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Semua Bab My Sister Killed Me for Her Favorite Son: Bab 1 - Bab 7

7 Bab

Chapter 1

The seventh time I married in Evan's place, my sister handed me the bottle again."Adrian, this is the last time," Serena said. "Once you help Evan test this marriage, I'll stop standing in the way of the woman you want."She said it like she was discussing dinner plans, not asking me to risk my life."Evan's young. He got spooked by the whole society-marriage thing," she went on. "He's worried Catherine Sinclair might be trouble, so you need to take his place at the wedding first and see what kind of woman she is."She set the little amber bottle in my palm."Same as before. Finish the ceremony, take the pill, and I'll pick you up at St. Mary's Cemetery."My fingers tightened around the glass.The doctor had warned me already. My body couldn't take this drug again. One more dose, and I might not wake up.Serena never believed him. Or maybe she just didn't care enough to.Before I could say another word, she caught my jaw and tipped the bottle to my lips.The liquid burned all the way

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Chapter 2

When the memory broke, I was back in the morgue.Serena's phone rang.The second she saw the caller ID, the tension in her face melted into something soft."Evan? What is it, sweetheart? Missing me already?"I didn't need to hear his side to know he was pouting in that spoiled, honey-sweet voice that always got him what he wanted."Don't forget to stop by St. Mary's and collect Adrian," he said through the speaker. "And I've made up my mind. Catherine's not happening. I still don't trust her, so have him clean this up properly. No loose ends. And about my thesis? You have to handle that. He stole my structure and data, and my advisor still keeps taking his side. Make Adrian admit it to my face, or I swear I'm never getting over it."That paper had been mine from the first citation to the last line of methodology. I had built it on sleepless nights and bad coffee. Evan stole my drafts, then cried theft first.Serena never questioned him."All right," she said without hesitation. "I'll t

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Chapter 3

In the end, Serena took the boy to file a report.She chose her words carefully when she told him the office had just received an unidentified young male victim and that, if he wanted, they could begin basic identification procedures.For a second, it looked like his legs might give out entirely.Then his phone rang.A young man's voice burst through the speaker, bright and annoyed. "Where are you? I came back from out of state to surprise you, and the house is empty."The boy stared, then let out a broken laugh-sob. "Jesus, you scared the hell out of me."A few minutes later, he was apologizing over and over and sprinting back out the door.The whole office exhaled in relief.Only I felt emptier than before.Two days passed. The field investigators came back one by one, and none of them had anything useful.Miles's expression darkened by the hour. Finally, he cornered Serena again. "I still think something's wrong with Adrian. He wouldn't just vanish this long for no reason."Serena h

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Chapter 4

Serena went absolutely still.For a second she just stood there with the phone pressed to her ear when Miles was already moving."Where's the scene?" he asked. "We're on our way."Thirty minutes later, a black department SUV rolled to a stop outside an abandoned warehouse on the east side of the Bayhaven docks.An officer held out my phone in an evidence bag. "We found it near the north wall. Lot of blood around it. From what we've seen so far, this looks like the primary scene."The minute Serena saw the dark blue case, her fingers shook.She had bought it for my twentieth birthday.She keyed in her own birthday without thinking. The screen lit up.Miles said quietly, "Could mean someone picked it up. Or he dropped it before the killer got to him."Serena said nothing and stepped farther into the warehouse and looked around.The place smelled like rust and old seawater. Blood had dried black-brown across one section of wall. A cheap chair lay on its side. Rope, torn tape, drag marks. P

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Chapter 5

Serena answered on the third ring.I had so much blood in my mouth that the first word barely made it out."Sis-"She cut straight across me. "Adrian, what now?"I tried again. "Serena, please. I-""Oh, for God's sake. Do you have any idea what kind of week I've had? Evan's graduation dinner is at the end of the month. If you pull one more stunt, I swear to God, I'll kill you myself."Then the line went dead.The warehouse fell quiet in the ugliest way.Lucas patted my face twice, almost fond. "Well. That's embarrassing."Evan slid the phone back into his pocket. "Told you. She'd rather lose him than inconvenience me."I didn't cry. I think I had gone too far past heartbreak by then. All that was left was the hollow sound of the last hope in me giving way.Lucas caught my chin. "Your sister wants you gone? We can do that."After that, memory got patchy.A blade flashing low.My body going colder by the minute.Evan's voice, pleased and far away.And then nothing.Back in the present, r

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Chapter 6

Evan didn't even wait until nightfall.Serena had barely finished speaking when her phone lit up with his name. She put him on speaker. His voice came through thin and shaky, pitched just right for sympathy."Serena, I heard about Adrian. I'm scared. Can you come home tonight? Please? I don't want to be alone."She looked at Miles.Miles gave the smallest nod.Serena's voice smoothed out at once. "Of course. Stay at Blackwood. I'll be there soon."After she hung up, Miles moved fast. "You've got the backup tracker on you?"She reached under the collar of her blouse and showed him the emergency transponder clipped beneath the fabric."Don't take it off," he said. "Keep your phone on. If you can stall, stall. If you can't, we move on the last ping."Serena picked up her keys. "If he's innocent, I've just ruined whatever's left of my life."Miles held her gaze. "And if he's not, Adrian doesn't get another apology instead of justice."By the time Serena turned through the gates of Blackwoo

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Chapter 7

Bayhaven blew wide open that night.Major Crimes locked down half the old quarter. Patrol cars sealed intersections. Helicopter lights swept rooftops while rain turned the streets slick as glass.Lucas Cole made it three blocks before cornering himself in a service lane behind a row of boarded-up shops. He came out shooting and died where he stood.Evan got farther.He cut through a churchyard and nearly made it to the waterfront before a K-9 unit drove him into a dead-end alley. When they dragged him out, face pressed to wet concrete, he was smiling.That smile stayed on him even after they put him in county blues.Serena insisted on sitting in on the overnight interview.Through the glass, Evan looked almost bored. Like the cuffs, the holding room, the fluorescent glare - none of it could really touch him.Serena sat down across from him."Why Adrian?" she asked.Evan leaned back in the chair. "That's what you're leading with? Not why I fooled you? Not why you never saw me coming?""

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