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Lahat ng Kabanata ng Forbidden never felt this good : Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

159 Kabanata

Chapter Thirty-One: Flames Between Shadows

The text made my skin crawl before I even read it.Watch.Just one word. No sender name. No explanation. Just a threat disguised as instruction.I stared at the glowing screen, my thumb hovering over the message, heart hammering. Outside the window, the city hummed its ordinary rhythm, indifferent to the storm brewing inside my apartment. I should have called Elliot. Should have called Liam. Should have called Marcus. But instinct held me frozen.Because sometimes, the quiet before disaster is worse than the disaster itself.I slipped the phone into my pocket and walked to the window. I could see shadows moving outside, shifting along the edges of the building. Whoever was out there knew the layout of the street. Knew my routines. Knew I was alone though “alone” was a relative term.Three men had been waiting for me tonight, though none of them could stay here forever. Elliot, with his protective calm that could melt steel. Liam, my stepbrother, with his raw intensity that made even s

Chapter Thirty-Two: Shadows in the Light

The whisper outside the hallway lingered in my mind like smoke thin, almost intangible, but everywhere. I pressed myself against the wall, heart hammering, eyes flicking to the blinds as if I could will them to shield me from the unknown.Elliot crouched beside me, one hand resting lightly on my knee, the other adjusting the window lock. His jaw was set, eyes dark and unreadable. “Stay calm,” he murmured. “We know it’s coming. That’s all we need right now.”“Stay calm,” I repeated silently, tasting the words as though they were poison. How could I stay calm when every nerve screamed danger? When every instinct whispered that we were being watched, manipulated, cornered?Liam paced the floor, fists flexing at his sides. “I’m not calm,” he said, voice low but fierce. “I don’t do calm. I don’t… I can’t.” He stopped abruptly, turning to Marcus. “We need a plan. One that actually works, not just waiting for him to strike.”Marcus’s gaze swept the room, calculating, precise. “We prepare. Th

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Fire That Waits

The lighter’s glow cut through the darkness of the balcony like a blade. My chest tightened, and I felt every heartbeat in my throat. The intruder’s smile was unnerving, cruel, deliberate. He wasn’t just testing boundaries anymore he was daring us, mocking us, and I could feel the weight of his gaze pressing into my skin.Elliot moved instantly, stepping in front of me, his hands raised in readiness. “Step back,” he said, voice steady but low, controlled.Liam crouched beside me, eyes narrowing, fists clenched. “No way. She’s mine too,” he growled. “You don’t touch her.”Marcus remained calm, but the tension in his jaw and the tight line of his lips betrayed him. “Focus,” he said, voice low and cutting. “Observe, predict, react. That’s the only way we survive this.”I pressed myself against the wall, my knees shaking. I couldn’t stop my mind from racing: the intruder, his smile, the lighter, the shadows. I wanted to scream, to run, to disappear but I couldn’t. Not with them here, and

Chapter Thirty-Four: Breathing Fire

The intruder’s presence filled the apartment like smoke, heavy and choking. My chest tightened, and my fingers trembled, curling into the edge of the sofa. Every nerve in my body screamed at me to run, but I couldn’t Elliot, Liam, Marcus, and even the stranger’s awareness of me held me in place, caught between fear and desire, between survival and the dangerous pull of the men around me.The man stepped closer, his eyes dark, calculating, glinting with an almost predatory excitement. “It’s time,” he said softly, “to see what you’re truly made of.”Elliot’s hand found mine instantly, squeezing. “Stay behind me,” he ordered, his voice low and unwavering, calm in a way that almost made me forget the danger. But almost, not quite. My pulse throbbed, a warning drum that the fire outside and inside me was alive.Liam leaned forward, fists flexed, the tension radiating from him like heat. “No one’s going to touch her,” he growled, teeth clenched. “I don’t care who you are.”The intruder tilt

Chapter Thirty-Five: Lines in the Ashes

The shadow at the end of the hallway stretched long and threatening, and I could feel the weight of it pressing into my chest. Every instinct screamed at me to flee, to hide, to disappear but my feet remained glued to the floor, my pulse hammering like a drum in my ears. The intruder’s voice carried, low and deliberate, as if it could reach into my very thoughts."Choose. Desire or survival… but not both."Elliot stepped in front of me, body taut and ready. His presence was a protective wall, grounding me in a way I desperately needed, but it also reminded me that the choice was mine and his, and Liam’s, and Marcus’s. The fire between us wasn’t just desire anymore; it was survival, tension, and fear intertwined into something almost too heavy to bear.Liam was on the other side of me, fists flexed, eyes dark with barely contained rage. He was the kind of danger that could either save or destroy us all. I could feel his energy radiating toward me, protective yet volatile.Marcus’s eyes

