CRAVING THE BAD BOY의 모든 챕터: 챕터 211 - 챕터 220

Ariana POVAriana stood frozen on the sidewalk, staring at her phone. The call had ended. Cars continued moving around her. People walked past without paying attention. The city remained alive and busy, but Ariana barely noticed any of it.Her entire focus was on the last few seconds of that phone call. The man's terrified voice. The crash. The sudden silence. And most importantly, the voice she had heard in the background. A voice she recognized. At first, she thought she might have imagined it. The call had been chaotic. Everything happened so quickly. Maybe her mind was trying to connect pieces that didn't belong together.But the more she thought about it, the more certain she became. She knew that voice. She had heard it recently. Very recently. Her pulse raced as she replayed the memory over and over. Then her eyes widened. Nathan. The voice sounded like Nathan. Ariana immediately shook her head. "No."The word escaped her lips before she realized it. It didn't make sense. Just

Ariana could not move. She stood frozen in the middle of the warehouse, staring at the person who had stepped out of the darkness. For a moment, her brain refused to accept what her eyes were seeing.It was Vanessa. The woman stood several feet away from them, calm and composed. She looked nothing like someone who had just been caught. There was no panic on her face. No fear. No surprise. Only silence. Ariana's heart pounded so hard that it almost hurt. "Vanessa?" she whispered.The name felt strange coming out of her mouth. Vanessa looked at her and gave a small smile. "Hello, Ariana."The stranger beside Ariana took another step back. His hands were shaking. "I told you she was dangerous," he muttered.Vanessa's eyes briefly moved toward him. "You should have stayed quiet."The man's face turned pale. Ariana looked from one person to the other. Nothing made sense. Vanessa had supported her from the beginning. She had helped investigate the leaks. She had arranged interviews. She had

The approaching headlights cut through the darkness. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Ariana could hear the engines growing louder every second. The vehicles were coming fast, and judging from the expressions around her, everyone knew exactly who was arriving.David's face remained pale. Vanessa looked as if she wanted to run. The men surrounding the warehouse tightened their positions. Ariana had never seen fear spread through a group so quickly. The first vehicle finally came to a stop. Then a second. Then a third. The engines died.Silence settled over the road. Ariana's pulse hammered inside her chest. The driver's door of the first vehicle slowly opened. A pair of black boots touched the ground. Then a woman stepped out. Ariana felt the air leave her lungs. It was impossible.Just like David, she recognized the woman instantly. She remembered the funeral. She remembered the tears. She remembered standing beside hundreds of people who believed this woman was gone forever. Yet there she

Ariana could not move. The words echoed inside her head. "Hello, daughter."The stranger stood beneath the headlights, watching her calmly. Everything around her faded into the background. The vehicles. The armed men. Nathan bleeding on the ground. None of it mattered. Only those two words remained. Daughter. Ariana stared at him. Her chest felt tight. "No."The man smiled faintly. "I expected that reaction.""You are not my father."The smile disappeared. Around them, nobody spoke. Not David. Not Claire. Not Vanessa. Not even Sofia. The silence itself frightened Ariana. Because nobody was denying it. Nobody was laughing at the idea. Nobody was calling the man crazy.The stranger slowly walked forward. He appeared to be in his late fifties. His dark hair was touched with gray. His face looked familiar in a strange way. Ariana could not explain it. The more she looked at him, the more she noticed small similarities. The shape of his eyes. The curve of his smile. Things she had never se

The sirens grew louder with every passing second. The sound snapped everyone out of their shock. Victor folded the document in his hand and looked toward the road. Several people in dark uniforms were already getting back into their vehicles. "We need to leave," one of them said."No," Victor replied firmly. "Not without the file."Ariana barely heard them. Her mind was still stuck on Nathan's words. It wasn't Sofia. If Sofia had not leaked her information, then who had? She slowly looked around. David stood a few feet away, his face pale. Vanessa looked nervous, and Claire remained beside Nathan, trying to stop the bleeding. Any one of them could be lying. Any one of them could still be hiding something. "Ariana."Nathan's weak voice pulled her back. She immediately knelt beside him. "I'm here."His breathing was uneven, and there was pain in his eyes, but he still looked at her as though she was the only person there. "You have to listen carefully.""You need a hospital."He shook h