Início / Romance / After Rebirth, I Married My Ex-husband's Enemy / Capítulo 21 - Capítulo 30

Todos os capítulos de After Rebirth, I Married My Ex-husband's Enemy : Capítulo 21 - Capítulo 30

101 Capítulos

A Quiet Kind of Drowning

**ATLAS**By the time I reached the edge of the pool, she was already gone, swallowed in the dull splash.I stopped thinking, adrenaline charging through my body as I flew through the air and into the pool.The numbness hit me first, curling my toes in the icy cold pool, and my head burst through the surface, eyes fixed on Calista's flailing body. “Calista!” My voice was hoarse, water filling my ears as I swam across to her. Her arm hit me square in the left eye, forcing me back underwater. I froze, blinding pain shooting through me as I forced the eye open and hooked an arm around her waist.My lungs ached for the sweet relief of oxygen, but I clung to her like an anchor, pinning her hands at her sides as I kicked back in the water with my feet and pulled her towards the edge.Her body felt weightless in my arms, yet my hands trembled violently as I laid her down on the cold stone floor. Her face was pale, hair stuck to her face, water seeping from her bluish lips.“Oh god—Calista

Soft Hands, Sharp Truth

**CALISTA**I woke up convinced I had died again, because pain like last night did not usually let you survive into the morning.I listened for the sound of my heartbeat, breathing in slowly like the oxygen could hurt me too. Images pressed down on my mind in sharp fragments, and I shut my eyes again, wishing them away into the wind.But they came in rapid waves, stealing my breath. Something metallic tasted in my mouth, and I swallowed, wondering just how much of the pool water I swallowed.I remembered the sound of the front door opening, the rough ground beneath my feet, the freezing splash that swallowed me whole…Atlas saved me, but what if he was not there? And what if it happens again? It shook me to my core that I would have died like my father, but I did not know what to do with that. So I shelved it to the back of my mind and slid off the bed. My feet felt steady on the ground, nothing like the empty pull of the ocean in my dreams. I did not need to look in a mirror to

His Phantom Leash

**MERRICK**Today, I woke up to silence, and if you thought that meant peace, you clearly did not know my house.A hand was sprawled under my chest, and I turned my neck to find Calista—no—Astrid sleeping beside me.Fuck…it was so hard to tell them apart, especially those perfect naked bodies…but Calista was a log, the kind that lay still while you did all the work. If only she was half as good as Astrid, maybe I would have been a bit more kind, but it was hard to look at her every morning and not even be able to touch her without going limp.I peeled the sleeping woman off me with a sigh and walked naked to the bathroom, telling myself that the lack of shuffling feet outside was just the servants having a late morning.Three days. That was how long my wife was gone for, and nobody had any answers. People did not just vanish—much less the ones who had no sense of direction. The water did not calm me today, and I was out of the shower in minutes, towel wrapped tightly around my waist

The Fire You Made

"I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.” ~ Maya Angelou **CALISTA**Pain had a way of making everything feel negotiable—including revenge, so I clasped my hands on my desk, pretending that the ticking of the clock did not make my heart quake.The plan was simple, and yet so hard, and it did not help that a headache had sparked in my temples.I shifted my attention to the images on my computer screen, and I realized that I forgot to ask how he got them in the first place. But that did not matter. What mattered was that I had come in an hour ago, and Merrick was yet to show up.True to Atlas's words, none of these numbers added up, and only one company out of all the others existed. I did not need a genie to tell me that this case was more delicate than I dreaded to imagine. It baffled me that he would have hung this around my neck and watched me burn, but he was the same man who pinned me in place for my sister to kill me in my past li

When Fear looks like Rage

**ATLAS**The numbers on the screen blurred into meaningless lines, because for the first time in years, I found myself paying more attention to a silent phone than to a room full of men waiting for my decision.Still, I sat through the good news and bad news, and when it was over, my jaw ached from talking, and a dull throb had settled in my temples. If this was taking so much time, then Calista must really have Merrick by the neck. Or she failed and he's taking the upper hand…My gut churned at the latter thought, and I rose from my seat to leave the brightly lit boardroom when the glass door yawned open, and my assistant strode in with the usual grin plastered on his face.It faded when he saw the frown on mine.“If you're having a bad day, it's about to get worse.” he said, glancing furtively over his shoulder.“Hit me.”“Merrick is here. Merrick Fairfax…and he looks rather upset about something. He tried to get past security, said he wants to talk to you.” I hesitated, mind rac

