Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Chosen Bride: Kabanata 51

AristideI’d been awake since before dawn. The sky was still streaked with purple and ash blue when I left our room and headed down the long corridor toward the war room. The old floorboards creaked beneath my steps, but the rest of the estate was already humming with low activity. There wasn’t time for sleep anymore. Not when we were this close to locking the board.Inside the converted war room, Elena was stationed in front of a triple-monitor setup, fingers dancing across her keyboard. Enzo was pacing with a mug of coffee in hand, murmuring into a burner phone. Marco sat on the edge of a leather chair, field-stripping his pistol like it might offer him clarity. Not that he needed it cleaned, it was already spotless. But fidgeting gave him control.Bella had gotten up a little while after I did, still in her robe, hair unbrushed. She murmured something about helping Mabel and headed downstairs. Not for strategy or security, Bella left those pieces to us for the day. She needed to br