Lahat ng Kabanata ng A Kiss For Every Bruise : Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

Author's POV Adrian Salvador’s jaw was tight as he watched Gwen lie on the treatment table. Her small body trembled with each prick of the acupuncture needles, and her breath came in shallow, uneven gasps. Doctor Lao Liang moved with quiet precision, his calm presence a tether against the storm raging in her mind. Each motion of Liang’s hands was deliberate, guiding her through the de-hypnosis, threading a fragile path between memory and madness.Adrian’s eyes flicked to Kai, the dark practitioner, who was restrained but radiated a dangerous arrogance. Even bound, the man’s eyes glimmered with hatred and defiance. Yet Adrian knew that Kai was indispensable because the Gu worm embedded deep in Gwen’s body could only be removed by him. That cursed parasite had fed on her energy for five long years, ensuring that any attempt to regain her memories would trigger catastrophic consequences.Adrian’s fists clenched as he watched Liang’s hands move over Gwen’s pulse points. Every muscle in h

Adrian’s POVI waited outside the bathroom door, my arms crossed, jaw tight, every muscle in my body taut with conflicting emotions. The sound of running water and muffled sobs reached me in waves, each one a reminder of the years she had been stolen from me, of the horrors she had endured under Mason’s hands.I wanted to storm in, sweep her into my arms, promise her that I would never let anything harm her again. I wanted to assure her that no past touch, no lies forced upon her, could ever diminish what she was to me, what she had always been. She my fiancee, my love, my Gwen. But even as that desire burned in me, another voice, sharper and darker, whispered through my mind. She was with another man. Five years. And every day, he touched her. He held her. She even got pregnant for him even though she then lost his child…The thought was like fire against my ribs. I clenched my fists, trying to force down the rage, the disgust, the aching jealou

Gwen’s POVThe soft tap of tiny footsteps announced Kayla’s approach. She had always been brave for her age, but there was an innocence in her gaze that tugged at something deep inside me. Doctor Liang knelt to meet her eyes, the corners of his mouth turning into the faintest smile.“Kayla,” he said gently, “do you want your real mommy and daddy to be together?” The question hung in the air, delicate and weighty. Kayla’s eyes widened for the briefest moment, as if she had been waiting for someone to ask. Then she nodded vigorously. “Yes! I want my real daddy… and mommy! I want to stay with them!” Her little voice was firm, almost defiant, but there was a quiver beneath it that made my chest ache.I felt my heart constrict. For four and a half years, she had been calling the wrong man “daddy.” Mason. That name alone made bile rise in my throat. The man who had hurt both her and me, who had broken her tiny body and filled our lives with fear… and s

AdrianKayla did not play the way other children did. That thought came to me slowly, uncomfortably, as I watched her from the doorway. I noticed it the way you notice something being off before you can name it, like a wrong note in a familiar song. Every time one toy tipped over, she gasped softly and hurried to set it right, glancing up at me as if waiting for something worse than disapproval.She sat cross-legged on the carpet, back unnaturally straight, shoulders drawn in as if taking up too much space was a punishable offense. Every toy was aligned with careful precision, stuffed animals facing forward, blocks stacked evenly, colors sorted. Everything was perfectly sorted, almost too perfect for a four year old child. She paused often, glancing up at me, checking my expression before continuing. Not to share but to measure.“Daddy?” she called softly. “Yes, sweetheart.” “Am I doing it right?” There it was again. My chest tightened. “There’s no right or wrong way to play.” She no

Author’s POVHe stopped at the border. Not because he was unwelcome. But because some thresholds mattered too much to be crossed lightly.Adrian stood beside the car as the gates of the Cruise family territory came into view, iron and stone softened by generations of wealth, power, and grief. Gwen sat quietly inside, hands folded in her lap, her posture composed but fragile in the way only someone holding themselves together by will alone could be.He opened the door for her. She looked up at him, searching his face as though measuring this moment against a thousand possible disappointments. “This is as far as I go,” he said gently. She nodded. She had known. Still, knowing did not make it sting less. “I meant what I said,” he added, lowering his voice. “No matter what you decide. No matter how long you need. I’ll be there.”Her lips trembled before she mastered them. “Even if I choose differently?” A thousand means of control had been beaten into him growing up. Power, territory and