All Chapters of My marriage was for money, his for vengeance: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

147 Chapters

Chapter 41: The Hours That Keep Turning

5:36 AM – Penthouse, KitchenThe kettle whistled off with a gentle thunk. Elira steeped hot water over ginger slices in two mugs, allowing the aroma infuse into quiet. Caelan stumbled in half-awake, his shirt upside down and eyes narrowing against faint light."You brewed the strong one," he observed, smelling salabat."We require it," she said, offering him one.He nodded, then looked at the open folder on the counter. "You were up again last night.""I needed to perfect the exit flow plan for Site 7. Their east route has a constricting slope. If it gets clogged—"He placed his hand on her hand. "You don't have to tell me. Just… catch your breath first."---7:22 AM – Ferrer Foundation, Strategy RoomThe whiteboard was crowded with changing diagrams. Dry-erase markers squeaked as Elira re-drew a sector boundary, leaving space for two additional resource hubs.A young logistics officer scowled. "Why add here? Isn't that just extra baggage?"Caelan answered, gesturing with a capped pen

Last Updated : 2025-07-29

Chapter 42: What We Learn to Hold

5:31 AM – Penthouse, BedroomLight hadn't yet touched the skyline. Elira sat cross-legged on the ground, pillow propped against her back, tablet resting in her lap, softly glowing. The document on screen: a collaborative draft of the Foundation's long-term integration procedures. Clause Twenty still highlighted.Caelan shifted behind her. "You're reconsidering it?"She nodded slowly. "Not altering. Just… layering it. Like buildings."He slid to the floor beside her, reading the text over her shoulder. “Layer away. We’re not building tents anymore. We’re building bones.”---7:12 AM – Ferrer Foundation, Multipurpose HallVolunteers filtered in with quiet greetings, sleeves already rolled up. The hall smelled of instant coffee, liniment, and determination. A whiteboard outlined the day: recovery updates, rotating rest shifts, and three community education drives.“Clause Twenty-one will matter too,” Elira whispered to Caelan as she passed him a folder.He flipped it open. “‘Rest is not

Last Updated : 2025-07-29

Chapter 43: The Work Beneath

5:27 AM – Penthouse, BedroomThe city remained veiled in gray. Elira woke up first—not to an alarm, but to the soft click of her thoughts piecing together. She rolled over to find Caelan already gazing at her, head resting on one hand."You're earlier than usual," she whispered."I couldn't sleep," he said, voice still raw with morning. "Kept ruminating over the proposal from the Southern barangays.""The solar grid project?"He nodded. "It's possible. Just—unobtrusively ambitious."She leaned across the sheets, running his fingers with hers. "That's how most things that last start."---6:41 AM – Penthouse, Dining AreaThe dining table was scattered with bowls of fruit, open folders, and printouts with three-colored notes. A fat slice of pandesal dangled half-consumed from Caelan's hand as he went through a housing pilot draft.Elira wrote alongside him, stopping every now and then to take a sip of her coffee. "Clause Twenty-Two still needs to be reworded.""Too prescriptive?""Too v

Last Updated : 2025-07-29

Chapter 44: The Ground We Lay

5:38 AM – Penthouse, KitchenThe kettle shut off with a click, and the kitchen was filled with the aroma of ginger and lemongrass. Elira poured hot water over herbs, observing steam curl up like a languid breath.Behind her, Caelan stepped in bare feet, hair wet, already dressed in a clean shirt. He reached for the second mug before she surrendered it."You're up early," she said.“Thought we’d need more than caffeine today.”“Planning to convince the northern cluster council?”He sipped, eyes still soft with sleep. “Planning to let them convince themselves.”---7:12 AM – Ferrer Foundation, Briefing RoomThe walls were papered with pinned blueprints, hand-drawn schedules, and annotated maps. Volunteers gathered in a half-circle while Elira read from her clipboard."Today, we evaluate stability at three housing zones, prepare Module B for the school annex, and complete repair supply inventory for Site 3. Rotate tasks every two hours. No hero days."Chuckling welled in the room.Caelan

Last Updated : 2025-07-29

Chapter 45: What Becomes Rooted

5:42 AM – Penthouse, BalconyThe city below was still shadowed in pre-dawn, sky rinsed in a bruised lavender. Elira sat cross-legged on the outdoor bench, wrapped in a thick shawl, spooning rice porridge from a thermos cup. Caelan joined her with a soft grunt, carrying a notebook and a peeled pomelo in one hand.“You’re eating citrus before coffee?” she murmured.He handed her a segment. “We have a meeting with the agricultural co-op by seven. I’d rather not fall asleep in the sugarcane plans.”She laughed softly, then chewed. “Let’s just hope they haven’t decided to dissolve the pilot altogether.”“We’ll offer them something better to plant,” he said.—7:09 AM – Community Agro-Coop Tent, Sector 6The walls of canvas blew in the wind. Within the ring of whiteboards and folding chairs, farmers with calloused hands were folded or writing in flimsy pens."Two locations for companion planting," Elira suggested, tracing the map. "A third for testing. We test both yield and water consumpti

