All Chapters of Before love Lies: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Sorting through the paperwork, my hands moved faster than my thoughts, folders blurring together as panic and purpose collided in my chest. Then something stopped me cold.“Michelle… I think I found something,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.I flipped open a thin, unmarked envelope. Inside was a single sheet of paper. No letterhead. No explanation. Just coordinates.The same coordinates.My stomach tightened as realization hit. These were the exact coordinates we had been sent earlier—the ones tied to the threat against Michelle’s mother. Whatever was happening wasn’t coincidence. It was connected. Deeply connected.Michelle leaned over my shoulder as I kept reading. The document wasn’t military, corporate, or government. It was something else entirely—an internal intelligence brief. At the top was a name that made my blood run cold.COIN Mafia.I had heard the name before. Everyone in intelligence had. They weren’t just criminals; they were ghosts. A global organization tha

We barely touched our food. Whatever it was supposed to be tasted like ash anyway. The moment we finished, we were back in the car, speeding through the streets, every red light feeling like a personal insult. No one spoke. The weight of everything we’d learned sat heavy between us.The hotel came into view far too quickly.The moment we stepped inside, the smell hit me—old cigars, stale alcohol, and something deeper. Regret. The kind that soaked into walls and never left. The flickering hallway lights buzzed overhead as we made our way to Room 213, the carpet worn thin by years of bad decisions and worse nights.I unlocked the door.Inside was worse.The room reeked of booze-soaked carpet and cigarette smoke layered over years of neglect. Depression hung in the air like fog. The bedspread was stained, the curtains yellowed, the single lamp buzzing as if even it wanted to give up.“This place feels wrong,” Michelle muttered.“It’s perfect,” I replied. “No one would look here.”We shut

I flew down the empty road, tires gripping the asphalt as if they knew what was at stake. The shelter was close—too close to slow down now. Then I smelled it.Smoke.It poured from beneath the hood, thick and bitter, and before I could even react the engine began to scream in protest. The car jerked violently. Flames licked up from the seams of the hood, glowing orange against the night.“Crap —no, no, no!” I slammed the brakes.“We’re going to have to walk!” I yelled, already shoving the door open.Michelle didn’t hesitate. We jumped out just as the engine coughed one last time, fire spreading fast. The car—our only fast way out—was done.The trees swallowed us almost immediately.Branches clawed at our clothes as we pushed deeper into the woods, the ground uneven and slick beneath our feet. Every step felt heavier than the last. My lungs burned. My legs screamed. But stopping wasn’t an option—not when the Coin Mafia could be minutes behind us.“Two miles,” I muttered, forcing myself

As I slept that night, a dream overtook me. My father was walking toward me, his figure pulling me backward in time—back to the house in the woods. I could feel the damp air, smell the pine. I watched myself walk up to the front door, my fingers tapping out a sequence on a hidden panel. It all starts here.His voice echoed, calm but urgent. Wake up.I jolted awake, the words still ringing in my ears. It all starts here. I sat up, heart pounding, already knowing exactly what I had to do. I glanced at the clock—8:00 on the dot. No time to hesitate. we gotta go,” I said, shaking Michelle awake. Within minutes we were moving—half walking, half running—through the quiet streets until we found a small clothing shop tucked into the middle of town.We rushed inside. No talking. No second thoughts. We changed fast, shedding who we were along with our old clothes. I cut my hair short, watching dark strands fall into the sink, trying to erase the version of myself I used to be. I stepped into a

Tiffany moved through the cabin slowly, her boots deliberate against the floorboards. A cold smile played at the corner of her mouth as she brushed her fingers across the table, the walls, the places where our lives had just been moments ago.“Oh, John,” she said softly, almost playfully. “Come out. Don’t start hiding now.”Her voice echoed through the empty rooms, taunting, confident. She already knew we weren’t there—but she wanted to make sure we heard her anyway.After a few minutes, she exhaled in boredom.“Figures.”She stepped outside, the cabin door creaking behind her, and walked back to her car. When she returned, she had her phone in hand. She paused at the doorway, took one last look inside, and dialed a number.Her voice dropped—low, calm, bulldozing the silence like a blade through bone.“Bring them in.”She turned slowly, scanning the treeline as if she could see through the forest itself.“Burn it. Tear it apart,” she continued. “Destroy the entire place.”A faint smil