One Step Too Far

**CALISTA**I sat in the parked car too long, the engine already dead, but my fingers still curled around the wheel, like the email might rewrite itself if I blinked.My world was turned on its head after that, and in an attempt to reclaim the breath in my lungs, I printed all the images on paper, got in my car, and just drove.Now, I was across the street from the ‘project,’ and it looked nothing like what I had signed, and everything like a warning I was too late to ignore.The building across from me was an old warehouse fenced with a hedge of tall grass, and the smell of rusted iron clung to my throat like a silent warning. This was supposed to be a shelter for displaced women…a safe haven for those who love had hurt, and I remembered how excited I was in my past life when he told me. Of all the projects I endorsed, this one hit so close to home, and I felt a fresh fire licking at my chest with every gust of wind that wafted into my window and through my hair. My phone let out

This is How You Disappear

**ATLAS**Calista still was not answering my calls, and now Merrick’s threat sat in my chest like a lit fuse I could not locate fast enough to cut.She was not in her office either, and I was starting to feel like something was very wrong. So I did the only logical thing—I tracked her phone. The last cell tower that picked up her location was on the outskirts of town, and as I stepped on the accelerator, I hoped to God that she was alright.I dialed her number again when I slowed at a red light, but not only was she not responding, but the line was dead.Dead. “FUCK!” my fists came down hard on my steering, and I gripped the wheel until my knuckles shone white.The second the lights turned green, I stepped on my accelerator and barrelled down the road, every second slipping by like sand in an hourglass.Goddamnit, Calista…This was all my idea in the first place. I pushed her to poke the bear, now she's—Relax, Atlas. Maybe she was just getting a drink, or seeking some much needed

If She Dies

**ATLAS**The fuel light blinked to life on my dashboard, a cruel, blinking warning, and I realized with a hollow twist in my chest that I was running out of road, out of time, and still had no idea where the hell to find her.My wrists burned from pounding on my steering wheel, and I raked a finger through my hair.I did not know what to think, what to do. If I called the police, they would begin an investigation, one that would ruin Calista for life…but she needed life to feel shame.I turned my neck at every street, every alleyway, every dark corner, but it was like she was gone, snuffed out in the heat.I tried to tell myself that the blood was not enough to kill, but what if she was moved so they could…No.A gas station rose out of the heat, and I cursed every second wasted as I slowed by the gas pump. Alright, what should I do first?I hauled out of the car and swiped my card across the reader, shifting on my feet as I pumped.Next, Call Merrick. The station tv filtered throu

Blood on the Line

**MERRICK**The nurse kept asking if I was in pain, and I almost laughed.They thought I was shaken because of the fight, because of the blood—but I’d seen worse…done worse. This was not that. For the first time in my life, something creeped up my spine and stayed there, refusing to leave no matter how hard I shook. The moment I watched the nurse shut the door behind her, I reached for my phone, cursing at the low battery.My eyes scanned the small grey room, and I found a makeshift charger attached to the wall. Plugged in, I lay back with a groan and fixed my eyes on the door, waiting for the moment he would walk in and finish what he started. One moment, Calista was threatening to burn my world to the ground. Next, she was lying on a table, fighting for the slimmest chance to live again.I also never imagined that I would be lying in a hospital bed with a busted lip and a purple eye, but here we were, and what an upgrade this was.Atlas Kane was a fragile man—if you knew where t

Alive Enough to Feel It

**CALISTA**Something warm closed around my wrist—too human to be the dream, too real to be anything but a hand—but I still could not see who was standing over me.Until a voice filtered through my ears, cooing to me as the familiar burn of a syringe lit up my left wrist.A nurse…I tried again to open my eyes, but they were glued shut, and my jaw ached from hanging open. My throat felt raw, like something was pressing against its walls with each breath I was forced to take.Then the burn in my wrist was gone, but she remained, and I felt her feathery touch on my cheek, tucking my hair from my face.“You'll be alright, Hun. Anyday now…” I was not sure I heard her say that, or if my brain conjured the words, but I heard the door click open…and the air shifted. “Mr Fairfax…did you need something?” Merrick? God no…“Just a moment with my wife, thank you.” I heard his voice clip, and I told myself to open my eyes.It was that simple, yet so hard. My body simply did not feel like mine a

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