All Chapters of RECKLESS DESIRES: THE ODEN LEGACY : Chapter 121 - Chapter 130

141 Chapters

Chapter One Hundred And Twenty-one

"I called the sheriff," Rita stated quietly, the words dropping between them like cannonballs. Her coat was tight about her shoulders, hands shivering slightly. "He's gone."Amiriam froze, spoon suspended in mid-air above the frothing pot. "Rita…""I didn't run," Rita clarified, entering the kitchen unsteadily. "I went for good and Luke helped."In the background, Luke nodded. He held a folder labeled Temporary Restraining Order. "He'll never harass you again."Tears welled up in Rita's eyes. "And if he does… press charges."Amiriam set down the spoon, now planted and lightheaded. She clasped Rita's hand. "You did the hard part."Rita enveloped her in a hug. "You're my sister. I'm not doing this alone anymore."That night, Luke labored late with Rita and Christiana. They filled out forms, found photographs of bruises illuminated by unseen shame, and drew out testimony starved of courage. Amiriam walked into the living room with James.He glared at her from the sofa. "Amiriam, is Aunt

Last Updated : 2025-08-10

Chapter One Hundred And Twenty-two

"She's gone," Christiana panted faintly, her voice trembling over the phone. "Lara… she committed suicide this morning."Amiriam's heart stopped beating. The steaming cup of tea in her hand slipped, crashing onto the tile kitchen floor. The echo was a scream in the following silence.What?" she gasped, unable to credit the words. "No, no, she was just—she messaged me last night. She was fine. She said she was fine."James looked up from his coloring book on the dining table. "Mimi?" he whispered.Amiriam turned her back, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "I—I'll call you back," she whispered to Christiana.She let the phone slip from her hand, shaking it as she grasped the counter for support. Luke entered from the hallway, phone in hand, scrunching up his face."I just heard," he murmured. "Victor just phoned. The hospital released it twenty minutes ago."Amiriam's head shook. "She was finally healing. She was even talking of learning photography once more. She was smiling,

Last Updated : 2025-08-10

Chapter One Hundred And Twenty-three

"She's gone," Victor snarled, in the middle of Luke's study, phone hanging loose at his side. "Stacy disappeared three hours before the warrant could be procured."Amiriam stood in the doorway, arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her jaw was set. "Of course she did. She always runs away before someone can force the truth from her.".Luke pushed the desk out of the way and paced in circles. James slept upstairs, the house finally quiet after a long, strained night. "Where did she go? Any trace? Cameras?"Victor shook his head. "Nothing. The last ping from her burner was by a highway gas station outside town. Then—silence. She's off the grid."Amiriam's chest tightened. "She knew.""She always does," Luke grunted. "She's two steps ahead. And now with Ethan again on the scene—""She fed him information," Amiriam interrupted, her voice low, slicing with anger. "Didn't she?"Victor nodded. "A confidential report from Bloom Initiative's internal server found its way into Ethan's legal team

Last Updated : 2025-08-10

Chapter One Hundred And Twenty-four

“You’re not eating again,” Luke said, narrowing his eyes at Richard as he pushed a full plate of grilled chicken and sweet potato mash across the café table. “That’s three times this week.”Richard smirked weakly, his skin paler under the midday sun. “Maybe I’m just watching my figure.”Luke leaned forward, his voice low but firm. “You’re losing weight, not watching it.”Amiriam beside Luke, James working in silence at the table's edge, gazed up from her tea. She studied Richard's angular cheekbones, the shadows under his eyes darkening, and the shake he attempted to hide.James paused in puzzlement, worrying. "Richard, are you sick?"Richard laughed too quickly. "No, buddy. Just tired."Luke's jaws hardened. Tired wasn't the right word. It hadn't been for weeks.The afternoon sun passed through the ivy trellis of the garden café. Everything was perfect-looking—untouched plates of food, lemon-scented air around them, birds singing somewhere over the hedge—but something was wrong.Amir

Last Updated : 2025-08-10

Chapter One Hundred And Twenty-five

"I'm going to write him a letter," James announced, standing in the doorway of the living room with a scowl on his face that made him look older than six.Amiriam looked up from the book she had been half-reading, half-skimming. "To Santa? It's August, baby."James shook his head. "No, not Santa. To Derek Langdon, the man whose name you always whisper."Luke hesitated in his step at the door, two mugs of hot chocolate in hand. One for James, one for Amiriam. His gaze darted between James and Amiriam and back."James," Amiriam said slowly, standing, "where did you ever hear that name?"James shrugged and got onto the couch. "Victor said it when he didn't know I was listening. He was talking to Miss Oden, and I just. I remembered it. That name silences your face."Luke exchanged a tense glance with Amiriam. She could already feel the pounding in her chest. Derek Langdon. A name she buried along with everything else in her past. A name with a beat. A name with blood on it."Why are you w

