All Chapters of Behind Him: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

“Where is he?” Louelita’s voice trembled slightly as she stepped inside the orphanage. Her heart pounded against her chest, a mix of excitement, fear, and longing flooding through her veins.Sister Faith’s warm eyes softened as she looked at the young woman in front of her. “He’s in his room, just as always. He barely speaks. He doesn't even play with the other children.”Louelita’s grip on Ezra’s hand tightened.She already knew. Ezra had told her everything.Her little brother—the only family she had left—had shut himself away from the world. He was only two years old, yet already broken in ways that no child should ever be and their parents did this just like what she experienced before. Her heart clenched painfully.“He’ll be okay,” Ezra murmured beside her, his voice firm and reassuring. “You’re here now.”Louelita turned to him, searching his piercing blue eyes for strength. As always, she found it there. Unwavering. Solid. She nodded.Then she took a deep breath, trying to ste

“Ezra… What have I done?” Louelita’s voice was hoarse from crying, her throat raw from the sobs she had been holding in for hours. Her hands trembled as she clutched Ezra’s arm, her nails digging into his skin as though anchoring herself to him would stop the world from crashing down around her.Ezra, unfazed by the panic in her voice, simply cupped her face with both hands, his thumbs gently wiping the tears that streamed down her cheeks. His sharp blue eyes, usually cold and calculating, softened as he looked at her.“You did what was right, Vita Mia.” His voice was steady, full of certainty. “And now, it’s my turn to take care of everything.”Louelita shook her head, fresh tears spilling onto his fingers. “But… but Ezra, you don’t understand! I didn’t just expose corrupt politicians in the Philippines—I handed over files that could bring down entire governments! Illegal arms trades, human trafficking routes, drug syndicates… I connected the dots, and now those bastards know I’m the

As Ezra entered the room after sending orders to his men, his bulk crossed over the threshold, and in one moment, Louelita was in Ezra’s enormous arms; he wrapped her up easily and tightly. The wedding just ended, but their honeymoon wasn’t.“Is everything okay now?” Louelita whispered, but Ezra didn’t answer; instead, her mouth was sealed by Ezra’s. His mouth was hot, and she had to taste him, the tip of her tongue dancing along the ridge of his bottom lip. Louelita kissed Ezra back. Their hands never stopped touching the other’s skin and their lips never parted until they found themselves at the foot of their large king-size bed.“Fuck, I have some catching up to do,” Ezra muttered, looking straight into Louelita’s eyes.He let her go to undress, and she sat, still in the towel, demurely, as if she wasn’t about to be naked with her husband. His shirt came off, his arms were as thick as she always saw, his chest as wide as it looked, and the curves of every muscle in his six-pack

Five years passed. The first rule of peace was simple. It never lasted. Louelita learned that on a quiet morning when the mansion smelled like warm bread and brewed coffee, when sunlight spilled through the glass walls as if it belonged there, when laughter—real laughter—was finally allowed to exist inside a home that used to speak only in guns and blood. Eiji had been racing his toy car across the marble floor, making the engine sound loud enough to annoy every guard within a kilometer. “Vroom! Vroooom! Louie, look! It’s faster than yours!” Louie didn’t even glance up from the book on his lap. He simply turned a page with the patience of someone who’d learned early that reacting only fueled Eiji’s chaos. “It’s not faster,” Louie said without looking. “You’re just louder.” Eiji gasped dramatically, as if insulted in the deepest part of his soul. “Mama! Louie is hurting me with words!” Louelita tried not to smile as she arranged the flowers on the table. Tried—and failed. Ezra

The first thing Ezra did was shut the mansion down from the inside—not locks, not alarms but people. By morning, half of the household staff was gone. They were dismissed politely, paid generously, and escorted out without explanation, no accusations, no raised voices, just quiet removal. The remaining staff were the ones Ezra trusted, not because of loyalty—but because of history. Men and women who had bled for the Velleoti name. Who had lost people and stayed anyway. Louelita watched it all from the upper hallway, arms folded tightly across her chest as she listened to footsteps echo below. The house felt smaller, not safer. Ezra joined her minutes later, his presence immediate, grounding, and dangerous. “You’re thinking again,” he said. Louelita didn’t look at him. “I never stopped.” Ezra leaned against the wall beside her. “You should eat.” She exhaled sharply. “I will later.” Ezra’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he followed her gaze—down toward the childre