All Chapters of Owned By My Father's Rival: Chapter 91 - Chapter 100

Chapter 91: The Architecture of TomorrowThe cemetery emptied for the second time in as many months.Elena stood at the edge of Isabella's grave, the fresh dirt still dark against the winter grass. Lucien waited by the car, his hands in his pockets, his breath clouding in the cold air. He didn't rush her. He never rushed her anymore."She's gone," Elena said to no one.The wind answered."She's really gone."The wind didn't care.She walked to the car.Lucien opened the door."Home?""Where's home?"He looked at her."Wherever you are."She got in.---The apartment was quiet.Isabella's room was empty. The bed was made. The pillows were fluffed. The journal was still under the pillow, where Elena had left it.She hadn't read it.Didn't want to.Didn't need to.Lucien stood in the doorway."What are you thinking?""That I don't know who I am anymore.""You're Elena.""That's not an answer.""It's the only one I have."He walked to her.Took her hand."We'll figure it out. Together.""

Chapter 93: The Small HoursNadia woke at three in the morning.She did not cry. She simply opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling with the quiet intensity of someone who was already learning that the world was full of things worth watching. Elena heard her stir on the monitor and was out of bed before the second breath.Lucien didn't wake.He had stopped sleeping deeply months ago, but tonight—tonight he was lost in some dream Elena couldn't see. She didn't disturb him.The nursery was warm.Yellow walls. Soft light. The tree outside the window swaying in the April breeze. Elena lifted Nadia from the crib and held her against her chest. The baby's heartbeat was fast and steady, a hummingbird rhythm that reminded Elena that something good had come from all the ashes."Hey, little one."Nadia blinked."Your grandmothers would have loved you."Nadia didn't answer."Maybe not. Maybe they were too broken to love anyone the right way. But they would have tried."---Lucien appeared in t

Chapter 95: The DoorwayThe apartment felt smaller after Yuri's call.The walls pressed closer. The windows seemed thinner. Every shadow in the courtyard looked like a man waiting. Elena had not slept. Neither had Lucien. They sat in the dark living room, Nadia's monitor between them, the city humming its indifferent song outside."We should leave," Elena said."Where?""Somewhere he won't find us.""There's no such place.""Then somewhere he won't follow."Lucien was quiet."He'll follow us anywhere.""Then we stay.""Yes."She looked at him."And fight.""Yes."---Reyes arrived at dawn.She looked worse than yesterday. Dark circles under her eyes. Coffee shaking in her hand. Her jacket was rumpled, her hair was unwashed, and her gun was visible at her hip."You look terrible," Elena said."I've been up all night.""Tracing Yuri?""Trying to.""Any luck?"Reyes sat at the kitchen table."He's here. In the city. We know that much. But he's using old networks. People who owe his fathe

Chapter 97: The Living and the DeadThe suite fell silent.Elena stood frozen in the doorway, her eyes locked on the woman who had raised her. The woman who had read her bedtime stories. The woman who had kissed her scraped knees. The woman who had died at the bottom of a cliff.Nadia was thinner than Elena remembered. Gray streaked her dark hair. Wrinkles framed her eyes. Her hands were knotted with arthritis, her shoulders curved with age. But her face. Her face was the same."You're alive," Elena whispered.Nadia nodded."All these years.""All these years.""I buried you.""I know.""I mourned you.""I know.""I hated myself for not saving you."Nadia's eyes glistened."I'm sorry.""That's not an answer.""It's the only one I have."---Yuri stood by the window.His arms were crossed. His face was calm. His eyes moved between Elena and Nadia like a man watching a tennis match."Touching," he said.Lucien's gun was in his hand."Yuri.""Lucien.""Let her go.""She's not a prisoner.

Chapter 99: The AlmostThe apartment was quiet for the first time in months.No phones ringing. No threats looming. No shadows moving in the courtyard that might have been men with guns. Just the soft sounds of a Sunday morning—coffee brewing, Nadia cooing in her crib, Lucien's footsteps on the hardwood floor.Elena stood by the window.The tree in the courtyard was blooming again. White flowers that smelled like honey. The fountain was running, the water catching the morning light and throwing it back in scattered diamonds."Elena."She turned.Lucien was holding two mugs."Coffee?""Always."He handed her one.She wrapped her hands around the warmth."What are you thinking?" he asked."That I don't know who I am anymore.""You're Elena.""That's not an answer."He stepped closer."It's the only one I have."---Nadia—the elder Nadia—was in the kitchen.She had moved into the apartment two weeks ago. She slept on the couch, though Elena had offered her the spare room. She said the co