Lahat ng Kabanata ng Masked Desires: Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 60

The rain had slowed, falling now in a soft drizzle that clung to Minnie’s hair and soaked through her clothes as she trudged through the undergrowth. Her shoes were caked in mud, and her legs ached from the frantic drive and the alcohol still muddling her blood. But she kept moving—because she had no other choice.She had veered her car off a forest maintenance road over half an hour ago and hadn’t dared return to it. The men—Amanda’s men—had followed her. They were watching. Waiting. Maybe even circling around.Now she was alone in the woods, without signal, without direction, trying to find the main road again before they did.Her breath misted in the cold night air, her coat plastered to her skin. Every snapped twig underfoot made her jump. Her throat burned with exhaustion, and the fog in her head refused to clear. But she pushed forward.Until she heard them.Voices.Rough. Male.Coming from the direction she had just left.She ducked instinctively behind a tree, heart pounding i

The storm hadn’t let up.Rain battered the windshield of the dark sedan as it idled near a lone gas station on the outskirts of the forest road. The flickering fluorescent lights overhead did little to break the gloom of the storm, casting the entire area in a sickly blue hue. Lightning streaked across the sky, followed closely by the rumble of thunder.Inside the car, Minnie’s wrists throbbed where the rough ropes had cut into her skin. Her lips were split and swollen from the earlier scuffle, and every inch of her body ached from being tossed around. Her dress was soaked, clinging to her like a second skin, and her hair was plastered to her cheeks.But none of that mattered.Because they’d made a mistake.The two thugs—brutish, unshaven men reeking of cheap cigarettes and violence—had stepped out to grab cigarettes and drinks from the gas station convenience store. They had assumed she was too tightly bound, too beaten, and too broken to do anything.They were wrong.Minnie’s eyes d

Amanda’s heels clicked sharply against the marble floor of the Hunter estate. Her lips were painted a venomous red, hair twisted into a perfect updo as if chaos hadn’t touched her doorstep. But it had—and Hunter knew it.“I’m done, Amanda,” he snapped, flinging open the French doors to the study. “This is not what I signed up for.”Amanda followed, arms crossed, expression bored. “You say that every time I do something necessary.”“Necessary?” Hunter barked. “You blackmailed my brother’s wife. You released confidential information to the press. You’ve turned this entire family into a circus!”“Oh, spare me the morality act,” she said, smoothing a nonexistent wrinkle on her blouse. “You were more than happy to sit back and enjoy the chaos when it meant Ethan lost everything. Don’t pretend you grew a conscience overnight.”“I was angry at him. Not her.”Amanda’s eyes narrowed. “You’re growing soft. What happened to the man who said we’d burn them both to the ground?”“I found my soul,”

Detective Rana wiped the fog off the window with a sleeve and let out a breath that misted again almost immediately. The storm outside was relentless, a wrathful sky unleashed. The rain hadn’t stopped for over thirty hours, and with the forest roads blocked by fallen trees and landslides, there was little they could do from the station.Until now.He turned back to the screen where grainy footage from a highway gas station played on loop. The video was timestamped a day and a half ago—barely visible through the static interference from the storm—but enough to make the room go silent.“There,” said Officer Jain, pointing. “Pause that. Enhance.”Rana squinted at the frozen frame. A black SUV parked at the far edge of the gas station lot. The rain obscured the finer details, but headlights briefly illuminated a blur of movement in the back seat.“Rewind ten seconds,” Rana ordered. “Play it again, slower.”Jain complied.The SUV came into view again, pulling up in a rush. One of the back

he storm had changed. What began as relentless rain had twisted into something colder, more dangerous. Thick, wet snowflakes now battered the windows of the Lockwood estate, hissing against the glass like whispers of dread. The landscape outside was quickly vanishing under layers of white, the trees bending under the weight of snow and ice. Roads were blocked. Communication lines crackled and failed. And inside the once-grand mansion, tension festered.“She’s been missing for almost three days now,” Cassie said, her voice raw from panic and sleeplessness. “And now the police are just… backing off?”Ellie clutched her phone tighter. Her eyes were puffy from crying, and her usually cheery face was pale. “They said the snowstorm is worse than anything we’ve seen in years. Landslides in the lower forest area. Collapsed roads. They’re focusing on rescuing trapped families first. They said they’ll continue the investigation once conditions improve.”Cassie slammed her fist onto the edge of