All Chapters of BURNING BETRAYAL: My Mafia Professor.: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

He released my hands.Relief crashed through me so suddenly it almost hurt. Pins and needles spread through my fingers as blood rushed back into them, and for a second I couldn’t even move them properly. My wrists throbbed where he’d held them, the skin warm and sensitive. I flexed my fingers slowly, trying to steady my breathing.His hands moved to the hem of my shirt, fingers hooking underneath the fabric as he began to lift it.“What the hell are you doing?” I snapped, panic flashing through me as I shoved against his chest.“You don’t want to do this the hard way, do you?” he asked. His voice was calm. Too calm. Like this meant nothing to him.“I won’t let you do anything to me. Not anymore,” I argued, forcing strength into my voice even as my pulse raced.His jaw tightened, irritation flickering across his face. “I’m trying to be nice to you, but you’re taking my kindness for granted.”He let go of my shirt and took a step back.“Strip,” he ordered.My stomach dropped.Who the he

My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.They hovered over the keyboard, fingers cold, numb, useless. On the screen—Me.A newborn wrapped in a pale hospital blanket. Eyes squeezed shut. Tiny fists curled against my cheeks. The timestamp glowed faintly in the corner of the photo.It was the same picture.The one in my father’s bedroom.The one he kept on the nightstand beside his bed.My throat tightened.Why does Zander have this?The folder title at the top of the screen felt heavier now.**Missing child.**My pulse thudded in my ears.He clicked to the next image.A sketch.Charcoal lines forming the outline of a little girl. Round cheeks. Large eyes. Dark hair falling past her shoulders.It wasn’t an exact match.But it was close.Too close.Another click.The same girl—older. The cheeks slimmer. The jaw sharper. The eyes more defined.Click.Older.Click.Teenage.Click.Early twenties.Each image more refined. More detailed. As if someone had studied genetics and memory and obsession and

I got home before him.The silence inside the house felt fragile. For a moment, I just stood in the entryway listening, there were no footsteps, no voices, no movement from the study.Good.My chest loosened slightly.I walked quickly up the stairs, my fingers brushing the wall for balance even though I didn’t need it. My room door closed behind me with a soft click.The sound of the lock sliding into place made my shoulders drop.I crossed the room without turning on the lights and let myself fall backward onto the bed. The mattress dipped beneath me, and I stared up at the ceiling, unmoving.My heart was beating too fast.Too loud.Too aware.Can I really do this?The question crept into my mind before I could stop it.Can I really kill someone again?My throat tightened. I shut my eyes hard, pressing the back of my head deeper into the pillow as if I could suffocate the thought.There’s no time left.The words repeated inside me like a command.I need to do what I should.I need to

There’s a flower Uncle J keeps in the back of his house. Just one. He waters it every morning like it’s the most important thing in his garden. I remember asking him once why he only planted that single flower. He told me it wasn’t just any flower — it was dangerous. Deadly. He called it wolfsbane, and said it could stop a person’s heart if it was used the wrong way.I’ve spent the whole night thinking about how to get rid of Zander’s aunt without drawing attention to myself, turning over every possibility in my mind, and finding flaws in all of them. Nothing felt safe enough. Nothing felt clean.I lay awake, staring at the ceiling, and I remembered Uncle J’s garden—that lonely flower. And suddenly, the answer felt obvious.That was the only way I could do it without getting caught.And that understanding had followed me through the entire night, pressing against my thoughts until there was no space left for anything else.So I called Uncle J before I could lose my nerve.His voice so

The doctor decided to run a test.They took my blood sample and then left the room with quiet efficiency, the door clicking softly behind them.The silence they left behind felt louder than any noise.I sat on the edge of the hospital bed, my fingers gripping the thin mattress beneath me. The paper sheet crinkled under my hands. My feet dangled just above the floor, unable to stay still.Please let it be negative.My lips moved without sound.He can’t even imagine being pregnant with Zander’s child.My chest tightened.My father’s face appeared in my mind. Disappointment burned in my throat.He would be so disappointed in me.I would be disappointed in myself.Five years.Five years of waiting. Planning. Surviving.Five years of holding onto revenge like it was the only thing keeping me alive.And now this?I shook my head hard.“No,” I whispered.It couldn’t be true.It couldn’t.My legs moved before I realized I had stood up. I couldn’t stay still anymore. The bed felt like it was s