The Don's Property의 모든 챕터: 챕터 41 - 챕터 50

ELARA POVHis lips twitch. “I prefer this dress better. Keep wearing it.”“I better set it on fire, and anything familiar.”A gleam glosses his blue eyes briefly before it’s gone again under the coldness and nonchalance.He clears his throat. “Pity. I like it on you.”I narrow my eyes, unable to tell if he’s pulling my legs or being so serious right now. “That’s why I’m burning it because you like it.”A ghost of a dimple appears on his left cheek before it’s gone again, and I’m left trying to figure out what I just saw. Am I really seeing things like Diana said?We eat in silence before Nero speaks again, grumbling out words I can barely pick apart.“You okay now?”I blink, shocked. Did I hear him right? Did Nero just ask if I’m okay?“You heard me,” he says.Alarm blares in my head, clashing with something softening in my heart. I can’t be like this whenever Nero shows a hint of concern. I can’t! What the hell is wrong with me? One minute, I’m swearing to hate him, the next I’m turn

ELARA POVWith a gasp, I jolt awake with a single name at the tip of my tongue.Elio.My eyes dart, scanning every corner, mind scrambling to connect fragments that refuse to make sense. Why would he try to kill me? Was he sent? Or was it just some twisted grudge I never saw coming?A slow, throbbing ache blooms at the base of my skull and trails down my shoulder, and when my vision finally clears, it is on Diana seated at the edge of my bed.“Where’s Elio? The twins?” I ask hastily.She looks me over from head to toe as her lips flatten into a thin, unimpressed line. “Should you really be worried about the twins right now?” She arches a brow. “Have you seen yourself?”Only then do I spare myself a gaze and gasp again at the thick, white bandage coiled around my left arm. Shit. I forgot for a moment that I actually rolled off a bike. “What were you thinking?” Diana shouts, startling me.My lips part in surprise. Diana has never shouted like this before. The most she ever is, is irri

ELARA POVFor the next hour, I’m trapped in a fevered haze, drenched in sweat, yet shivering so hard my teeth clatter. My body feels foreign, like I might crawl right out of my own skin just to escape the misery.The same memory keeps tormenting me like a nightmare stuck in a loop. The blood. The pop of the gunshot. The bodies. The chaos. The pain. It all vibrates through me, over and over again.When the nightmare gets too violent and unbearable, a warm, calloused hand glides along my cheek, causing it recedes for a blessed moment, only to crash back in, more haunting, more terrifyingEventually, the nightmare becomes too much to bear, and I jolt awake, eyes darting around the dark with my body trembling like a fish. I’m completely disoriented, shaken, and out of it until my eyes land on the shadowy figure by the bedside.Slowly, the tension inside of me dissipates until my gasping is the only sound filling the air. My vision swims, refusing to focus, but I know that silhouette. Even

ELARA POVExcitement buzzes through my veins as I step out of the house. I’m draped in a shimmering emerald dress that is short enough to give Nero a stroke, paired with towering red-bottomed Louboutins I can barely walk in and a matching purse. To top it all off, a heavy diamond glitters at my throat. And since subtlety clearly isn’t on tonight’s menu, I’ve got a single glove on one hand and stockings hugging my legs.It is satisfying and vindicative to finally wear the spoils of Nero’s black card.Though, I have no idea where we are headed. I just hope it isn’t traumatic as the last time I left this house.Nero pushes the car door open before I even reach it, and a wave of mint and dark spice washes over me, instantly wrapping around my senses. I slide in, and his eyes are already on me, the intensity of his gaze leaving a burn in its wake.“Thanks.” I purr, flashing a coy smile and pretend not to notice the thunderous expression darkening his features.The driver shifts the car int

NERO POVI don’t take a step without knowing where my feet will land. Every move is calculated, and I have never been impulsive in my life. Yet here we are.Bringing Elara here, to the place my mother slowly lost her mind is not only impulsive, but reckless too. After the horrible things those men did to her that night, she lost herself in this studio. Her painting got progressively worse, rotting alongside her sanity. Most of the time she didn’t know I existed, and rarely, when she blinked back to reality enough to recognize me, she was yelling at me to get out, scrambling away to hide like I was part of the demons that broke her.The day I found her in the pool of her blood, I already knew it was coming. And even though I was just ten then, all I felt relief. Not sadness nor sorrow. Relief, like a heavy weight was lifted off my shoulder.“Finally, her suffering and misery had come to an end.” That was my first thought.When I bought back the studio, it took me three months to be abl