Last Updated : 2025-07-29

Chapter 46: The Ground Beneath

5:43 AM – Penthouse, Living RoomA pale gray light filtered through the balcony doors, not yet sun, but its promise. Elira stood barefoot on the rug, looking down at the two binders of clauses on the table. One was fat with edits. The other still had "in development" printed on its cover.Behind her, Caelan appeared in sweatpants, massaging his neck."Couldn't sleep?""Did not want to be late for the light before it comes," she whispered.He tracked her eyes to the binders. "Twenty-Eight?"She nodded. "It needs to be anchored. Something solid. Something that recalls what is already under us."He strode across the room, pushing the curtain aside with one hand. The sky had started to change. "Then let us begin where the ground most recently gave way."— 7:12 AM – Community Learning Lot, Sector 4The weathered basketball court had been transformed into an open-air classroom—boards supported, paint peeling, but held firm with scavenged poles. A young people's assembly in process, teens i

Last Updated : 2025-07-29

Chapter 47: What Holds Us Up

5:36 AM – Penthouse, BalconyA gentle morning wind whispered through the plants on the balcony. Elira leaned against the railing, both hands wrapped around a steaming mug, the sky hardly beginning to change color from blue-black to gray-gold. Down below, the city awoke.Caelan followed her out, his own hair still wet from showering. He gave a wordless nod and extended a plate that held two slices of hot toast covered with honey."Do you feel like you slept?" she asked."As much as I need to be useful," he said, looking out at the horizon. "Pondering Clause Twenty-Nine?"Elira sighed. "Frameworks which contain information. Systems which carry memory. Ones we're born with and ones we have to create.Caelan ate a bite of toast. "And then perhaps we begin with the ones they've rebuilt already. And the ones they've remembered all along."---7:04 AM – Sector 3, Community Archive TentShelves of rescued cabinets and plastic bins filled the repurposed tent, each of them marker-stamped: "Evac

Last Updated : 2025-07-30

Chapter 48: The Things That Last

5:41 AM – Penthouse, Living RoomWarm light streamed in, sifted through gossamer curtains that danced gently in the current. Elira was on the floor, folders scattered about her like flowers, reading through the notes they'd taken on Clause Twenty-Nine.In the corner, Caelan was brewing coffee, his movements sluggish, meticulous."Did we overdo it?" Elira asked.He glanced over. "Too much truth? No. Perhaps just enough to make it last."---7:15 AM – Sector 5, Transport HubPiles of crates marked with destinations filled the loading corridor. One was covered in faded chalk writing: Return routes = community ties.A mechanic named Jun gave Elira a clipboard, grease along the edge."These wheels go where maps forget," he said.Caelan cinched a rope on one of the wagons. "Clause Twenty-Nine's not just about safeguarding—it's about transportation as well. Mobile memory."Jun smiled. "And then this truck's a hell of an archive on wheels."Elira jotted that down.---8:52 AM – Sector 6, Publ

Last Updated : 2025-07-30

Chapter 49: Embedded Pathways

5:36 AM – Penthouse, KitchenSteam from a pan of saba that was boiling rose up, curving like gentle script. Elira was pouring vinegar and muscovado into a bowl, cutting chilies in swift, practiced strokes. The aroma was pungent, earthy.Caelan came in quiet, massaging his eyes. He looked at her for a second, then reached for the mugs and filled salabat."Elira," he told her, not a question, but a reminder. Of space. Of being.She held out a bowl to him. "We start with what is known."---7:04 AM – Foundation Logistics BayPiles of annotated maps stretched out on a table. Across them, volunteers with pencils and marking tape hovered, charting courses that circumvented broken roads, flooded alleys, forgotten trails.Elira touched one pathway scrawled in red. "This one runs between three sitios and hugs the runoff ditch. People use it, just they don't mark it."Caelan supplemented, "It's not about creating routes. It's about observing where people already travel."A volunteer smiled. "So

Last Updated : 2025-07-30

Chapter 50: The Paths We Bear

5:39 AM – Penthouse, Dining TablePapers covered the table once more—curling edges, some with yellowed corners, others freshly printed and crisp. Elira took a sip from a mug, gaze fixed on a list of footnoted entries. Caelan entered with two bowls of steaming reheated rice and sautéed pechay. He set one beside her."You haven't rested since last night.""I can't sleep for knowing that we still lack the ferry lines and vendor tracks along the estero curve." She took the bowl but did not immediately eat. "We continue to archive the center. But Clause Thirty must come to the margins."Caelan nodded. "Then today, we walk them."---7:21 AM – Barangay 17, Estero WalkwayThe road was uneven, clung close to water thick with reeds and trash. Wooden boardwalks and half-submerged rocks acted as stepping stones. Locals crossed with buckets, baskets, folded umbrellas.A woman with a net bag of greens welcomed them. "This here's not official, but we use it. Faster. Just don't show up barefoot."Ca

Last Updated : 2025-07-30

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