

TIARA MCKENZIE'S (SOLA FRITZ'S) POINT OF VIEWThe wheels kissed the tarmac like they knew not to test me. Paris sparkled ahead, all runway lights and velvet pretense. I didn't exhale until the jet settled. Beneath that skyline, glittering like a lie, I already felt the pull. Not romance. Not nostalgia. Just war.I stepped out wrapped in a trench that made statements without needing subtitles. The cameras clicked so fast the air itself stuttered. Paparazzi screamed my name like I owed them blood. I didn't glance back. Let them play catch-up with silence.Security parted the chaos, and I walked like I owned every damn tile beneath me. The terminal reeked of airport perfume and ambition. Somewhere behind me, someone whispered, "That's her." No fucking kidding. The city had been waiting.I caught a glimpse of myself in the polished glass wall before stepping into the car. Eyes guarded. Jaw locked. I looked every inch like the threat I'd spent years becoming. My phone pinged in my clutch.

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Chapter 32: Act On It

SOLA FRITZ'S (TIARA MCKENZIES') POINT OF VIEWI gave Paris two more days. Two days of business meetings, photo ops, and staring contests with people who smiled too much. I played Sola flawlessly in every nod, every signature, every red-carpet wave. But inside, I was unraveling. The applause didn’t drown out the truth anymore.There was only one board meeting scheduled before my flight. I thought I could breeze through it like the others. Until he showed up. Elijah walked in like he owned the room, tailored, calm, and irritatingly silent. He didn’t need to speak to shake me.He sat at the far end, flipping through reports like they were bedtime stories. His gaze found me every time I looked up. Unblinking. Steady. That smug twitch of a smile on his lips made my hands itch.I fumbled only once, and he caught it. My voice hitched when I said "profit margins," and I saw his brows rise like he wanted to laugh. He didn’t. He just watched me spiral for one breath longer than I could afford.

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Chapter 33: He Knows

SOLA FRITZ'S (TIARA MCKENZIES') POINT OF VIEWThe next day, I was on the move again. Same plan, different route. This time, I wore something louder. A silk trench coat and tinted glasses, all designed to keep their eyes on me. If I were going to bait them, I might as well make it interesting.They followed me like moths to a flame. The lean one from yesterday reappeared near the bus terminal. He was still in sunglasses, still too stiff. I paused at a coffee stand, ordered something I didn't even want, and waited for the right window.As I turned away, I "accidentally" bumped into him."Sorry," I said with a tight smile, slipping the tracker onto the strap of his bag.He barely grunted in response.I walked away without looking back. My pulse pounded in my ears, but I didn't break pace. Within two blocks, I ducked into an alley and took a deep breath."Tracker's on," I said into the comm."Signal received," Cameron's voice replied. "We're good."I returned to the warehouse after anothe

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CHAPTER 34: THE FINAL MISSION

TIARA MCKENZIES' POINT OF VIEWThe stillness after Elijah's warning crept in like a slow poison, subtle but suffocating. It wrapped around the air inside the warehouse, heavy and unmoving. There was no relief in the silence, only tension pretending to rest.I stood near the warehouse window, watching the alley behind the rusted gate. The outside world looked calm, but it always did before something snapped. My reflection in the glass showed me someone I no longer recognized.Gone was the reckless girl who used to take orders without asking questions. In her place stood a woman who had buried too many friends and burned too many lies. Her eyes were tired but dangerous.Cameron moved silently across the room, checking weapons with the kind of care soldiers only showed when they expected a storm. Vera sat hunched over the laptop, the green glow from her screen reflecting off her cheekbones. Every click of her keyboard sounded like a countdown.I knew they were waiting for me to say somet

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Chapter 35: Master

TIARA MCKENZIES' POINT OF VIEW We moved fast. The streets of Laguna were still damp from the late rain, the mist rising like smoke from the pavement. The lights from far-off sari-sari stores flickered in the corners of my vision. We didn't have time to dwell. Not when danger was a whisper away. Inside the safehouse, Cameron and I packed the last of the essentials. No electronics, no comms. Just bags of physical notes, burner IDs, and the weapons we couldn't live without. This house had given us cover, but it had served its purpose. Cameron moved like he was running on pure muscle memory. "Everything we can't carry, we destroy," he muttered, wrapping a detonator cord around a rolled-up floor mat. It wasn't paranoia anymore. It was insurance. I tore down the maps pinned to the inner wall. Each one marked the fallback zones. Each one felt like a lie now. I ripped them clean and shoved them into a duffel bag. No trail. No pattern. My fingers found a small crumpled drawing tucked in t

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Chapter 36: Amidst The War

TIARA MCKENZIE'S POINT OF VIEWThe moment the second squad burst from the armored truck, I knew this wasn't a tactical hit anymore. This was execution. They weren't here to warn or threaten. They came to wipe us out. Their formations were tight, fast, and aggressive, like wolves released after days of starvation.I dove behind the base of a steel beam, bullets rattling off the column inches from my head. Cameron rolled beside me, wincing as fresh blood trailed from a wound on his thigh. His eyes met mine, grim and focused. We didn't need to speak. The plan was survival, and survival only.Vera's voice crackled in my earpiece, strained but composed. "I'm stuck near the east flank. They've got the high ground and roofline. I count at least seven shooters."I peeked through the smoke curling around us, my mind racing through every floorplan I remembered. This warehouse wasn't defensible. Too many blind spots. Too many exits for them, and none for us. We needed to move. We needed to regro

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Chapter 37: The Hunt Is Over

TIARA MCKENZIES' POINT OF VIEWThe darkness in the storm tunnel pressed down like a second skin, damp and unrelenting. The narrow shaft beneath the garage stank of rust, stagnant water, and mildew, but it was our only path to freedom. Each step we took echoed too loudly in the confined space, boots sloshing through ankle-deep filth that clung to our legs like a curse. I kept one hand on the wall for balance, the other gripping my weapon tightly as my eyes strained to adjust to the faint glow of the flashlight Vera held ahead of us. It wasn't the first time I had crawled through places like this, but something about tonight felt final, like every breath we took down here might be our last before rebirth or ruin.Behind me, Cameron cursed softly as he stumbled over a loose pipe. His limp had worsened since the firefight, and though he tried to hide it, I could hear his breaths coming heavier, more uneven. He was stubborn, but even steel had a melting point. Vera pressed forward ahead of

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Chapter 38: We're Going Home

TIARA MCKENZIES' POINT OF VIEWThe television played on low volume, casting cold blue light across the suite walls. I sat still on the edge of the bed, the tips of my fingers curled around the hem of my shorts. I wasn't blinking as much as I should. My eyes had locked onto the image of a burning van displayed on screen. Thick smoke spilled into the air as emergency lights flickered through it, and charred wreckage littered the ground. That was the lie we had created, fed to the public like a headline meant to die within the week. The anchor's voice was calm and practiced, the way all anchors are when death is routine for them. "Four alleged criminals found dead after a fiery explosion in Cabuyao, Laguna," he said. "Though the bodies were burned beyond recognition, authorities suggest the individuals were related to the

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Chapter 39: I'm Sorry

TIARA MCKENZIES' POINT OF VIEW"Sorry."The word slipped from Elijah's mouth like smoke, soft and low, but it burned straight through me. I didn't know how one syllable could unravel me like that, but it did. It caught me off guard, pierced a place I didn't even know was still vulnerable. And in that moment, everything in me started to fall apart.It wasn't just an apology. It was a wound reopening after years of pretending it had healed. It was the crack in a dam I'd reinforced with silence. And now, nothing could stop the flood.I froze where I stood, staring at the night sky beyond the balcony. I didn't trust myself to look at him, not yet. If I did, I might drown in whatever was written on his face. And I wasn't

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