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Lahat ng Kabanata ng Claimed By My Ex’s Mafia Father in-law : Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

290 Kabanata

Chapter 61

Chapter Sixty OneSandra’s POVFor a second, I wondered if Brian was joking.A construction site guy…A man who fought an armed psycho for me…A man who smelled like smoke and danger……parked us in front of a church.He put the gear in park and leaned back in his seat, lips curling into a small smile that made his dimples show.“Welcome to church,” he said casually, as though he had just driven us to a pizza shop.My brain sputtered.I blinked at him. Then blinked again.“No, seriously. What are we doing here?”Instead of answering, he chuckled softly, resting one arm over the steering wheel.“Don’t worry. I’m not trying to convert you. I’m a youth leader here. I’m only staying about an hour and thirty minutes. I thought…” he shrugged lightly, “you could join.”I stared at him like he’d just asked me to climb Everest barefoot.“Join?” I asked slowly. “Like …inside?”He nodded. “Inside.”I looked down at myself.Tank top.Short skirt.Thighs visible.Eyeliner smudged from running.And

Chapter 62

Chapter Sixty TwoSandra’s POVThe church doors swung open, and Brian finally stepped out.But he wasn’t alone.Walking beside him was a girl who looked like she’d stepped straight out of a Christian magazine long, silky hair, a modest cream dress that still somehow made her look like she glowed, sandals that whispered against the pavement. She held a Bible to her chest like it belonged there, like it was part of her.She laughed softly at something Brian said, her eyes lifting to him with warmth, admiration, ease.And he smiled back.Not the dry, sarcastic one he gave me.But a soft one.A familiar one.Like he’d known her for years.They looked… perfect together.She made sense.They made sense.I stood frozen, half-hidden near a corner of the parking lot. He didn’t see me and honestly, I didn’t want him to.My chest tightened. Hard.That girl? She was in the sunlight.Everything I wasn’t.I felt the sting behind my eyes, so I backed away quietly, slowly, like stepping out of someo

Chapter 63

Chapter Sixty ThreeSandra’s POVI kept my eyes shut, wishing I could disappear into the tile floor.If I didn’t look at him…maybe he’d vanish.Maybe I could pretend none of this happened.But Brian didn’t move.I felt him there quiet, steady like a wall that refused to fall no matter how much I pushed.“You’re too pure for me,” I repeated, weaker this time.My voice cracked down in the middle.A long silence followed.Then…“That’s a lie,” he said softly.I flinched.Because it wasn’t anger.It wasn’t annoying.It was worse.It was understanding.I opened my eyes only halfway. He was crouched in front of me, elbows resting on his knees, head dipped low so he could meet my face. His shirt was still crisp, his cologne still clean. Everything about him felt too gentle for the neon-filth that stained the room.“You think I’m pure?” he asked, almost amused.“You have no idea what I’ve done.”I swallowed, my throat closing.He reached out not touching me, just placing his hand near mine o

Chapter 64

Chapter Sixty FourValerie’s POVThe tent smelled of oud and dust and money. Lamps burned slow, fat drops of light that painted every face in bruised gold. Outside, the desert pressed flat and endless. Inside, the Sheikh moved like a man who had grown rich on silence and sacrifice.He led me to a low table. Men in white sat with their heads bowed over maps that were more like prayers. Guards lingered at the flaps like dark punctuation. I sat and felt the weight of eyes map me for old debts.You are late, the Sheikh said, not unkindly. But you brought entertainment. He flicked a glance toward the screen where Elena was a small, wet shape on my feed. I thought of the cot, the camera, the way her chest rose like a trapped bird.I came when I could, I said. You have my attention.He smiled with both kindness and cruelty. Good. The world is not kind to men who dawdle.Tommaso stood behind me, silent as always. Spider’s voice was a distant thread in my ear. Keep calm. Do not offer a throat.

Chapter 65

Chapter Sixty FiveAlena’s POVThe desert night should have been quiet.But the walls around me hummed.Not from music…Not from voices…But from something deeper.A vibration in the bones.A warning in the blood.I lay on the gold-lined bed, eyes open, staring at a ceiling carved with moons and Arabic verses I couldn’t read. Every curve looked like a prayer.Or a threat.Valerio had left hours ago.Left me with food I couldn’t eat, water I barely touched, and a guard who refused to look me in the eye.I’d pretended to sleep.He didn’t care enough to check.The cameras did.A soft red light blinked in the corner.Watching.Breathing.Waiting.I sat up, hugging my knees. The shawl he’d wrapped around me earlier still carried his scent cigar smoke, oud, and something darker I couldn’t name.I hated how it calmed me.I hated how his presence still clung to my skin when he wasn’t here.I hated…that I didn’t hate him enough.The memory of his mouth on mine wild, consuming, terrifying flas

