All Chapters of Tempted by the blind beauty : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

A Voice From The GatesI didn't know where I was when they grabbed me.One moment I was sitting outside the tall iron gates, my fingers wrapped around the dented metal cup, singing to no one in particular. The next, hands were on my arms... rough, urgent... pulling me to my feet."Let me go!" I tried to twist away, but they were too strong. My stick clattered to the ground. Panic shot through me like ice water."Boss wants to see you," one of them said. His voice was flat, like he did this sort of thing every day."I didn't do anything! Please... I was just singing..."They didn't answer. They just dragged me forward, my feet stumbling over smooth stone. Everything felt wrong. The air smelled different here. Clean. Expensive. Cold.I heard a door open. Then another. The temperature dropped. My breath came faster."Bring her here."The voice stopped me cold.It was deep. Commanding. The kind of voice that didn't ask twice. But there was something else underneath it... something raw, li

Investigation"About who I really am?" My voice came out thin. Scared. "I don't understand...""The investigator just sent me your file." Derrick's chair moved even closer. I could feel the heat of him now. "You're not just some blind girl who wandered to my gate by accident, are you?""I am! I swear...""Your name isn't just Lana. It's Lana Hartley."The name hit me like cold water. I hadn't heard my full name spoken aloud in years."How did you...""Does the name Marcus Hartley mean anything to you?"My chest tightened. "That... that was my father.""Was?""He died. In the same fire that took my sight. Why are you asking me this?"Derrick was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice had changed. Gone flat. Empty. "Your father worked for my company. Fifteen years ago."The room tilted. "What?""He was an engineer. One of the best we had. Until he wasn't.""I don't... I don't know anything about that. I was just a child...""Your father stole from me, Lana. He sold prop

THE KISSThey wouldn't let me stay with him."Miss, you need to rest," Margaret said, pulling me away gently. "The doctors are with him now. There's nothing you can do.""I need to know if he's okay...""They'll tell us when they know something. Come. Please."She led me back to my room. But I couldn't stay there. Couldn't sit still. Couldn't stop thinking about that sound... the thud of his body hitting the ground.What if he died?What if I never heard his voice again?The thought made my chest hurt in a way I didn't understand.I waited until Margaret left. Then I opened my door and felt my way back through the hallways. Back to where they'd taken him.The medical wing. That's what Margaret had called it.I found the door by following the voices. Doctors talking in low tones. Machines beeping. The smell of antiseptic.I sat down outside. Right there on the floor. My back against the wall.And I waited....Hours passed.People walked by. Some asked if I was okay. I nodded but didn'

Hunted in the DarkLana's POVThe laughter echoed through the mansion. Cold. Haunting. Everywhere and nowhere at once.Chaos erupted around us. Men shouting. Footsteps pounding in every direction. Something crashed to the floor."Everyone stay where you are!" Derrick's voice cut through the panic. "Don't move until your eyes adjust.""Sir, we can't see anything!""The emergency lights should have kicked in by now.""She disabled them. Everything's down."I felt Derrick's hand trembling in mine. He was terrified. For the first time since I'd met him, Derrick Cole was truly afraid."Derrick," I whispered. "Your chair.""What about it?""It's electric. Without power...""The battery will last a few hours. But I can't navigate in the dark. I can't see where I'm going. I'll crash into walls, furniture, people...""Then I'll be your eyes.""Lana, you can't...""I've been blind my whole life. This is my world. Trust me."Another crash. Closer this time. Glass shattering."Sir, someone's brea

The Truth About MarcusLana's POVI made it three steps out of the safe room before my legs gave out.I collapsed against the wall, sliding down until I was sitting on the floor. My whole body was shaking. I couldn't stop it.Behind me, I heard Derrick pulling himself through the doorway."Lana, wait. Please wait.""Don't," I said. My voice came out broken. "Don't come near me.""I need you to listen. There's more. More you need to know.""I don't want to know anything else. I can't, I can't handle any more.""Your father," Derrick said. He was closer now. I could hear him breathing hard from the effort of moving. "He wasn't a thief. He was never a thief.""You already told me that.""No, you don't understand. Look, I'm sending files to print. Physical copies. I need you to feel them. To know they're real."A printer hummed to life somewhere in the room. Pages feeding through. The smell of warm paper and ink."Why does it matter?" I asked. "Real or not, your father still killed mine."