Semua Bab Enemies At The Altar : Bab 61 - Bab 70

The first thing Mark felt was pain.Not sharp—deep. Heavy. The kind that pressed down on his chest and settled into his bones like a reminder he hadn’t earned rest yet.The second thing was sound.A slow, steady beeping. Machines. Distant footsteps. Low voices murmuring somewhere beyond the fog in his head.Hospital.The realization came dimly, like light bleeding through thick curtains.He tried to move. His body refused, muscles stiff, protesting with a dull burn. His throat was dry, his tongue heavy. When he forced his eyes open, the ceiling swam above him, white and unfamiliar.He blinked once.Twice.Memory came in fragments.Gunfire.Marble floors slick with blood.Mia’s voice—sharp with terror—cutting through everything.His pulse spiked.“Mia—” The word scraped out of his throat, barely more than air.“Shh.” you can't move yet.”The sound reached him immediately. Soft. Close. Real.Mark’s gaze shifted to the side.She was there.Curled in a chair beside his bed, knees drawn up

Mia didn’t come back the next morning.Not at dawn like she had the past two days. Not with tired eyes and coffee gone cold in her hands. The chair beside Mark’s bed remained empty long enough for the absence to become loud.Mark noticed immediately.He told himself it was nothing. She was exhausted. She needed air. Space. Time to think after everything that had happened.But by noon, the truth settled in his chest heavier than the bullet ever had.She was pulling away.When she finally appeared in the doorway, it was subtle. Almost careful. Her hair was tied back neatly, her expression composed in a way it hadn’t been before. No lingering in the threshold. No rushing to his side.Just… distance.“Mia,” he said.She paused, then stepped in. “You’re sitting up.”“Doctors say I heal fast.”“That’s good.” She moved to the window instead of the bed. “You’ll be discharged soon.Mark watched her reflection in the glass. Her arms were crossed. Defensive. Guarded.“You didn’t come this mornin

And with it, the quiet balance that had kept them surviving rather than falling.Mia avoided the hospital corridor after that.She took the long way around—stairs instead of elevators, supply halls instead of waiting areas. She timed her visits when she knew Mark would be asleep or pulled into meetings with doctors and guards. She told herself it was practical. Necessary. Temporary.It was a lie.Every white wall reminded her of his mouth, of the way anger had tipped into hunger without asking permission. Of the sound he made—low, involuntary—when she kissed him back.Nothing felt safe anymore. Not the silence. Not the distance. Not even her own thoughts.That night, sleep refused her.She lay on the narrow couch in the family waiting suite, staring at the ceiling until the lights hummed too loudly and the air felt too thin. Her body replayed the moment on a loop—his breath, the heat, the way her hands had found his chest as if they belonged there.It didn’t mean anything, she told he

Morning arrived without mercy.Sunlight spilled through the tall windows of the mansion, bright and indifferent, illuminating everything Mia wanted to avoid—reality, memory, consequence. She lay awake long before the house stirred, staring at the ceiling, Isabella’s silhouette replaying in her mind like a wound that refused to close.Mark’s room. Isabella’s touch. His hand on her wrist.Nothing happened, he’d said.Mia believed that part.What she couldn’t escape was how much it hurt anyway.She rose quietly, dressed with mechanical precision, and left her room before anyone could intercept her. Downstairs, the mansion was already alive with low voices and movement. Guards nodded as she passed. Staff murmured greetings.She ignored them all.And she ignored Mark.He stood near the main staircase, fresh bandage visible beneath his shirt, posture straight despite the injury. His eyes found her immediately—always did—but she walked past him like he was air.“Mia,” he said.Nothing.She d

After Mia left the office.The corridor swallowed her whole—white walls, antiseptic air, footsteps echoing too loudly for how hollow she felt. She didn’t look back. If she did, she knew she’d crumble. She could still feel Mark’s eyes on her, heavy with things neither of them had finished saying.She needed space.What she got instead was truth.The door to the small conference room closed behind her with a soft click. Luca was already there, standing beside the table. His expression wasn’t cautious anymore. It was resolved.That alone made her stomach drop.“Mia,” he said quietly. “Sit down.”She didn’t. “Just tell me.”Luca hesitated only a second before sliding the file across the table, Mark had given him a copy.Brown. Thick. Final.Her name was written on the tab.She stared at it as if it might explode.“This is everything we have on Ethan,” Luca said. “Financial transfers. Messages. Locations. Dates.”Mia’s fingers trembled as she opened it.The first page was a bank record.He