All Chapters of THE TIES THAT BINDS US.: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Matthew stepped out into the crisp night air, dragging in a breath so deep it felt like he might swallow the whole sky. The cold bit into his lungs, sharp and unforgiving, but he welcomed it. Let it burn. Let it strip away the fog clouding his thoughts. The chaos in his head had been building all day, clawing at him, whispering doubts he couldn’t silence. Work. Family. Life. All of it pressing in from every direction.The street stretched ahead, dimly lit and mostly deserted. A few windows flickered with life, pale rectangles of gold behind drawn curtains. Somewhere in the distance, a siren wailed and faded. The hum of traffic barely reached his ears. He walked slowly, like each step might bring clarity, his footsteps echoing off the wet pavement. His hands were jammed deep into the pockets of his jacket, shoulders drawn up against the wind, but it wasn’t the chill that made him shiver—it was the storm in his head.He wandered without direction, letting the city guide him. Past shutte

Author's POV Adrain couldn’t find peace—not even for a second. Sleep was a stranger now, and the silence of night had turned into a cruel tormentor. He paced like a man possessed, the soles of his shoes whispering across the hardwood floor, back and forth, again and again, as if movement alone could outrun the anguish tightening his chest. But the weight wouldn’t budge. It sat there—dense, cold, relentless. How could he rest when the only person who had ever made him feel whole—Matthew—was gone? Not dead. Not confirmed. Just... vanished. Like smoke into the wind.And that, somehow, was worse.The walls of the dimly lit study pressed inward, more prison than sanctuary. Shadows trembled in the corners, cast by the flickering light of the fireplace. The grandfather clock ticked on with cruel indifference, each second a taunt, each minute a deepening cut. Adrain’s heart beat louder than the ticking—no rhythm, just a war drum of dread, rage, and an aching kind of helplessness.He yanked o

INTERROGATION ROOM – NIGHTAdrian stood over Derrick’s ruined body, chest heaving, the flickering ceiling light stuttering above like a dying star. It cast jagged, twitching shadows across the blood-slicked walls, distorting the carnage into grotesque, shifting silhouettes. His gloved hands dripped thick, dark blood—sluggish and viscous, clinging to his skin like guiltless ink. Sweat streamed down his temples, trailing along his neck, glistening over the heat-flushed line of his throat. The blowtorch hissed on the floor beside him, still hot, still hungry, its flame barely extinguished.The stench in the room was unbearable. Charred flesh. Burned hair. Ripped intestines. Urine. Terror. It all curdled into the air like poison, soaking into the concrete walls and the back of Adrian’s throat. He didn’t gag. He didn’t flinch. He stood still—silent and still—like a monument to vengeance.Derrick no longer moved. His jaw hung crooked, broken open in a scream that had died long ago, the soun

Outside the Hospital – Adrian’s RestraintAdrian stood alone beneath the buzzing glow of a flickering street lamp, its yellow light casting long shadows over the hospital parking lot. Leaning against the driver’s side of his car, he crossed his arms over his chest, his posture rigid. The cool metal pressed into his back, but he barely felt it. His fists—bruised and swollen from the fight with Noah—remained balled tight at his sides, hidden beneath the folds of his coat.But it wasn’t his hands that hurt the most.It was a shame. The fury still thrumming through his veins, coiled like a viper behind his ribs, begging for release. His jaw clenched as he stared across the lot toward the glowing entrance of the hospital. The doors slid open and shut for strangers who didn’t matter. Who didn’t bleed for the boy inside.He could break the rules. Again. Storm through those doors and make someone talk. Bribe the front desk. Threaten a nurse. Drag a doctor by the collar until someone gave him

Noah wasn’t expecting a knock.Not at this hour. Not when the world outside had already sunk into stillness, swallowed whole by the hush of midnight. The city’s pulse had dulled, the streets mute, even the wind unwilling to stir. Inside, the quiet was heavier—suffocating. A silence that pressed against his ears, loud with everything he didn’t want to hear. The room around him held the aftermath of a day gone wrong. Ashtrays full. Whiskey sharp in the air. Regret soaking into the walls like cigarette smoke.He barely twitched when the first knock came.But the second hit harder.The sharper, louder—like it had teeth. A rhythm too precise to be random. Not a drunk neighbor. Not someone lost. It had intent. It had weight. Like whoever was on the other side already knew they wouldn’t be turned away.Noah exhaled through clenched teeth, dragged his body upright with the sluggish resistance of someone too used to feeling heavy. His temples throbbed, a dull beat behind his eyes. His muscles