All Chapters of Vengeance of the Fallen Heir: From Cell to CEO: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

~ETHAN WILDER~The smell of a hospital wasn’t just bleach and antiseptic; it had also been the smell of sickness and the desperate prayer against death. Even now, twenty years later, it hadn’t changed.I had probably been six or seven years old, sitting in a plastic chair that had felt too big for me. My nanny had brought me there and had been looking really worried and frantic. She hadn’t been the only one looking frantic.There had been some people dressed in white and some women in blue. They had been rolling my father, who had been lying still on a table with wheels. They had all been saying something that I hadn’t quite understood. I had remembered smiling when I had caught the word heart. My homeroom teacher had taught me something about hearts earlier that day. I had wanted Dad to come out so I could tell him all about it.“Clear!”I had heard that clearly too. The shout had been loud and had sounded over the hum of the computers inside the room. I had stood up to see what had

~ALINA JOHNSON~It didn't hit me when the monitor sound went flat. It didn't hit me when the doctor and nurses came in to check him. It hit me when the nurses pulled the white sheer over him and rolled him out, disconnecting the machines that read his vital."Aaaaahhh!" I screamed and ran after the bed as they pushed him away from me. "Nooo!" Nurses tried to restrain me and each time I broke through their force."Dad!"I yelled after them, reaching out when he pulled me back and restrained me in a hug. My resistance died in recognition of the strength in the arms that held me close.He held my head against my chest as I cried and fought him instead. I pummeled his sturdy shoulders with my fist as I wailed out my pain. Ethan held me throughout the process until I crumbled. My knees unable to hold my weight any longer. The nurses succeeded in rolling my father out while I stayed on the hospital floor in Ethan's floor for God knows how long.*****At least the rain chose to honor my fathe

Chapter 6Ethan WilderThe second her lips touched mine, the last thin thread of control I’d been clinging to flew out the window.I kissed her back hungrily as my fingers tangled in her hair, holding her exactly where I wanted her. She tasted like the wine we just had and I couldn’t get enough.I’d wanted her from the moment she came downstairs earlier tonight wearing nothing but one of my old T-shirts that stopped mid-thigh. The fabric was loose, but it clung in right places when she moved. She was wearing nothing underneath. Just smooth long legs and the faint outline of her body underneath. She had no idea what she did to me when she walked barefoot across the room with her hair messy probably from tossing in bed . Every step made the shirt ride up a fraction, showing more skin and I had to grip the edge of the counter to keep from crossing the room and touching her.Then she sat beside me, close enough that I could smell her shampoo. The scent of coconut and vanilla. When she too

~~DAMIAN~~The moment I walked through my front door, I knew something was off.I stopped in the hallway with my hand still on the doorknob and listened. Nothing. Just the sound of the refrigerator from the kitchen. I told myself I was being a foolish old man, letting my imagination run wild. Seventy-three years on this earth, and here I was jumping at shadows.But I wasn't wrong.I hung up my coat and walked into the living room, where I spent most of my evenings with my old armchair turned toward the fireplace and the television sitting quietly in the corner. And there, in my armchair, was a young man.He was leaned back with his legs crossed, looking for all the world like he owned the place. He had one of my books in his hands , a worn copy of a le Carré novel, and he didn't even glance up when I came in. He just turned a page, casually.I was startled at first, and maybe a little scared, but then as quickly as it came. It keft. This was my home. My sanctuary. Who did he think he

~~ETHAN WILDER~~I woke up to the warmth of Alina pressed against my side.For a while, I just laid there quietly not wanting to disturb her. Her head was on my chest and her hair was spread across the bed. She shifted closer to me, still very much asleep.I smiled. It had been days now since we had crossed that line. And I didn't regret a single thing. We had gotten along well. Too well even. We had barely left the house and had used that opportunity to desecrate every room like two people who couldn't get enough of each other. The kitchen counter. The living room floor. The shower. Against the wall in the hallway at three in the morning. It was like we were making up for lost time.And through all of it, we talked. We laughed. We ordered food when we got hungry and ate it in bed naked. We drank more wine from the bar, it was perfect. I moved her head to the pillow carefully and slipped out of bed. She stirred but didn't wake up. I pulled the covers up over her, took one last look