Chapter 11 ( Only mine to Break )

The night was thick with terror.Bodies lay scattered across the garden—alive, breathing, broken, but not dead. Groans echoed through the cold air as the men and women who had once ruled Lily’s nightmares knelt or collapsed where they’d fallen. No one dared to move. Every eye was fixed on Ethan.He stood still at the center of it all, posture relaxed, expression unreadable, like a king who had already decided their fate.“No one leaves,” Ethan said calmly. His voice was quiet, but it carried. “Not until she says you can.”Fear rippled through the crowd. Some tried to crawl back. Others cried. A few begged. None of it mattered.Ethan turned away from them and walked back into the mansion.Up on the balcony, Lily stood frozen.Her fingers were wrapped tightly around the iron grill behind her, knuckles pale. The screams below had faded, replaced by a suffocating silence. When she heard footsteps, her breath hitched.“Lily.”She turned slowly.Ethan stood a few feet away, his shadow stret

Last Updated : 2026-01-15

Chapter 12 ( Rules that Break at Dawn)

The noise reached him just after midnight.It wasn’t loud—just enough to slip through the silence and catch his attention. A soft, broken sound. Fabric shifting. A breath that came too fast.Ethan opened his eyes.For a moment, he stayed still in his bed, listening. The mansion was trained to be quiet at night. Any sound out of place mattered. The noise came again—muffled, uneven—followed by a sharp intake of breath.From her room.Ethan rose slowly, moving with practiced silence. The hallway lights were off, shadows stretching long beneath his steps. When he reached her door, he didn’t open it immediately. He rested his hand against the wood and listened.Inside, Lily was moving restlessly, trapped in the violent rhythm of a nightmare. Her breath stuttered. Her body twisted against the sheets as if trying to escape something unseen.Ethan opened the door just enough to look in.She was tangled in the blankets, hair damp against her forehead, lips parted as if she were trying to speak

Last Updated : 2026-01-15

Chapter 13 (Something More Dangerous Than Control)

Time dulled nothing inside Ethan Cross.Power sharpened it.The days that followed were heavy with unspoken tension. Lily moved through the mansion like a shadow—quiet, obedient, careful not to draw attention. She no longer questioned his silences or his absences. She had learned that survival here depended on reading what wasn’t said.That morning, Ethan emerged from his room dressed in black—tailored coat, gloves, a presence that bent the air around him. He adjusted his watch, already thinking about the underground alliance meeting waiting for him beneath the city.He was halfway down the hall when her voice reached him.Soft. Hesitant.“Ethan…”He stopped but didn’t turn.“…can you come home a little early today?”Silence stretched.She immediately panicked, words rushing out, tripping over each other. “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean— I just… I don’t have any clothes. I need to buy some. And I’m a little scared.”He turned slowly.She stood near the doorway, hands clasped tightly in fr

Last Updated : 2026-01-16

Chapter 14( Red between Us)

Ethan stood up abruptly, checking the time.They were already getting late.He walked straight toward Lily’s room and opened the door without knocking. The room was empty. The bed was untouched. His eyes narrowed. Without hesitation, he turned and walked toward the bathroom. The sound of running water confirmed it.He pushed the door open.Lily stood in front of the sink, washing her face. Water dripped from her fingers as she froze the moment she saw him. Her eyes widened slightly, breath catching, as if she had been caught doing something wrong.“We’re getting late,” Ethan said calmly.She swallowed. “A-are we going?” she asked softly.“Yes.”Her lips parted in surprise. She nodded quickly and turned away, drying her face with shaking hands. Ethan didn’t wait. He turned and walked out.Outside, he stood beside the car, unlocking it. Minutes passed before the door opened. Lily stepped out and instinctively opened the back door, the habit carved into her from the days when he had only

Last Updated : 2026-01-16

Chapter 15 ( The Necklace and the Night Drive)

Morning arrived without softness.When Ethan descended to the dining room, breakfast was already laid out with precise care—plates warm, coffee poured, everything in its proper place.Except her.The empty chair across from him felt louder than any accusation.He noticed it immediately: the way footsteps retreated when he entered a room, the way doors closed a second too quickly. Lily was avoiding him. Not defiantly—instinctively. Like someone who had learned that invisibility was safer than presence.Ethan said nothing. He finished breakfast in silence, left the mansion, and let the iron gates close behind him.At the office, the world returned to its proper order.Information flowed fast. Names, histories, grudges. His men laid everything out—the gangs rejected from the earlier alliance, the ones left outside the circle of power, resentful and vulnerable.Ethan listened, expression unreadable.“Call them,” he said at last. “All of them. Every leader who was rejected. And every one w

Last Updated : 2026-01-17

Chapter 16 ( shattered velvet and Gunfire)

The restaurant glowed like a dream pulled from another life.Candlelight shimmered against crystal glasses, soft music drifting through the air as the city stretched below them. Ethan had arranged everything—privacy, silence, distance from the world. For a moment, Lily almost looked like she belonged there. She laughed quietly, cautiously, as if testing whether joy was still allowed. For those few minutes, the darkness loosened its grip.Then the past walked in.The man stopped beside their table—too confident, too familiar. His gaze went straight to Lily.“Lily,” he said softly. “Come with me. You don’t have to stay with him. You chose me once. You can choose me again.”Time fractured.Ethan’s vision narrowed. The restaurant noise faded into a dull roar. Every fragile moment from the night shattered instantly.He stood so fast the chair scraped violently across the floor.Before Lily could speak, he grabbed her arm and dragged her out. No explanations. No restraint. The cold night sw