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Lahat ng Kabanata ng Tempted by the blind beauty : Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

30 Kabanata

Chapter 1

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

Chapter 2

THE SUSPECTThey locked me in a room that smelled like vanilla and leather.I stood in the middle of it for what felt like hours, afraid to move. My hands were shaking. My mind kept replaying his voice... that cold, sharp edge when he said Rebecca's name.Who was Rebecca? And why did he think I had something to do with her?I didn't even know what an ID card looked like. I'd never seen one. Never seen anything."Please..." I whispered to the empty room. "Please let this be a mistake..."The door opened suddenly. I jumped."Come with me." It was one of the guards from before. His hand gripped my elbow, not rough but firm. Like I was a prisoner."Where are we going?""Boss wants to talk to you."My stomach dropped. "I already told him everything...""He doesn't believe you."They led me through a maze of hallways. Everything echoed. The floors were hard... marble, maybe. The kind of place where even whispers carried.We stopped. A door opened."Sit."I felt for the chair and lowered mys

Chapter 3

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

Chapter 4

The SongThey caught me at the back gate.I'd made it further than I thought I would. Down the stairs. Through hallways. Past rooms I couldn't see. My hands had found a door... cool night air touched my face... and for one beautiful second, I thought I was free.Then hands grabbed me from behind."Got her!""Don't let her move!"I tried to pull away but there were too many of them. Three... maybe four guards. Their grip was iron."Let me go! Please...""Stay still!""You're hurting me...""Mr. Cole is on his way. Don't move."My heart dropped into my stomach.The whir of his chair cut through the night air. Getting closer. Closer.He stopped right in front of me. I could feel him there. Could feel his anger like heat rolling off a fire."Let her go," he said quietly.The hands released me. I stumbled but caught myself."Leave us.""Sir, are you sure...""I said leave."Footsteps retreated. Doors closed. We were alone in the dark... though for me, it was always dark.Silence stretched

Chapter 5

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'

Chapter 6

The Woman in WhiteLana's POVMy hand was wrapped around Derrick's as we sat in his private office. I could feel the tension radiating from his body like heat from a flame."Pull up the footage from last night," Derrick ordered. His voice was hard. Cold. "The exact moment Lana heard the voice."I heard keyboards clicking. Multiple people moving around us. The security team had assembled the moment the sun came up."Here, sir. This is the timestamp.""Play it."The room went silent except for the sound of the video playing. I couldn't see it, obviously, but I could hear the audio. My own voice singing. The wind rustling. Then Derrick's body hitting the ground."There," one of the guards said. "Do you see her?"Derrick's hand tightened around mine. Painfully tight."Zoom in on that section. Enhance it."More clicking. More silence.Then Derrick made a sound I'd never heard from him before. Something between a gasp and a growl."Sir? Do you know her?""Elena." His voice was barely a whis

Chapter 7

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

Chapter 8

The Safe RoomLana's POVWe crawled through the passage for what felt like hours. My knees were scraped raw. Derrick's breathing had become ragged, each pull of his body against the stone floor more labored than the last."How much further?" he asked, his voice strained."Not far. Maybe twenty more feet. There's a junction ahead. The passage splits. One way leads to the kitchen. The other to your private study.""The study. There's something there we need.""What?""A safe room. Built into the wall behind the bookshelf. Even Elena doesn't know about it. My father had it installed after Rebecca was born. Paranoid bastard thought someone would try to kidnap us for ransom.""Can we get to it without being seen?""If we're lucky."Luck. I wasn't sure we had much of that left.I kept moving, my hand sliding along the wall. The passage began to slope upward. The air changed. Less musty. A hint of leather and old books."We're close," I whispered. "I can smell your study.""The exit panel is

Chapter 9

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."

Chapter 10

Echoes of the PastLana's POVI bent down and picked up the music box. My hands were shaking so badly I almost dropped it again."We need to go to the front gate," Derrick said. "See if there's anything else. Any other clues.""Sir, is that wise?" Margaret asked. "What if it's a trap?""Everything Elena does is a trap. But we can't hide in here forever. Get the guards. The ones we know we can trust. We're going to the front gate.""Yes, sir."Margaret's footsteps retreated. I heard her on the phone, calling people, giving orders."Lana." Derrick's voice was close. "Are you okay?""No. I'm not okay. Nothing about this is okay.""I know. But we're going to figure this out. Together."I wanted to believe him. But the music box in my hands felt like a bomb. Like something that could explode and destroy whatever was left of my world.Within minutes, footsteps filled the study. Heavy boots. The sound of weapons being checked. Men's voices, low and serious."Sir, we have six men. All verifie

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