All Chapters of Forgive Me: Marked By The Priest: Chapter 231 - Chapter 240

251 Chapters

231: THE REASON I FIGHT.

I have walked through every version of hell, and every one of them looked like life without you.EZREAL’S POVBaron fell asleep with his hand still wrapped in mine. His breathing turned slow first. Then heavy. Then deep enough that I knew the storm inside him had finally quieted.I didn’t sleep. I lay on my side, watching him. The sharpness from earlier was gone from his face. No tension in his jaw. No grief clawing at his eyes. Just peace. Sweat still clung to his skin, hair slightly damp, lashes resting against flushed cheeks. He looked younger like this. Not the man who preached to congregations. Not the heir expected to stand unshaken in blood. Not the son of a monster.Just Baron. Mine. My thumb brushed lazily over his wrist where our hands were still joined. He didn’t stir. I smiled faintly. This was why I was willing to burn the world. Not for power. Not for revenge.For him.He thought he needed pain to feel alive. He thought he needed control to silence memory. But the truth

232: TOUCHING HIM WAS A BAD IDEA.

I told myself I could live without you, but the truth is cruel—I am stitched together by your absence, bleeding at every seam you once touched.EZREAL’S POVThis old fool. Turns out my intuition that something was wrong wasn't a ruse. It was actually true. I hadn't expected Malrick to get a hold of Baron so easily. How?“Why the hell are you with Baron’s phone?” My voice came out low. Controlled. But every nerve in my body was lit on fire. The thought that Baron was with Malrick sent a rush of fear through me and I hated the feeling more than anything. Malrick laughed softly, the sound distorted slightly through the speaker. “You really should teach your men to be less obvious, Ezreal. I was just finishing instructing mine to plant explosives around your precious fortress. And I must say, your reputation is far-fetched…”“...You're even more ruthless than Rodrigo. Even my men are terrified of you, you know. I tried to even triple their pay but no one wanted to cross you. You really

233: HE WILL COME FOR ME.

"You look at me like I’m forbidden, then touch me like you can’t survive without the forbidden."BARON’S POVI woke up choking on the ghost of his scent.Not air.Not light.Him.It clung to the sheets, to my throat, to the inside of my lungs like something that had burrowed in and decided it wasn’t leaving. For a second, I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe properly. Just lay there, staring at the ceiling as the memory of last night crept back in slow, cruel pieces.The room wasn’t quiet.It was aware.The curtains were half-drawn, letting in thin strips of morning light that cut across the bed like blades. My body ached in places I refused to acknowledge. My fingers twitched before I realized why.Warmth.My hand was trapped.No — held.Ezreal’s grip wasn’t tight. It didn’t need to be. His fingers were laced with mine like something permanent. Like he had claimed the space between them and decided it belonged to him.I turned my head slowly.He was still asleep.And that was the first unse

234: PRISONER.

BARON'S POV I saw the recognition in her eyes but I scoffed. Behind her, an older man stepped out. He had tall, broad shoulders. Silver threading through dark hair. A scar cutting down from his temple to his jaw.Lucien.There was no mistaking him. Power radiated off him, but it wasn’t controlled like Ezreal’s. It was volatile. Unstable. His gaze slid over me once and I saw it. The assessment and disdain in them but I didn't care. He moved past me without hesitation and went straight for Malrick. His fist collided with Malrick’s face so hard the sound cracked through the courtyard. Malrick staggered back.“What the hell are you doing?” Lucien barked. “Why did you bring Ezreal’s toy into my fortress?”Toy. How predictable. I didn’t react, didn’t flinch and I didn’t cower.I just stared at Lucien head on. If he expected fear, he wouldn’t find it. There was no point arguing with men who thrived on delusion. Malrick wiped blood from his lip, glaring. “You are fucking crazy, Lucine. Can'

235: THE NIGHT THEY BURIED THEMSELVES.

BARON'S POV Celeste didn’t stop at the doorway. She closed it behind her, locked it and then walked toward me slowly, heels clicking softly against the concrete like a metronome counting down.I stayed seated on the floor, relaxed and unbothered. She crouched in front of me, close enough that I could see the faint scar near her collarbone Ezreal had given her the night she escaped his fortress.“You’re calmer than I expected,” she said lightly.I didn’t answer. She reached forward suddenly and grabbed my chin, tilting my face up toward the dim light. I didn’t flinch.Her fingers tightened slightly. Still nothing. A faint smile curved her lips. “Even now.” Even when she pressed her thumb against the bruise Malrick had left on my cheek.Even when her nails dug into my skin just enough to test for weakness. Nothing. She released me with a small scoff and stood. “You know,” she said, pacing slowly, “when I escaped Ezreal’s fortress, I always wondered if we’d see each other again.”I lean

236: HIS GIRL… NOT.

