Lahat ng Kabanata ng The daughter she thought was gone!: Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

Caleb Rowan had not slept.He sat in his darkened living room, whiskey glass in hand, the curtains drawn tight against the world. Serena sobbed in the bedroom, but he didn’t go to her.He didn’t comfort her.He didn’t comfort anyone.His entire focus was on one thing:Winning back control.Amara had outplayed him.She had blindsided him.And worse—she had taken Elara.He couldn't process it.He couldn't accept it.He refused to.He stared at the court order on the coffee table—the one the marshal had shoved in his face when they took his daughter.TEMPORARY SOLE CUSTODY — AMARA LINTONHis jaw clenched.His hands shook.He had always been able to manipulate situations.Charm his way into anything.Convince people he was the victim.But this—This was slipping through his fingers.Because Amara was no longer the same woman he’d once controlled.The woman he’d belittled.The woman he’d convinced himself would always choose him over herself.She had changed.She had become something he co

Caleb Rowan had never been a man who dealt well with failure. He sat in a dim hotel bar—not his usual expensive whiskey lounge, but a shadowy, anonymous place far from Silverwood’s polished veneer. His shirt was wrinkled, his tie loosened, his eyes bloodshot.He drank.Then drank more.And more.His reflection in the glass behind the bar looked like a ghost of the man he used to be—a ghost who was unraveling, thread by thread.How did he end up here. Amara was never supposed to find out.The bartender approached. “Another?”Caleb ran a hand over his face. “Yeah. Sure.”As the man poured, Caleb’s phone buzzed.Unknown Number:You need to rethink your strategy. Public smears are sloppy. We warned you.Caleb’s grip tightened. Fury running through his veins.He replied:She’s winning. Hale is involved. I need options.The response was instantaneous:Options require payment.Caleb scoffed out loud. “Always money…”He typed:You’ll get your money. Just tell me what to do.The reply chilled

Night settled over the house like a thick blanket.Elara slept curled against Amara’s chest in her bed, tiny fingers twined in her mother’s shirt as if afraid to let go. Amara stroked her daughter’s back, lost in thought, lost in worry, lost in the growing realization that Caleb’s desperation had become something darker.Something dangerous.She kissed Elara’s head, eased out of the bed, and stepped into the hallway.Dominic stood there.As if he’d been waiting for her.They met in the dim light, the air between them electric with tension and unspoken fear.“Jack reviewed the cameras,” Dominic said softly.Amara’s breath caught. “And?”“A man approached the porch at 3:17 AM.”“Caleb?”Dominic shook his head. “The footage was blurry. Hooded. But the height and build weren’t his.”A cold chill crawled up her spine.“Who, then?”Dominic’s jaw clenched. “Someone working for him. Or someone who wants something from him.”“Why leave a toy?” she whispered.Dominic stepped closer, lowering hi

After the intruder was taken away, and the house swept twice by Jack’s team, Dominic insisted on moving Amara and Elara to a safehouse he owned on the outskirts of Silverwood.At first, she protested.“My daughter finally slept here,” she whispered. “This house… it just became home.”Dominic stepped close. “Home is where she’s safe. Right now, that’s with me.”Amara stared at him—searching, unsure.But the fear of the intruder’s smile, the broken glass, the knowledge that Caleb had escalated… it all left her no room for argument.She nodded.Elara slept through the move, bundled in Amara’s arms as Dominic drove the SUV himself. The safehouse wasn’t a cabin or a bunker—it was a modern, beautiful stone estate tucked behind thick trees, with private gates and 24/7 security.Warm. Safe. Comforting.Dominic carried Elara into a guest room and tucked her under a soft gray blanket. Amara watched from the doorway, her heart aching at the gentleness in his movements.No one would ever guess a

Night swept over the safehouse like a velvet curtain. The security lights along the perimeter flickered on, casting long shadows across the freshly trimmed lawn.Elara slept soundly again — this time in a room closer to Amara’s, wrapped in a blanket Dominic had carefully tucked around her before he and Jack left to investigate.Amara stood in the kitchen with a half‑full mug of tea, staring at the back door. Dominic had insisted she stay inside — that Jack’s team could track Lucas Barren without risking her safety.She hated it.She hated feeling powerless.She hated being a target.She hated that her daughter was caught in the crossfire of someone else’s obsession.When the garage door opened quietly, she whipped around, heart racing.Dominic stepped inside.Worn.Tense.Eyes flashing with a storm she didn’t yet understand.“Did you find him?” she whispered.“Yes.”He removed his coat—slowly, like someone carrying the weight of the night on his shoulders. Amara stepped forward instin