Chapter 66

Chapter Sixty SixElena’s POVThe private jet felt too quiet this time sound and the atmosphere was highly tensedNot the soft rich-people kind of quiet but the kind that creeps beneath your skin and whispers that something enormous has shifted.I sat near the window, wrapped in the black abaya Valerio had thrown over me like I was something that needed covering.My fingers smoothed the fabric over and over, like the answers were hidden in the thread.The flight attendants moved around silently.The men whispered to each other.Valerio didn’t sit.He stood the whole flight hands behind his back, head dipped, muscles sharp beneath his shirt.He looked like a man drowning inside his thoughts.Once, his eyes flicked toward me.Just once.And what I saw there wasn’t softness… wasn’t anger…It was exhaustion.The kind that made men dangerous.I lowered my gaze before his could burn through me.When the jet finally touched down, the wheels screamed against the runway. The guards rose immediately.

Chapter 67

Chapter Sixty SevenElena’s POVSophia stepped closer, her eyes dragging over me like I was a stain someone forgot to scrub off the sidewalk. She flicked her glossy hair and wrinkled her nose at my abaya, like the sight of me physically offended her.“This outfit looks like charity from a blind beggar. You’re trash, Elena. Actual trash.”Lucas leaned his elbow lazily against the car window, grinning like a demon ready for mischief.“Relax, Sophia. I’ll call her if my boys need a midnight booty call. Desperate strays always know how to entertain. Might be the only way she gets a real man, don’t you think?”Their laughter stabbed deep. My fingers tightened around the fabric at my sides, but I forced myself to look ahead. I refused to give them the satisfaction of breaking in front of them. One step forward, then another. Just keep walking.But the moment I turned away, Sophia’s voice sliced behind me.“I’m talking to you!”Before I could react, she flung her drink at me. Cold liquid spl

Chapter 68

Chapter Sixty-EightElena’s POVSandra blinked at me as if she was dreaming, then suddenly gasped and ran toward me, nearly tripping over her own feet. Her arms crashed around me, tight and shaking.“Oh my God! You’re alive—Elena, where have you been?” she sobbed. “I thought—I thought—something horrible—”I almost laughed. After everything, seeing her crying felt unreal.“Relax, I’m pretty hard to kill,” I muttered, half joking, half crying into her shoulder. Her warmth pulled the last thread holding me together and I clung to her like I’d been holding my breath for days.She pulled back, wiping her face, and her eyes widened when she finally processed my state—muddy abaya, sticky hair, tear-streaked face.“Jesus, Lena, did you bathe in a dumpster?”I snorted. “Pretty much.”Her gaze slid to Brian, who awkwardly stood a few steps back. He lifted his chin toward me in that quiet, composed way only he could.“Welcome back,” he said softly. “You need a shower. A long one.”Then, unexpect

Chapter 69

Chapter Sixty NineElena’s POVValerio did not flinch. His gaze held on me for a single breath, unreadable, then he turned away. No reaction and no question and no acknowledgment. I could not decide which was worse, a storm or emptiness. He walked toward his car with calm steps like he had not just heard that men had put their hands on my father.I tried to say his name but the sound died in my throat. He did not turn. Tommaso’s eyes met mine with a flicker of something that looked like pity, then it was gone. Valerio slid into the back seat. The door closed. The fleet rolled away and their tires left a smear of dust that felt like a sentence.I stood alone and held the abaya tight and finally let myself break. The tears were hot and reckless and tasted like salt and shame. When they were spent I breathed slow and counted to ten and told my heart to move. Crying would not buy time. Crying would not stop pain. I needed a plan, and if he would not give me one I would make my own.I deci

Chapter 70

Chapter SeventyElena’s POVI came out of the small bathroom, my hair still damp and curling down my shoulders, and took a deep breath. The scent of detergent and cement filled the air, sharp and grounding. I had cried enough. I was done being the weak one. I would work. I would design. I would make this restaurant the best in the city even if it killed me.Valerio had left my phone in the envelope that morning along with a note written in his cold, impatient handwriting. “Get to work.” Just those three words. No signature. No warmth. Still, it meant something. It meant he had not completely erased me.I sat at the long wooden table that served as my temporary office and powered the phone on. The screen blinked awake. For a long moment, I just stared at it. My reflection stared back in the glass. Then, I opened the browser.I searched for restaurant interiors across the world. I studied minimalist Italian cafes with open ceilings and marble floors. I studied Moroccan lounges with

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