Lahat ng Kabanata ng Married to the arrogant senior : Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

Xavier’s body swayed, blood slicking his shirt, but his hand refused to loosen on the sword. His knuckles glowed bone-white under the moonlight, his chest heaving in ragged gasps. He was breaking before my eyes, yet he still forced himself upright like defiance alone could keep him alive.“Xavier…” My voice cracked, my throat raw from screaming. My hands trembled as I tried to crawl toward him, but Bastien’s blade pressed harder against my throat, pinning me back to the rough bark of the tree.“Stay right where you are, princess,” Bastien drawled, his eyes burning with cruel amusement. His grip was unyielding, his blade kissing my skin just enough to sting. “I want you to have the best view when your lover finally bleeds out at our feet.”I wanted to spit in his face, claw him apart with my bare hands, but Xavier’s voice reached me, shredded but fierce.“Arielle…” His lips were stained crimson, but his eyes, God, his eyes, were still alive. “Don’t… give them what they want.”My vision

The forest held its breath.Every sound, the ringing of spent gunfire, the groans of dying soldiers, the clash of Lucien’s blade as it clattered to the dirt, faded into a silence so sharp it cut deeper than steel.Lucien staggered forward, his eyes wide in disbelief, before sinking to one knee. Blood ran freely from the wound blooming across his back, staining the earth dark. His sword slipped from his hand.But I couldn’t focus on him.Not when another shadow emerged from the trees.For a moment, the figure was only a silhouette: tall, commanding, the faint outline of a pistol gleaming in one hand. Moonlight broke through the canopy, spilling across their faceAnd the ground tilted under me.“…Mom?”My own voice cracked, thin and disbelieving.Gasps rose from the soldiers. Xavier’s mother froze mid-breath, still bleeding from Lucien’s cut, her gun wavering as her gaze shot to the newcomer.And me? My chest caved in.Because the woman who stepped forward, clad in black, her hair pulle

The syringe gleamed in Marcus’s hand, the moonlight catching on the vial’s dark contents. My stomach turned to ice.“What is that?” I demanded, my voice cracking with panic, my body thrashing against the soldiers’ grip.Marcus’s eyes flicked toward me, calm, calculated, cruel. “Insurance,” he said simply. “A legacy written in blood. My son will rise—not as the weak boy who chose you, but as the heir I’ve always wanted. This serum will burn out his flaws. Burn out his disobedience. Make him mine.”“No!” My scream shredded my throat. I fought like a trapped animal, but the men at my arms yanked tighter, their nails digging into my skin. My chest heaved, terror rattling through me. My baby shifted painfully inside me, as though even my unborn child recoiled from the poison in Marcus’s words.Xavier stirred faintly on the ground, his head lolling. His lips parted, whispering my name in a voice so weak it barely existed. “A…rielle…”Tears blurred my vision. He was slipping away already, bl

The leader’s words hung in the stale air like smoke. “There’s only one place left. But if we go there, Arielle… everything changes.”I didn’t care about changes, wars, bloodlines, or legacies. Not in that moment. All I cared about was the boy bleeding on that cot, the boy whose broken body still carried my heart inside it.“Then take me there,” I whispered, my voice trembling but firm. “Whatever it costs.”The leader gave a short nod, but his eyes, scarred, hollow, said more. “You’ll have tonight to rest. At dawn, we move.”The medic bandaged Xavier tighter, his hands efficient but gentle. “He shouldn’t even be moved yet. If he doesn’t gain strength by morning, the road itself will kill him.”My stomach clenched. I couldn’t even breathe properly. I brushed Xavier’s damp hair from his forehead, my fingertips trembling against his clammy skin.“I’ll stay with him,” I said quickly. “Don’t… don’t take him away from me.”The leader studied me for a moment, then gave a brief motion to the o

The morning was cruel.The air outside bit against my skin, sharp and damp, carrying the scent of earth and ash. The world was quiet in that way that wasn’t peaceful, but tense, like every shadow hid an enemy, like every branch might crack under a boot that wasn’t ours.Xavier’s grip on my hand was iron. Too tight, almost painful, but I didn’t loosen. He needed me steady, and truthfully, I needed him just as much. His steps were slow, uneven, each one a battle against his battered body. The bandages wrapped around his side were already spotted with fresh blood, and each breath he pulled seemed too shallow, too fragile.But he kept walking. Of course he did. Xavier Orlando never stopped moving forward, even if the ground itself wanted to swallow him whole.The leader, an older man with a scar running across his temple and eyes like stone, marched ahead, silent and sharp. Behind him, the small group of soldiers flanked us, their boots crunching against the dirt path in harsh rhythm. My