บททั้งหมดของ CRAVING THE BAD BOY: บทที่ 121 - บทที่ 130

Ariana POVEverything froze when she spoke. Not just me. Not just Nick. Everyone. The men holding me paused, their grip still firm but no longer pulling. Even the man in front of me turned his head slightly, his calm expression shifting for the first time since all of this started.Laura stood a few steps away, her posture straight, her eyes sharp and steady. She didn’t look scared. She didn’t look confused. She looked like she knew exactly what she was walking into. And that scared me more than anything else. "Let her go," she said again.Her voice was calm, but there was something under it that made people listen. It wasn’t loud or forceful. It was certain. The man in front of me studied her. "This doesn’t concern you," he said."It does now."Nick stepped forward immediately. "What are you doing here?" he asked.Laura didn’t look at him. Not even for a second. Her eyes stayed on the man holding control of the situation. "You’ve made enough noise," she said. "This ends here."A smal

Ariana POVEverything Laura said settled slowly, but it did not sit right inside me. It felt like pieces were being forced together in the wrong way, and no matter how I tried to make sense of it, something kept slipping out of place. My chest felt tight as I looked at her, searching her face for something honest that I could hold on to."What do you mean I was not the only one?" I asked, keeping my voice steady even though my thoughts were racing. I needed her to explain it clearly this time, not in pieces that left more questions behind.Laura did not rush to answer, and that hesitation made things worse. She glanced briefly at the men around us before looking back at me, like she was deciding how much she could say out loud. The moment stretched long enough to make my heartbeat louder in my ears."It means there was more than one way to get to what your father hid," she said finally. Her tone was calm, but it carried weight that I could not ignore. "You are one part of it, not the

Ariana POVThe message stayed on my screen as we moved deeper into the narrow path, and it felt like the ground beneath me was shifting with every step. I could not shake the feeling that we had just walked straight into something we did not understand. My chest tightened as I looked ahead, the space growing darker and quieter, like the world behind us had been cut off completely."They knew," I said quietly, my voice barely steady as I held onto my phone. "They knew we would come this way."Mark did not slow down, but I saw his shoulders tense slightly. "Then we stop thinking like we’re escaping," he said. "We start thinking like we’re inside it already."That did not make me feel better, but it made sense in a way I could not ignore. Nick stayed close to me, his hand brushing mine as we moved, like he was making sure I did not disappear in the middle of all this."This path leads somewhere," he said. "It can’t just end.""It doesn’t," Laura replied from just ahead of us. "I know whe

Ariana POVThe staircase looked darker than the hallway, and something about it made my chest tighten before I even took a step. It was not just the lack of light. It felt like a line, like once I crossed it, there was no going back to the version of things I understood before.I paused at the top, my fingers tightening around my phone as I tried to steady my breathing. The last message still sat on my screen, and I could not shake the feeling that it was not just a warning. It felt like a promise."You don’t have to do this," Nick said quietly beside me.I turned slightly to look at him, and the tension in his face made something in my chest ache. He was trying to stay calm, but I could see how much this was affecting him."I do," I replied. "If I walk away now, I stay confused. And I’m tired of that.""You could be walking into something worse," he said."I already am," I answered. "At least this way, I’ll know what it is."Mark stepped closer, his voice steady but low. "We go down

Ariana POVThe structure in the center of the room pulled my attention in a way I could not explain. It was not large or flashy, but something about it felt important, like it carried weight beyond what I could see. My chest tightened as I took another slow step forward, my eyes fixed on it while my mind tried to catch up."What is it?" I asked again, my voice quieter now.The man moved slightly to the side, giving me a clearer view. "It’s the core," he said. "The place where everything your father hid connects."That answer did not help much, but it made my heart beat faster. Nick stayed close behind me, his presence steady but tense. "You don’t touch anything yet," he said. "We understand it first.""I don’t think we’re going to get full understanding before something happens," I replied."Then we slow it down," he said."We’ve been trying that," I said, my eyes still on the structure. "It hasn’t worked."Laura stepped closer as well, her gaze sharp and focused. "He’s right about on