Semua Bab The Man I Was Meant to Hate: Bab 41 - Bab 50

Ava's Point Of ViewThe way the red and blue lights are cutting my world in pieces is tearing it up. The river is still booming along behind us, fierce and furious, but it is almost as distant as it is another life. My hands are caught in strong, yet not rough, hands, and dragged towards dry land. I slide on the rocks, and that is the hand of Liam that is firmly gripped round me that keeps me as steady as possible. I got her, I say, and my voice is rough and cold and hurt. “She’s with me.” One of the policemen comes between us. “Sir, we need to separate you.” I say no, and Liam says no. My fingers are clenching around his. I do not mind that my hands go numb or that my entire body is trembling so much that my teeth refuse to stop clicking. I have no idea whether I will ever see him again should I make him drop me now. Please, please, my voice is hardly there. “Don’t.” Liam checks me out as though I were the only good thing left on the planet. His head is stuck to his face,

Ava's Point Of ViewI wake up to the silence that is not right. Not peaceful. Not safe. Just… empty. The nature that is bumping your ears until your heart begins to beat, searching for something to fight.The ceiling above me is white. Too white. No cracks. No stains. No history. There is a red camera blinking in the corner and it counts my breaths slowly and steadily.I do not recall anything about falling asleep. I recall being dragged out of the river bank by hand. A blanket was strangled round my shoulders. And Liam screamed my name till he broke his voice.I sit up fast. The room is small. Clean. A single bed. A table bolted to the floor. A message in the form of thick bars pressed into the glass of one of the windows. There are two armed guards before the door with eyes straight forward with blank faces.Then I see her. This is her, sitting in the chair before the window, hands in her lap, and perfect in her posture. As though she is waiting to meet someone. Like this is her hou

Ava's Point Of ViewThe courtroom is musty with cold marble and polish, a kind of place where emotions go to die.My footsteps are so very noisy as I traverse the lengthy passage. Two guards on each side. Their hands are beside each other, but not touching, yet like, prepared. As I could run, as I could shake.Maybe I already have. I am not bound by my wrists, but the burden in my breast is heavier than lead. Every step pulls at my lungs. I focus on breathing. In. Out. Slow. Might as well stop and fall on the marble floor here and never get up.The opening of the doors is accompanied by the flash of cameras. The courtroom is packed. I walk in and everyone rises. And not to pay homage--but to be hungry. They desire to see the sold girl. The girl was bound in an agreement that was not supposed to be. The girl who escaped the death which she was not meant to.I keep my eyes forward. My knees shake anyway. When the clerk calls my name my name echoes. Ava Montgomery. It sounds weird. As th

Liam's Point Of ViewThe evidence bag is heavier than it should be. Not in weight, paper weighs nothing, but in meaning. It sits on the metal table between me and the federal agent like a loaded gun. Clear plastic. Red seal. Inside, a single folded page.I didn't touch it at first. Because I already know the handwriting.The room smells like disinfectant and rain-soaked clothes. My knuckles sting when I flex my hand. The cut on my temple throbs in time with my pulse. Every sound feels sharp. Every second feels borrowed.“Go ahead,” the agent says.I slide the bag closer and break the seal.The paper slides out smooth and confident, like it was never afraid of being found. The ink is dark. Precise. Each letter carved, not written.Selene Hart doesn’t rush.My jaw locks before I even read the words.Rylan stands behind me, leaning against the wall. I feel him tense without looking back.“That look,” he says quietly, “means trouble.”“It means war,” I answered. Then I unfold the paper. N

Selene's Point Of ViewThey think I came unarmed. That’s the first mistake people like Ava always make. They believe weapons are things you can see. Guns. Knives. Men standing behind you in the dark.I step closer to the bent barrier and let the wind pull at my coat. I don’t raise my hands. I don’t smile wide. I give them nothing that looks like fear.Ava stands rigid, her body angled toward the cliff like the land itself is holding her up. Liam is half a step in front of her, protective without trying to look like it. His jaw is tight. His eyes are sharp. He’s ready to die for her.That, too, is useful.“You burned one contract,” I say calmly. My voice carries clean through the wind. “You made quite a spectacle of it.”Ava’s chin lifts. Her eyes don’t waver. Good. She’s learned that much. “I’ll burn every one.”I let a small smile touch my lips. It never reaches my eyes. “Then listen before you destroy the wrong thing.”Liam shifts. “You don’t get to lecture her.”I don’t look at him