Semua Bab Married to the arrogant senior : Bab 71 - Bab 80

The world was fire.The gunshots had turned the forest into thunder, every crack of a bullet shaking my bones. The acrid tang of gunpowder stung my nose, mixing with the wet earth and the sharp, metallic smell of blood. Soldiers shouted, some collapsing, some firing blindly into the fog. The air was alive with chaos, but all I could see was Xavier and Marcus, father and son, colliding in the middle of it like two storms destined to destroy each other.“Get back!” My mother’s voice tore through the madness as she dragged me toward the crumbling stone wall, her hands clawing into my arm with desperate strength. My aunt was in front of us, shielding me with her body even as bullets ripped the bark from the trees.But I couldn’t move. My feet wanted to stay rooted in the dirt. My heart screamed at me to stay with him, with Xavier. He was limping, his bandaged ribs bleeding through, yet he fought like an animal backed into a corner. Each time Marcus raised his gun, Xavier was there, matchi

The gunshot shattered the night.For a heartbeat, the world froze. The echo of it bounced off the trees, loud and endless, ringing in my ears like the tolling of a death bell. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. My heart slammed so hard against my ribs I thought it might split open.Marcus’s head jerked sideways, his body staggering back. Blood sprayed in an arc, crimson in the silver wash of moonlight. He crumpled to the ground with a thud, his gun falling uselessly beside him.And then, silence.Nobody moved. Not the soldiers gripping their rifles. Not my aunt, whose hands clamped around my mother’s arm in frozen shock. Not even me, kneeling on the dirt, Xavier’s mother’s blood still warm against my skin.Only Xavier moved.The gun slipped from his hand, falling into the dirt with a dull thud. His chest heaved as he stared at the lifeless form of his father. His face, God, his face, was unreadable. Anger. Grief. Relief. Horror. All crashing and colliding at once until he just looke

The cabin was too small to contain the weight pressing down on us.The silence after their departure was louder than the gunshots, louder than the screams that had filled the clearing hours ago. My chest ached with the words they had left hanging in the air, “You will smile at the cameras… the baby becomes collateral.”Every time the board’s silver-haired leader’s voice replayed in my head, bile rose in my throat.Xavier hadn’t moved from the window. His back was tense, his shoulders like stone beneath his blood-stained shirt, every line of him screaming fury and restraint. His hands gripped the wooden sill so hard splinters dug into his skin, but he didn’t even flinch.“They won’t stop,” he said again, the same words he’d spoken minutes earlier. His voice was lower now, dangerous, as though saying them carved them into reality. “Not until they get what they want. Until they own us.”My fingers clutched my belly. The baby kicked, as though reminding me it was listening too. That every

The photo fluttered against the glass as though mocking us, caught by the faint draft sneaking under the balcony doors. The red ink seemed to pulse in the dim light, One smile. One bullet. Choose wisely.Xavier’s entire body went rigid. His hand, still clutching the pistol, trembled with barely-contained rage. He ripped the photograph from the glass, crumpling it in his fist so tightly I thought the edges might slice into his skin.“Get away from the doors,” he barked, his voice sharper than I’d ever heard it.I didn’t argue. My hand instinctively moved over my stomach as I backed away toward the center of the room. My heart was hammering so hard I could feel it in my throat. Every instinct screamed that we weren’t alone, that eyes were on us even now.Xavier checked the balcony, flinging the doors open with a force that rattled the frame. He stepped out, gun raised, scanning the rooftops and alleys below. From my spot near the couch, I could see the motorcade cars still lined outside

The roar that greeted us when Xavier stepped out of the car was like thunder tearing the sky apart. Cameras flashed, microphones thrust forward, voices overlapped in a frenzy of questions, accusations, and praise. The red carpet stretched ahead of us like a river of blood, guarded on either side by men in black suits whose sunglasses reflected back the chaos.Xavier turned and extended his hand to me. For a moment, the world blurred. It was just him—his steady gaze, his palm open, waiting. The same hand that had shielded me from knives and bullets, the same hand that had cupped my face in the darkest hours, now reached out as though this was just another night, another gala.But it wasn’t.This was war dressed in silk and tuxedos.I placed my hand in his, and the crowd erupted again, their cheers and shouts weaving into a single deafening roar.“Arielle! Smile this way!”“Xavier, how does it feel to inherit your father’s legacy?”“Mrs. Knight, is the baby the future heir?”Their words