All Chapters of THE HIDDEN RIVAL: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

"Mom, where are you going? Please, I wanna go with you!" I pleaded, tugging at the hem of her silk blouse, my voice trembling. I wasn’t stupid. I knew if she crossed that door tonight, she wouldn’t be coming back not until next month, maybe not at all. But this time… this time was different. Her hands trembled as she reached for the wardrobe, eyes darting toward the front door like she expected it to burst open any second. She opened the wardrobe slowly, then turned to me. Her eyes were wide, terrified .... not the usual cool, composed woman who used to take me on private jets to Milan or gave me strict etiquette lessons in between designer dress fittings. No, this version of my mom was shaking, sweat running down her temple, her lips pressed tight to stop them from quivering. She bent down to my level, cupped my cheeks with both hands, and stared right into my eyes. “Baby, listen to me,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “No matter what you hear, you stay here. You do not move

"Ahh," I winced when I noticed I hit something. My eye was a little blurry, maybe from the fact that I was drugged. I slowly took in my environment and it clicked... wait, where am I? "Take it easy, boy. I don't wanna take a wounded stuff to boss," he said, and the others started laughing. That was when I took in how many they were. I was really stupid to think I could defend myself and run away yesterday. I looked around to know where exactly we were and... what the... I’m on a plane. I'm on a fucking goddamned plane with strangers I don't even know. That was when panic hit me fully. I looked at the one who had been sort of quiet while the others were laughing. "Sorry sir, um, where exactly are we?" And yeah, seems like I asked the wrong question, 'cause he gave me a death stare, but not without throwing the insult at me. "Boy, you can't be so dumb not to notice we are on a plane," he said and moved his attention back to what he was doing like his life depended on it. It

When I knocked him down, it gave me some kind of energy, and with the chants of the crowd... oh my God, that felt so good, man. I didn't bother to strike him again, I gave him time, but I didn't bother to show off because I knew he might use that opportunity, so I faced him fully. He stood up and strengthened himself... like that’s gonna help him in any way. I stood there with my legs akimbo and my hands in a fist. The earlier I take him down, the closer it will be for me to eat because I’m really hungry. I focused on every one of his little moves just in case he moved too fast or perhaps tried to strike me unaware, but he wasn’t looking at my face, he was staring at my stomach. You’ve got to be kidding me. He was wasting a lot of time, and I wasn’t ready to wait. Let's get this over with. I rushed him and released a blow at his jaw. He didn’t even flinch. He stood his ground... oh no... I hit the wrong spot. He took it as an opportunity and hit my stomach, and I curled to the f

Ughh… my brain was a fuckin’ cement mixer. I blinked once nope twice actually. The lights above me were flickering like they were powered by regret. I groaned and sat up, only to realize.... oh, come on, was I in a damn cage? A real, actual cage after fighting that monster the least they could do was give me a nice bed but nope. No mattress or even a pillow. Just cold concrete and rusted iron bars like I’d just been tossed into a zoo for mentally unstable badasses. I rubbed the back of my neck, wincing. My entire body felt like I had been hit by a truck, then dragged fifty miles by its tires. Every inch of me screamed from that fight with Natalya. That man fought like a demon with rabies. Pretty sure I saw Satan tapping out in the corner halfway through. But… I won. Didn’t I? That flash of the crowd screaming, the blood in my mouth, the sound of his body hitting the ground… then everything went black. Now, here I was. Caged like an animal, dehydrated, starved, sore and

Rival’s POV : I swear if I spent one more hour staring at Shadow doing fucking squats in the corner like a prison monk, I was gonna bash my own head in. “This place is sucking the life outta me,” I muttered, kicking a bottle cap across the floor. It clanged against the bars like even it wanted out. Shadow didn’t flinch. Just kept going. Like he was built from silence and suppressed rage. “No fights today either?” I called over, mostly out of desperation. He didn’t respond. Cool. So I was stuck in the cage with a mute ninja. Great. The boredom was eating me alive. I needed something. Anything. Movement. Noise. Even a slap to the face would’ve been nice. So naturally, I did what any curious bastard would do. I got up and wandered. Shadow didn’t stop me. He didn’t even glance up. Just muttered, “Don’t poke the wrong hornet’s nest.” “Noted,” I said, already halfway down the hallway. The base was quieter than usual. No fights. No drills. Just murmurs and footstep