CELESTE’S POVThe door slammed behind me, sealing Baron in darkness. For a moment, I just stood there in the corridor, breathing in and out.Slow. Measured. Controlled. I didn’t know why I told him. All of it. The truth about Rodrigo. About my mother. About the name I buried and the girl the world believed was dead.Maybe I wanted someone to finally hear it. Maybe I wanted him to understand that I wasn’t born cruel. I was made. I straightened my spine. I am Rodrigo’s daughter. His real heir.The one he discarded like she was nothing. Ezreal inherited everything. The empire. The loyalty. The legacy. And I inherited silence. If aligning myself with Lucien meant reclaiming what was stolen from me, then so be it. If I had to stomach Malrick’s greed and Lucien’s brutality to see Ezreal fall, then I would. Revenge is never clean. It is earned in blood. I started toward the main staircase, my heels echoing through the corridor. Halfway up, I stopped. Ashley. She stood near the arched windo

237: EVERYONE IS EXPENDABLE.

CELESTE’S POVI didn't know why I pushed his hand, all I wanted was for him to stay away from me at that moment. Suddenly, the anger and pain I had been carrying pushed its way forward. Lucien’s brows lifted slightly, more intrigued than offended. His fingers lingered in the air between us before dropping to rest against the arm of the chair.“Is that defiance?” he asked softly.His tone wasn’t angry. That was worse. I slipped off his lap before he could pull me back. My heels touched the floor and I took two steps away from him, putting distance where his warmth still clung to my skin.“For weeks,” I said evenly, “you haven’t touched me.”Lucien leaned back in the chair, watching me like I was a chess piece he hadn’t decided how to move yet. “We’ve been preparing for war,” he replied.“That didn’t stop you from finding time for Ashley.”There. It was out. I hadn’t meant to say her name. I hadn’t meant to let that slip into the air between us. But it did. And once spoken, it refused

238: SCANDAL AND ANNIHILATION.

MALRICK’S POVThe office door shut behind me with a muted thud.Lucien’s fortress always felt colder once you stepped out of his presence. Calculated. Clinical. Every corridor was designed for power and paranoia. I rolled my shoulders once, easing the tension there.I had considered going to Baron. Just to see him. Just to measure the leverage in his eyes. But I stopped myself halfway down the hall. Distraction was a weakness.And tonight required precision. The ritual was hours away. Every sigil had to be drawn perfectly. Every relic was positioned exactly as instructed. There was no room for error, not when immortality was within reach.I stepped outside into the evening air. The sky hung heavy, bruised purple and gray. Storm weather. Fitting. My car door opened before I reached it.“Old chapel,” I told the driver as I slid into the back seat.He nodded and pulled away from the fortress gates. The old chapel sat miles from here, hidden beyond overgrown roads and abandoned farmland.

239: NON–NEGOTIABLE.

EZREAL’S POVThe line went dead.For a moment, I just stood there, phone still pressed to my ear, listening to the silence Malrick had left behind. Slow inhale. Slow exhale.I wanted to drive to him right now. To find him before midnight. To grab him by the collar of that immaculate coat and slam his face into stone until bone split and blood ran.I wanted to watch the calm disappear from his eyes. But rage is loud. And I have never been loud. I'm dangerous, yes. But I have never been reckless at all. I always make sure that I am one step ahead of my enemies. I lowered the phone and flexed my fingers once, grounding myself. There were better ways to hurt him. A knock sounded against the study door before it opened. Vincent stepped inside without waiting for permission. He rarely did.“Well?” he asked.“It’s spreading,” I said. “The videos. The accounts. Everything.”Vincent’s jaw hardened. “Good.” I didn’t answer. My mind was already moving three steps ahead. I pulled up the encrypte

240: WHAT WAITS AT DAWN.

VINCENT’S POVWhen Ezreal got the confirmation that Baron was at Lucien's fortress, I knew that we would move right away. And to be honest, I was itching for some fun and blood. It had been a while since I killed anyone and I wanted to desperately paint my hands with the blood of Lucien and Malrick. They had tortured us for so long. Why Ezreal didn't want to attack them so many times especially since we knew where they were hiding, I didn't know but I wouldn't ask questions because I knew him and I knew that he always had a plan. The engines were already rumbling outside.Men moved with purpose—metal clicking, boots striking concrete, low voices exchanging coordinates and timing. The air had that familiar weight to it. The kind that came before violence. Before blood. I walked up to Ezreal just as he was stepping toward the armored vehicle. “I need a few minutes to see Aiden, Boss. I need to tell him I'm leaving.”He studied me for half a second. He knew. Of course he did. “Make i

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