บททั้งหมดของ HE LEFT ME FOR MY STEPSISTER, I MOVED ON TO THE NEXT: บทที่ 171 - บทที่ 180

Chapter 171When the study door finally opened, Matthew emerged first, his face glowing with quiet pride. He found me sitting by the window, pretending to read.“Elena,” he said warmly, “you’ve done wonders for my son, and for me.”I smiled up at him, not entirely sure what he meant. “Don’t mention, Mr. Evans.”He chuckled “I’ve told me to stop calling you that a dozen times. It’s Matthew.”“Fine,” I said, smiling. “Matthew.”He smiled back but didn’t say more. I saw something in his eyes... something like anticipation, maybe even joy. It made me tilt my head in curiosity.“Everything alright?” I asked.He smiled wider, almost wistful. “Perfect, my dear. Everything is perfect.”Then he walked away, humming softly to himself, the kind of hum that only comes when a heart is content.That night, I saw Lucian sitting by his window, staring at the stars. There was a small smile tugging at his lips, and he kept fiddling with something in his hands, a small velvet box.I didn’t say a word. I

Chapter 173“You’re not giving me a heart attack, right?” but something in the driver’s mirror stopped me.He was staring at me. Not glancing. Staring.For a moment, our eyes met in the rear-view mirror, then he quickly looked away.My stomach tightened.Maybe I was imagining it. He was just doing his job.But then, a faint hissing sound broke the silence.It came from the front of the car, soft at first, like air escaping a balloon. I frowned, glancing around.“Excuse me,” I said softly. “Is there something wrong with the car?”“I don’t think so, ma’am.” The bodyguard answered me.The sound grew louder.A sweet, strange scent filled the air, floral but chemical, almost cloying. I coughed once, covering my nose.The driver’s head slumped slightly.“Hey... are you okay?” I asked.“I............” he couldn’t talk.Then the guard in the front passenger seat began to tilt sideways. My heart dropped.The scent grew thicker, heavier. My lungs burned.Sleeping gas.Panic clawed up my throat.

Chapter 175I freeze, my breath trapped halfway between my ribs and throat. The metallic rattle echoes through the stone walls, bouncing back to me like the warning hiss of something alive. My pulse stumbles.The door opens, slowly, as if the person on the other side is savouring my fear.A tall man steps in. His face is hidden behind a black scarf, his eyes are small, sunken, like the colour of burnt wood. Behind him, dim yellow light spills from the hallway, catching the dust that drifts like lazy ghosts.“Get up,” he says.His voice is rough, coated in something that feels like gravel and smoke.I hesitate, the chains around my wrists clinking softly. His hand twitches, just once, a warning. I push myself up, my legs trembling beneath me. My back aches, my arms feel raw, and every inch of my body screams to collapse again.He studies me for a moment. Then he drops a tin bowl on the floor of water, maybe soup. The sound clangs against the stone.“Eat,” he mutters, turning away.I do

Chapter 177The night Ravenswood lost its light was the night she vanished.It had rained earlier, one of those nervous, trembling storms that seemed to warn of something dark before it happened. Now the streets were slick with reflection. Car headlights carving through puddles, shadows folding over the corners like mourning veils and somewhere in that chaos, Lucian Evans’s world was falling apart again.He stood in the middle of the square where Elena’s car had last been seen, his coat soaked through, his heartbeat loud enough to drown out the sirens. “She was supposed to meet me there,” he murmured, voice cracking into the night. His hands shook as he held the necklace she’d once left in his car, a silver chain, with a tiny heart pendant. He’d promised himself he’d give it back that night. That was before the call. Before the words she is not in the car.Matthew Evans watched his son crumble from a few steps away, his face pale beneath the streetlight. He’d seen Lucian in pain befo

Chapter 179Matthew’s chest tightened. “You think it’s connected to Jasper?”Lucian shook his head. “Maybe. Or maybe it’s Mia Collins. Elena mentioned her name once, remember? Said she was dangerous.”Matthew stiffened. “That woman again…”Lucian’s voice cracked. “If she’s behind this, I swear I’ll burn the whole damn city to find her.”“Lucian,” Matthew said sharply, grabbing his son’s arm. “Don’t let anger be the only thing that keeps you standing. It will destroy you before it finds her.”Lucian looked at him, eyes filled with something almost broken. “What if she’s already destroyed, Dad?”Matthew swallowed hard, unable to answer.By the third day, the world began to blur. Reporters filled the streets, headlines whispered her name, Young doctor Missing in Ravenswood. Lucian hated every word. They spoke of her like she was gone, like she was a story, not a person.Matthew tried to keep him grounded. He coordinated with the police, called every contact he had, even hired private inv