บททั้งหมดของ Broken Then Desired : บทที่ 111 - บทที่ 120

(POV - VICTOR BLACKWOOD) The senior officer, his face red from barking orders, stood right behind my chair in the crowded police van. He leaned over my shoulder, his breath hot on my neck. I could feel his impatience like a physical weight. On the computer screen in front of me, the last video file was loading. It was from the alley camera, the night everything happened. The night I was at the old building. My proof. The video started to play. Grainy black-and-white. The empty alley. The trash cans. And then, a figure walked into the frame. It was me. Clear as day. Wearing my own coat, my head down. The time stamp on the screen was the exact time of the truck crash across town. The perfect alibi. The officer behind me grunted. “There. See anyone?” My mind screamed. If he saw me, it was over. He’d know I was there. But maybe… maybe I could twist it. I saw my opening. An amazing, desperate opportunity to distract him. I pointed a finger at my own figure on the screen. My voice w

(POV - SCARLETT)Everything was black. A thick, silent, nothing kind of black.Then, pain came back first. A terrible, throbbing ache in my throat. A sharp pain in the back of my head. The pain pulled me up from the dark, like a fish on a hook.Sounds came next. Muffled at first, then clearer. A deep, frantic voice was yelling. It was close. The sound was vibrating through me.I felt movement. A jostling, running motion. I wasn’t on the ground anymore. I was being carried. Strong arms were under my knees and around my back, holding me tight against a hard chest.I forced my eyes open. The world was a blur of sky and buildings rushing past. I looked up.It was Victor. His face was above me, etched with a fear and anger I had never seen before. His jaw was clenched tight. He wasn’t looking at me. He was looking ahead, yelling at someone.“GET THE CAR! BRING IT AROUND NOW! MOVE!”His voice wasn’t the calm, quiet Victor I knew. It was a roar, raw and commanding. It was the voice of a man

(POV - JAXON) Night had fallen. The big, quiet house felt even bigger and quieter than usual. Neither of them had eaten anything since we got back. They had been cooped up in her bedroom for hours. We had all arrived together in a rush of panic and speed, but Victor had carried Scarlett straight up the stairs, his face like stone. He had called a private doctor, a man who asked no questions. I had stayed downstairs, listening to the low murmur of voices above, the sound of quiet footsteps. The doctor had come and gone. He’d put a drip into her arm, some fluids and medicine to help with the shock and the bruising on her throat. And since that moment, the bedroom door had not opened again. Victor had not come out. Scarlett had not come out. The time for dinner came and went. I made some soup, just in case. I left two bowls on the stove, keeping them warm. But no one came down. The house just got darker and quieter. Worry started to itch at me. Was she okay? Was something wrong the

(POV - KELSEY) My face hurts. It’s a deep, throbbing ache under all the makeup I caked on. I can still feel the shape of my own locker door against my nose. I look in every mirror I pass, and all I see is a mess of purple bruises and red, splotchy skin. It’s disgusting. But you know what? It’s also the perfect disguise. Because all I can think about is yesterday. Right before that crazy bitch attacked me. What did I see? I saw Ayden Cole and Scarlett coming out of the broom closet together. His hand was on her arm. They were close. Really close. And trust me, I heard more than enough of what they were saying before they went in there. His voice was all hard, asking her weird questions. “What side of your family?” “Where’s your ID?” There’s something fishy about that ho. Really fishy. So today, with my broken face hidden under a big hat and sunglasses, I followed her. Not to school. She didn’t go to school. She went home. And her home… is a big fucking place. A huge, dark house t

(POV - AYDEN)Of course I had known for a bit. Maybe not from the very first day I saw her, but for a while now. The knowing had been sitting in my gut like a cold, hard stone.It all clicked into place after the fight with my dad in his office. After he threw those ugly facts right in my face. He said there really was no record of a niece named Scarlett. He was right. I checked. Victor Blackwood’s wife, the only Scarlett Blackwood, was registered as dead in a fire. Gone forever. So who was this young girl living in his house now, using that same rare name?Being the mayor’s kid has some perks, even if most of them feel awful. One small perk is access. I can get to information most regular people can’t see. I can do quiet searches. I can look at things that aren’t on the normal public internet. I used that access. I looked for Emily.I found the holes in her story too. I found the strange silence where Emily’s life just… stopped. No goodbyes. No social media posts. Nothing. And I saw