All Chapters of Claiming The Archduchess: Chapter 121 - Chapter 130

Chapter 121RAYANA POVI remained frozen in Lorenzo’s hold as everything else unfolded in front of me. At that point, I surely had forgotten the simple act of breathing as Nikolai’s body crumbled in front of his father. He stood there, like an angel of death carrying out a deadly assignment, as though he had not just watched his only offspring take his life in front of him. I guess loyalty ran deeper than blood. The only way to pay for betraying none but the Pakhan himself was through death. I felt a tremor rattling Lorenzo behind me, his hold growing lax and his panting breath washing all over my back. I was still in a cold stupor, my mouth hanging open. Of all things that happened, nothing would have prepared me for what had just happened. “Now it’s your turn.” Vladimir’s voice came out harsher than the cold wind in winter; his eyes a smoldering black of oblivion that could swallow anything living, and in front of him. He skipped over Nikolai’s dead body before skating forward, t

Chapter 123ALEJANDRO POVThe sun was almost starting to set when we finally arrived home. Home. Even saying it out loud felt foreign. It hadn’t even been a week since the last time I was here, but it felt like the whole place was all new to me. It was almost six in the evening. I expected to find the place empty, cold, with nobody else to return to; especially when I had a sick wife to attend to. That’s how weird it all was.What I did not expect to find was men and women, all gathered around the fountain roundabout that led to the house and the underground garage. They all wore solemn expressions, pained expressions of great longing and something else. Something that looked like a mixture of crippling rage and relief, oil and water. Some even had guns and were ready to go to immediate war if need be.The cars pulled to a halt in front of the stairs that led to the house, and I exited first. Some sobs filled the space, some murmurs breaking out. Teary eyes looked at me like I had j

Chapter 125 RAYANA POVWarmth pulsed beneath my skin like a steady heartbeat; but the pain still simmered- dull, deep, but just… there like a warning. My mind kept playing one broken ‘what the fuck is going on’ reel over and over again. Just when I thought it would stop, it started yet again. Every passing second felt like pure torture of unsaid words and broken promises as I laid cradled in Alejandro’s arms on a hospital bed. His heartbeat was a steady thump against my ear, his breathing low, calculated. Silence? It was fucking deafening, broken only by the sound of the machine beeping on the side of the bed; a dull reminder that I was infact; alive. I massaged his chest, pressing my finger right where his heart thumped with a steady beat. A heavy sigh escaped me, unable to continue any further down the rabbit hole. “Lorenzo told me things,” I whispered. His hand that was on my back, froze for a second before it resumed its path across my spine. I waited for him to ask me what

Chapter 127VLADIMIR POVRayana fought tooth and nail to stay awake. I watched from the hospital couch where I was sitting as she shook her head, pinched herself, and moved her bad arm just so she could stay awake, but it was all futile. The rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor might as well have been a lullaby. After a few heartbeats, her eyes drooped, and she went down with a tired sigh. I smiled to myself as she finally gave up, her head tilted to the side. I stood up and walked to the bed, then pulled the comforter until her whole chest was covered. I stood there for a few minutes just watching her breathe. Her innocent face; it was clear she wasn’t wired for this life, but everything that had happened forced her to be strong, to fight, and to conquer. Pride blossomed in my chest, and I shook my head at the hysteria because, at the end of the day, the fact remained that we were practically strangers. But calling her my little girl felt religiously right in all shapes and for

Chapter 129RAYANA POVI stood in the hospital bathroom glued in one spot as I stared back at the stranger in the reflection of the mirror. Her eyes were distant, cold, like she had lived all three lifetimes, seen all kinds of evil and yet she stood still, unwavering. Unyielding. Fading bruises marred her perfect face, her cheeks hollowed and her frame slightly lean. She was fragile, but I knew better than to mistake her fragility for weakness. The look in her eyes was that of a phoenix after rising from the ashes for the hundredth time. She looked like a ghost of her former self, yes, but she was stronger than a thousand armies combined. A loud sigh escaped my lips before I finally looked away from the mirror and walked to the sink. With my good hand, I opened the faucet before watching the water run, then cupped my hand to scoop some. I drank three cupfuls before closing the tap, then stared at my reflection once again. The sound of the phone vibrating against the marble counte