Lahat ng Kabanata ng OWNED BY THE DEVIL: Kabanata 141 - Kabanata 150

The safehouse lights dimmed automatically as the system shifted into night mode. Outside, the city’s distant glow flickered through the reinforced glass, painting faint patterns across the floor.For the first time in hours, there were no alarms.No warnings.No shadows moving across the monitors.Just quiet.I lay on the narrow bed in the adjoining room, staring at the ceiling, but sleep refused to come. My mind replayed the evening in fragments, Kessler’s traps, the alarms, the tension in Dominic’s voice… and the moment we had almost crossed the line between restraint and something deeper.The warmth of his hand still lingered in my memory; the soft brush of his fingers against my cheek, the brief kiss on my forehead that had sent my heart racing. I turned onto my side with a quiet sigh.Through the open doorway, I could see the faint glow from the control room where Dominic still sat. He had insisted on monitoring the systems for another hour, just in case Kessler decided to make a

The kiss lingered long after their lips had parted.Elara could still feel it, warm, steady, real. It wasn’t the kind of kiss born from desperation or adrenaline. It had been slower than that, more deliberate. The kind that said we’ve been standing on this edge for too long.Dominic hadn’t stepped away yet.His hand still rested at her waist, thumb absentmindedly tracing a small circle against the fabric of her shirt. The quiet movement sent tiny sparks up her spine.For a moment neither of them spoke.The safehouse remained still, the monitors humming softly behind them.“You know,” Dominic said finally, his voice low, “we’re supposed to be professionals.”Elara raised an eyebrow.“We are professionals.”He gave a soft, amused breath. “Professionals who just ignored every rule about emotional involvement during an active operation.”Her lips curved slightly.“You started it.”“I did not.”“You leaned in first.”“I kissed your forehead earlier.”“That counts.”Dominic shook his head l

The old transit hub stood like a forgotten monument at the edge of the city.Once, it had been a place full of movement—trains arriving, engines rumbling, crowds flowing through the wide concrete halls. Now it sat abandoned, its metal framework rusting, its windows cracked and dusted with years of neglect.And today it was surrounded by armed men.Dominic slowed the car two blocks away and parked beneath the shadow of an old warehouse.“From here we walk,” he said.Elara nodded, scanning the streets through the windshield.The area was quiet, but it wasn’t empty. She could spot two men posted on the rooftop of a nearby building and another standing beside one of the parked vehicles near the hub.“Kessler didn’t come alone,” she murmured.“Did you expect him to?”“Not really.”Dominic turned off the engine and stepped out.The cold morning air carried the distant echo of the city waking up—sirens far away, traffic building somewhere across the river. But here, near the abandoned transi

The hum of the servers filled the massive chamber like a mechanical heartbeat.Rows of blinking lights stretched into the shadows, each machine processing unimaginable amounts of data. The air felt warm and electric, thick with the quiet power of the system Kessler had built.Dominic stood still, staring at the central terminal.Elara remained beside him, arms folded, eyes scanning the endless racks of machines.“So let me understand this,” she said slowly. “You spent five years building a global criminal network… just so we could shut it down?”Kessler laughed softly.“When you say it like that, it sounds almost noble.”Dominic didn’t turn around.“You didn’t build this to destroy it.”“Of course not.”“Then why show us?”Kessler stepped casually between two rows of servers, running his fingers lightly across one of the metal racks as if admiring his own creation.“Because this system has reached its peak,” he said.“And?”“And the only thing more interesting than building a machine

The gunfire changed.At first it had been focused, directed entirely at the doorway of the server chamber where Dominic and Elara were holding their ground.But now the rhythm shifted.Different weapons.Different directions.Dominic noticed it first.Between bursts of gunfire, he heard shouting echo through the terminal, voices arguing in different languages.Then another volley of shots erupted.Not toward them.Toward the men who had entered the station first.Elara frowned and leaned slightly around the doorway.“What the...”She quickly ducked back as bullets shattered a row of old ticket windows across the hall.“Okay,” she muttered, “that’s new.”Dominic stepped closer to the entrance and listened.Outside the server chamber, chaos had erupted.The first group of attackers who had stormed the building were now scrambling for cover as a second faction pushed through the main doors of the terminal.And they weren’t friendly.The newcomers opened fire immediately.Men who had been