Chapter Thirty-Six: Between Fire and Shadows

The soft click of the balcony door echoed in the room like a gunshot. My chest tightened, and I froze, every nerve alert. The intruder had breached the perimeter again. I could feel his presence lingering in the apartment, a predator in shadow, testing, taunting, daring us to react.Elliot was immediately at my side, hand brushing mine, grounding me. “Stay close,” he whispered, voice low, deliberate. “Do not let him see fear. He feeds on it.”Liam crouched on the other side of me, fists flexed, jaw tight. “I’m done letting him toy with us,” he growled. “Tonight ends differently.”Marcus’s eyes swept the apartment with surgical precision. “Stay calm. Observe. Anticipate. Control. That’s the only way we survive.” His hands were steady, resting lightly on the walls as if he could read the room’s tension like a map.The intruder’s presence wasn’t just physical anymore it was psychological. Every movement, every word he had spoken, every flicker of shadow had planted a seed of fear and des

Chapter Thirty-Seven: When the Fire Chooses You

The scratching at the balcony door stopped suddenlySilence followed thick, oppressive, unnatural.I realized then that silence was worse than noise. Noise meant movement. Noise meant intention. Silence meant calculation.My breath came shallow as I stared at the dark glass doors, my reflection faintly visible, pale and shaken, caught between three men who felt like both my shield and my undoing.Elliot moved first.Not fast. Not aggressive.Careful.He positioned himself slightly in front of me, one hand subtly outstretched behind him so he could touch me without looking. His fingers brushed my wrist, grounding me instantly.“Whatever happens,” he murmured, low enough that only I could hear, “you stay exactly where you are.”Liam scoffed under his breath, tension radiating off him like heat from an open flame. “You keep saying that like she’s not already in the middle of it.”“I know exactly where she is,” Elliot replied calmly. “That’s why I’m here.”Marcus didn’t speak.That alone

Chapter Thirty-Eight: What Burns Is Chosen

The door didn’t open.Not immediately.The handle stopped turning, frozen in place, as if whoever stood on the other side wanted us to feel the moment stretch wanted us to breathe in the fear, to let it settle into our bones.My lungs burned as I held my breath.Elliot’s body was solid in front of me, unmoving, a shield carved from resolve. I could feel the tension in him, coiled and controlled, every muscle prepared to react. Liam stood to my left, feet planted, shoulders squared, anger radiating off him in waves that made the air feel hot. Marcus was to my right, silent, deadly calm, his eyes never leaving the door.The intruder laughed again.Soft.Amused.“You’re very quiet,” he said through the thick wood. “That usually means panic… or planning.”Marcus spoke, his voice level and cold. “Step away from the door.”The intruder chuckled. “You sound confident. I like that. Confidence makes the fall so much sweeter.”My heart thudded painfully.I hated that he knew us. That he could r

Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Cost of Standing Still

The phone vibrated again in my hand.Once.Twice.Then stopped.The silence that followed was louder than any sound I could imagine. My fingers curled around the device, knuckles whitening as I stared at the screen, the intruder’s message burned into my vision like a brand.Tick tock. Fire chooses eventually.I felt Elliot’s hand close over mine, firm and warm, pulling me back from the spiral threatening to drag me under. “Hey,” he said quietly. “Look at me.”I did.His eyes were steady, searching my face, anchoring me. “He doesn’t get inside your head,” Elliot said. “Not if we don’t let him.”Liam scoffed from across the room, pacing like a caged animal. “Too late for that. He’s already in all of ours.”Marcus hadn’t moved since the intruder left. He stood near the door, arms crossed, gaze distant but razor sharp, like he was replaying every second of the encounter, dissecting it for weaknesses.“He wanted a reaction,” Marcus said at last. “And he got one. But he also revealed someth

Chapter Forty: When the Watcher Steps Closer

The gallery smelled like polished wood, old paint, and quiet money.Sunlight poured through the tall glass panels, splintering across marble floors and casting long reflections that made every movement feel doubled, watched. Voices were muted here soft murmurs, careful footsteps, the low hum of air conditioning that never quite faded into the background.I felt exposed the moment I stepped inside.Not because of what I was wearing simple, elegant, deliberately unremarkable but because I knew he would be here. Somewhere between the abstract installations and oil portraits, between the lie of normalcy and the truth pressing against my spine.Elliot walked beside me, close but not touching. Liam trailed slightly behind, posture loose, eyes sharp. Marcus stayed farther back, blending in effortlessly, as if he were just another patron studying art instead of a strategist mapping exits and threats.Controlled exposure.That was what we had agreed on.Still, my pulse thundered like I’d stepp

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