Semua Bab HIS TO RUIN: Bab 71 - Bab 80

SELENE.I watched Marcus’s phone before I watched him.It lay on the glass table across the room, face up, dark, silent. Too innocent for something that had ruined so many lives. My wrists were bound to the arms of the chair, silk rope biting just enough to remind me I was not here by choice. The room was luxury layered on luxury. Soft lighting. Art that probably cost more than most people’s houses. Silk curtains that barely moved.A cage dressed as comfort.“You keep staring at it,” Marcus said mildly. “Should I be jealous of my own phone?”I lifted my eyes to him. He was leaning against the wall, jacket discarded, sleeves rolled up as if this were a casual meeting instead of a kidnapping. His smile was slow. Knowing. Unsettling.“Waiting for it to ring?” he continued. “Or are you imagining who might be calling for you?”I said nothing.He pushed off the wall and walked toward me, unhurried. Every step felt deliberate, like he wanted me to count them. “Do you know,” he said, voice lo

DAMIEN.I paced the length of my office like a caged animal.Back and forth. Back and forth.The glass walls reflected a man I barely recognized. Hollowed eyes. Shirt wrinkled from being slept in. Jaw clenched so tight it ached. Weeks had bled into each other since Selene vanished, and with every passing hour something inside me had peeled away. Restraint. Patience. Civility.What if Marcus had hurt her?The thought slid into my mind like a blade, slow and deliberate. I stopped pacing, hands curling into fists as the image followed uninvited. Selene bound. Selene frightened. Selene silent.My breath turned sharp.“If he touched her,” I muttered into the empty room, voice low and lethal, “I will end him.”Not ruin him. Not outmaneuver him.End him.The door creaked open behind me.“Damien.”Vivian Chou stood at the threshold, tablet clutched to her chest. My secretary had always been unflappable, sharp as glass, but even she looked cautious now. Everyone did these days. They all sensed

SELENE.The city had shifted beneath us, or maybe it was just me. Marcus had driven us far from the underground, to a part of the city I barely recognized. The streets were clean, quiet, and polished, almost too perfect. The building he stopped at looked ordinary from outside, just another motel at the edge of the city, but as I stepped inside, I realized ordinary wasn’t the word. Everything gleamed. The floors were polished to a shine, the walls smelled faintly of lavender and something expensive I couldn’t name. Soft lighting traced the corners of the lobby, highlighting every detail. Plush armchairs lined the space. There wasn’t a single scuff, a single piece of dust.I tilted my head, studying him. “Why here?” I asked, letting my voice stay calm, careful. Not curious, not friendly—just observant.Marcus smiled. A slow, easy smile that made my skin crawl. He leaned against the marble reception counter like it was his throne.“Damien has been clever,” he said, voice smooth, taunti

DAMIEN.Caleb sat across from me, sweating through a suit that probably cost more than most people’s cars. His fingers kept tapping his knee, a nervous habit he had failed to suppress, even now. Even here.I leaned back in my chair and watched him like I had all the time in the world. I did not. But letting him think I did was part of the game.“The transfers don’t make sense on paper,” Caleb said, clearing his throat. “Shell corporations layered on top of each other. Offshore accounts. Encrypted routing. Whoever set this up knew exactly how to stay invisible.”I tilted my head. “And yet,” I said calmly, “you’re sitting here explaining it to me.”He swallowed. “Yes.”“You weren’t supposed to have access to classified financial movements, Caleb.”His lips twitched. “No.”“So why do you?”His eyes flicked up to mine, then away. “Because you made an offer I couldn’t refuse.”I smiled faintly. Money always worked. It slid into people’s hearts quietly and made a home there.“Marcus is runn

DAMIEN.The moment his eyes focused on me, the curses started pouring out of him like poison he had been saving.“You think you’re powerful?” he spat, straining against the ropes. “You’re nothing. You’re a spoiled bastard who hides behind money. Untie me and I’ll—”Joe moved before I could speak.His fist met Joshua’s jaw with a dull, brutal sound. Joshua’s head snapped to the side, blood spraying, a red line running from his mouth to his chin. He coughed, choking on his own rage.“Careful, mate,” Joe said mildly. “Teeth are useful things. Would be a shame to lose more.”Joshua lifted his head slowly, eyes blazing. “I’ll bury you,” he hissed. “Both of you. I swear it.”Joe chuckled. “Promises, promises.”I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, keeping my voice level. Calm. Controlled. “Where the fuck is Marcus?”Joshua laughed, spitting blood onto the floor. “Go to hell. You and your dog.”Joe tilted his head. “Dog? That’s new. Bit rude though.”I felt the frustration crawl u