Lahat ng Kabanata ng Dumped, Because His "HER" Is Back: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

The air in the bunker was stagnant, tasting of ozone and the copper tang of blood. I scrambled across the floor, my knees scraping against the cold concrete until I reached him. Lucian lay across the threshold, a fallen titan amidst the dust of his own destruction."Lucian! Lucian, look at me!" I cried, pulling his head onto my lap.His face was a mask of gray soot and crimson streaks. His breathing was shallow, a ragged whistle in his chest that terrified me. I tore a strip from my silk robe, pressing it against a deep gash on his forehead.His eyelids fluttered, then opened. For a moment, his gaze was vacant, unfocused, until they landed on me. A ghost of a smile touched his cracked lips."You're... still here," he rasped, his voice sounding like it had been dragged through gravel."I’m here. We’re here," I sobbed, taking his hand and pressing it against my stomach. "You did it. You saved us.""The detonator..." he coughed, a spray of red hitting the floor. "The main hall collapsed.

The air inside the bunker was stagnant, tasting of pulverized concrete and the copper tang of blood. Lucian’s weight was a burning heat against my legs, his body flickering between consciousness and a dark, terrifying void. Marcus leaned against the reinforced door, his tactical gear shredded, his eyes glazed with the shock of the blast."I need to dress his wounds," I said, my voice surprisingly steady despite the tremors racking my frame.I began to unbutton Lucian’s charred shirt. The sight underneath made my stomach turn. Shrapnel had shredded his side, and his left shoulder was grotesquely misaligned. But it was his silence that scared me most. Lucian Blackwood, the man who had commanded cities with a whisper, was now at the mercy of my shaking hands."Evelyn..." he rasped, his eyes fluttering open to reveal bloodshot irises. "The letter... don't let her... find it.""Be quiet, Lucian. Save your strength," I commanded, pressing a clean cloth against the deepest gash.I moved with

The private jet touched down at the city’s secondary airfield at midnight. Rain lashed against the windows, a familiar welcome to a place that had tried to kill us.We weren't the same people who had fled. Lucian was now the CEO of Ares Global, a security and tech giant that had appeared out of nowhere. I was his Chief Creative Officer, known to the world only as "V."As we stepped onto the tarmac, Marcus was waiting with a fleet of armored SUVs. He looked older, more scarred, but his salute to Lucian was as crisp as ever."The penthouse is ready, sir. Swept for bugs and guarded by our top tier. Sarah Vance’s whereabouts have also been confirmed."I stiffened at the mention of my sister. "Where is she?""She’s a broken woman, ma'am," Marcus said, his voice devoid of pity. "Leticia Valerius cast her aside after the explosion. She’s living in a halfway house on the edge of the slums. She... she didn't come out of the fire unscathed.""Good," Lucian muttered, but I felt a strange tug in

He air at the edge of the cliff was different than it had been three years ago. Back then, it had smelled of burning steel and the end of the world. Tonight, it smelled of sea salt and the cold, sharp scent of impending justice.The ruins of the Citadel rose from the rocks like the skeleton of a prehistoric beast. Lucian stood at the very precipice, his long black coat billowing in the wind like the wings of a fallen angel. He looked like a part of the darkness itself. Marcus and the Ares team had already secured the perimeter, their tactical lights cutting through the fog like the eyes of prowling predators.In the center of the jagged foundation, a woman sat in a lone, high-backed chair that had been brought specifically for this occasion. Leticia Valerius looked perfectly composed, her silver hair shimmering under the moonlight. She wasn't tied down. She didn't need to be. She knew that running was a peasant’s game, and she was the queen of this nightmare."You always had a flair f

The old Vance estate was a skeleton of its former glory. Vines choked the stone pillars, and the air smelled of damp earth and rot. But as I walked toward the back of the property, the glass structure of the greenhouse shimmered in the moonlight like a jagged diamond. This was where Sarah and I used to hide when our father’s temper turned into a storm. It was the only place we had ever been allies.My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic bird in a cage. I pushed open the creaking door. The heat inside was stifling, trapped by the glass and the thick, overgrown tropical plants that had turned into a jungle."I’m here, Sarah!" I called out, my voice trembling. "I'm alone. Just like you asked."A shadow moved near the back, by the old stone fountain. A woman stepped out, and for a moment, I didn't recognize her. Sarah’s glamorous blonde hair was gone, replaced by a jagged, dark bob. She wore a tactical jacket, and a scar ran from her temple down to her cheek—a souvenir from the nigh