Semua Bab THE REMARRIED HEIRESS : Bab 171 - Bab 180

CATALINAA tall, silent silhouette leaning against the black sedan parked just past the edge of the building's shadow with his arms crossed and an unreadable expression. My stride faltered for a moment before I gathered myself and walked toward him without a word. Just the echo of my heels slicing through the silence between us.He then opened the passenger door in silence. I slipped in without meeting his eyes. The door closed, the engine started, and the world outside slid away behind tinted glass. Inside, the air was sharp with scent, leather, pine, and the tension of everything we hadn’t said.He didn’t look at me. Hands on the wheel and eyes forward as if I were a ghost beside him, as if we weren’t unraveling together in the same storm.I glanced at him… at the man I love.His hair was mussed just slightly, like he’d run his fingers through it too many times. His jaw clenched so tight it looked like it hurt. The city lights danced on the windshield, casting flickers of gold acro

CATALINAThe wind is gentler up here. The city lights blink below like tired eyes, oblivious to the storm unraveling behind mine. I lean on the cold concrete ledge of the rooftop and press a hand to my stomach, the small swell beneath my coat reminding me that there’s a life inside me that’s depending on me not to fall apart.I need air. I need to breathe. I need the strength to fight this without backing out.The company's chaos, the Chimera project, the involvement of his people and my people, and James… I know it was he who sent those two messages.He's giving me a warning.They said the incident might have been an accident, but I know better. It was not an accident. And I knew exactly who had the motive.James. That parasite won't die. He thought I’d never have the nerve. But I did. And yet, tonight, the silence feels heavier than his threats ever did.I look up at the stars, soft and untouchable. My free hand clenched into the fabric of my coat.I have to be stronger than this

CATALINAI hadn’t expected him to be here, leaning against the faded white wall of his study room like a shadow that never learned how to disappear. His stare was too sharp at night, but his smile was even sharper. He hadn't changed. Just evolved into something slicker and uglier.I took a sharp breath as I stood up and crossed my arms over my chest, hands curled into fists. The air around me was so heavy with the weight of months I couldn’t reclaim.“I heard there's a trespasser,” he said, like we were old friends passing through memory lane. “Thought I’d drop by.”“You heard wrong,” I replied, every syllable laced with frost. “This place is sacred. You don’t belong here.”He stepped forward, not close enough to touch, just close enough to poison the silence.“Funny,” he said. “I thought maybe we could talk for one last time… clear the air.”“Clear the air?” My voice cracked like glass. “You want to clear the air after what you did?” He barely flinched, but it was enough.“You didn’

CATALINA“Drop whatever plan you had,” I continued. “Because if it ends here, it ends with your last mistake.”James stared at me, his fury faltering into disbelief. Maybe he expected tears. Maybe he expected fear. But instead, he saw a woman who’d already survived him once.Seeing his glare on me, I think he regretted not checking my body for any dangerous things that I might use on him.Slowly, he stepped back. I expected him to run, and when he did, I pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed throughout the whole house, breaking the silence.I crept down the hallway, breath ragged but focused with the cool weight of the revolver solid in my grip. Every creak of the floorboard beneath my shoes could be the sound that gives me away or the sound that brings justice closer. Justice for everything he had done to me and our baby, the little flutter of life that had barely begun.I didn’t come here to beg or plead. I came because he left me no choice.A shadow flickered near the doorway to

DANTEThe world returned to me slowly. I heard murmurs around me while I carefully opened my eyes. The lights blinded me through the window, causing me to shut my eyes again.My body felt like a distant shore I hadn’t touched in ages. I couldn’t move, but I knew I wasn’t dreaming anymore.I opened my eyes again and her face came into focus. She was blurry at first, like a watercolor soaked in tears. But the moment sharpened, and I saw her sitting at my side with her fingers tangled in mine. My Lina.Her eyes were swollen and tired, but still impossibly beautiful. There was a tremble in her smile, like she couldn’t believe I was real.I wanted to speak, but all I could do was blink. She gasped and covered her mouth as tears slipped down her cheeks.“You’re here,” she whispered. I felt her squeeze my hand, and I tried to squeeze back.The machines beeped quietly behind me, and nurses stirred in the hallway. But all I could hear was her voice, all I could feel was her warmth. And for t