Last Updated : 2025-08-12

Chapter One Hundred And Twenty-six

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Amiriam said quietly, her hands folded tightly in her lap.Dr. Reiner didn’t blink. She sat across from her, legs crossed, pen untouched on her leather-bound notepad. “And yet, we’re here. Talking is part of healing.”Amiriam shifted her head. The therapist's office was warm today. Perhaps it was the sun pouring through the high windows, or perhaps it was the squeeze of something constraining on her chest that she couldn't articulate."I write," Amiriam replied after a pause. "I write everything I feel. That is enough.""It was," Dr. Reiner replied. "Until you stopped."Amiriam swallowed. Her journal was zipped into the bottom of her bag, untouched for weeks. Words, once her lifeline, had failed her. Not even letters to herself. Not even poems. Not even scraps on napkins."I'm just tired," she whispered.Dr. Reiner leaned forward slightly. "Tired isn't the same as speechless. And speechlessness isn't the same as numbness. You're not numb, Amiriam. You

Last Updated : 2025-08-12

Chapter One Hundred And Twenty-seven

."Don't want to hold her," Christiana breathed, eyes vacant, voice barely louder than the quiet hum of the hospital room.Amiriam remained frozen, her fingers still gripping the rim of the bassinet where Hope lay sleeping. The baby's respirations were soft, even, a miracle in progress after weeks of uncertainty. Hope was well enough now. But Christiana—Christiana was fading away."You don't mean that," Amiriam spoke slowly, turning to her sister. "She's your daughter.""I know," Christiana growled, her gaze on the wall.The air thickened between them. Outside, a light drizzle covered the glass, grey sky blurring far above the hospital wing. Hope quivered, a slight whimper on her lips, but Christiana didn't move.Amiriam went to her sister's bedside and sat beside her. Christiana's body appeared smaller than she remembered, skin pale, eyes sunken. Her vibrant life was gone, and a new version of her sister stood before her, familiar but alien."She needs you," Amiriam told her, holding

Last Updated : 2025-08-12

Chapter One Hundred And Twenty-eight

“You’re doing it again,” Christiana said, voice soft but firm as she looked at the man on one knee before her. “Zack… please stand up.”The late afternoon sun went golden over the Oden family's backyard, where there was music quietly playing and fairy lights flickering along the hedges. It was not that Hollywood-style big proposal. No violins playing. No crowd of clapping people. Only the two of them, with too many memories bearing down between them.Zack stood up slowly, the engagement ring box still open in his hand. His smile was gentle, but behind his eyes was something else—hope, with a touch of worry."I wasn't trying to rush you," he said. "I just thought… this time, perhaps it would be appropriate."Christiana's face turned away, and she folded her arms tightly over her chest. She could feel the burden in her ribs—guilt, confusion, the ache of a still-rebuilding heart."I don't want to say no," she whispered. "I just… can't say yes. Not yet. I need to know I'm okay first. I ne

Last Updated : 2025-08-13

Chapter One Hundred And Twenty-nine

"You shouldn't be here," Richard said softly, standing in the doorframe of the old lakehouse.Luke did not glance up. He stood at the small wooden desk, the one where Amiriam would write on the rare days they came here. The journal lay open in his hands—her writing unmistakable, the ink faded but still raw with feeling. The last page was undated, but he knew it was written when she departed without speaking.I have to be here," Luke finally spoke, his voice gravelly. "I never read this. I couldn't."Richard came in slowly, nervous as if stepping into the aftermath of a hurricane. "That's because you weren't ready."Luke's gaze stayed on the page.I love him. God, I wish I didn't. I wish I could cut it out of my chest and into the lake and pretend it never existed. But I do. I love Luke Oden. I love him when he shatters me. I loved him especially then. But I can't let him break me anymore. I have to piece back together the parts of me that still breathe for themselves.Richard took a l

Last Updated : 2025-08-13

Chapter One Hundred And Thirty

"I never stopped choosing you. Even when I left."Amiriam froze.Luke's voice trembled—not with weakness, but with something profound. Something that came from a place lower than pride and fear. He was on his knees—not with a ring, not with the plan of proposing once more—but with a truth he had been carrying like a second heartbeat."I never stopped choosing you," he reiterated, this time softer, eyes locked on hers, voice raw. "Even when I walked away."The garden was quiet.Too quiet.Even the wind was holding its breath.Amiriam looked down at him—this man who had shattered and rebuilt her in a moment. Her throat closed."I didn't ask you to choose me," she whispered. "I asked you to stay."Luke closed his eyes hard for a moment. "And I didn't think I was enough. I thought I'd destroy you like I destroy everything good. Like my mother. Like—""Stop," she interrupted hard, her breathing too hard, her ribcage rising and falling. "You don't get to re-create the past just because you

Last Updated : 2025-08-13

...

10 11 12 13 14 15

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP