Lahat ng Kabanata ng Under The Mask Of My Enemy: Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 80

Chapter 73: The Breaking PointThorne's POVThe villa felt cold, colder than usual, as I was led down the stairs by Gavin. My legs were still weak, trembling slightly beneath me with every step. It had been days—maybe even weeks—since I'd been allowed to leave the small room where they'd confined me, and though the shackles were gone, I felt them still. The cold, oppressive feeling of being trapped. Memories of Garrett binding me in that room, with the injections of those accursed muscle relaxants, came surging back upon me like an oncoming tide to drown me. There is no amount of time that could ever erase it.Gavin's grip upon my arm was firm, as though he might imagine me to fall or lose my balance, but it was more than that-a physical restraint. He watched me-eyes darting from one corner of the hall to the other, his whole posture tense. I didn't blame him; it wasn't just the house that felt unsafe-it was everything. The thick air, laden with tension, seemed to close in on me as we

Chapter 74: A Desperate PleaThorne's POVThe air hung heavy with foreboding as the distinct sounds of guns being cocked sliced through the area, like the ominous drumbeats of fate. My breathing hitched at the view which was shoved down my throat: Garrett in the middle of the room, his face in the stark illumination of flashlights, hands halfway up in surrender. Fully armed FBI agents surrounded him, their weapons still trained on him, fingers resting precariously close to the triggers. The sight made my stomach churn.It all had happened in such a rush: one minute, we were at that stalemate of wills, my knife pressed to him, my anger aboil; the next, the door burst open and the agents swarmed in, suffocating. The world had tilted on its axis, and suddenly Garrett wasn't my captor anymore; he was a man cornered, his life hanging in the balance.I didn't know what to do. My muscles tensed, my mind racing to process this. I had wanted freedom. I had wanted escape. But I had never wanted

Chapter Seventy Six Thorne’s Pov The car careened down the curving road, the burning villa shrinking in the distance. Flames engulfed the building, crackling and roaring, their glow staining the night sky. Smoke billowed, thick and suffocating, carried away by the wind as the villa disappeared from sight. But my mind wasn’t focused on the destruction of the building. It was that had my attention—Garrett standing in the fire. For one second, through the smoke and far away shine of flames, I saw him. But I couldn't look away. The fire wasn't just in front of me—it was inside me, burning through my mind, dragging me backward. Then I remember. The dock, the shots, the smoke, the blood. Lisa's voice cutting out first, her strangled gasp over the comms, followed by Marcos and then Eric until one by one, their signals fell to a dead silence. The sound of chaos, my heart pounding, the smell of gunpowder mixed with salt from the ocean. My hands were slick-sweat or blood, I couldn't say

Chapter 78: Garrett's POVI was confined within Cullen Manor, a prisoner on Donovan's orders. Guards stood at every exit, their eyes upon me every second in passing, to make sure I didn't get away. Suffocating, knowing each second that passed I was under someone else's watchful eye, captive, not free.Last night, desperation had driven me to try an escape. In the darkness of the night, I had reached the main door silently, but two guards were there to stop me. "Going somewhere, Garrett?" one sneered as they dragged me back to my room, his grip on my arm tightening. The memory of that failed attempt still seared in my mind.Now, pacing the confines of my room, my thoughts consumed Thorne. The FBI had taken him, and the image of him in their custody gnawed at me. I had to find a way to reach him, to bring him back. Not knowing what was happening to him was more than I could stand.The door creaked open, and Dexter came in, his face a mask of concern and frustration. I seized the moment:

Chapter 80: Garrett's POVThe night was still, but my mind wasn't.I stood hidden in the dark stairwell, my body pressed to the cold concrete wall as I watched the guard standing outside Thorne's hospital room. Every fiber of my being screamed at me to act, to storm in there and take him away, but I couldn't. Not yet.The guard consulted his watch again, shifting in his feet. Then, with a few painful moments, he let out a sigh and took off down the hall, disappeared around the bend.Finally.This was it.I quickened my steps, my heart pounding as my silent footsteps stopped at the door. I carefully twisted the cold knob, and with a practiced push, nudged the door open just far enough to slide inside.The room was dark, the only sound that of machinery humming in the air. There was incessant beeping of a heart monitor, but nothing could have prepared me for the sight in front of me.Thorne lay still on the bed.The breath got caught in my throat.He lay unconscious, a respirator coveri