All Chapters of Living With the Boy Who Hated Me: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Aya’s POVThe transport shaft opened beneath the Founder’s office with a sound like metal tearing through stone.Cold air rushed upward from the darkness.A narrow platform waited below, suspended inside a vertical tunnel lined with old cables, steel rails, and emergency lights that flickered weakly along the walls.Callum stood at the edge, staring down.His wounded shoulder had begun bleeding through the bandage again.“You’re not going anywhere like that,” I said.He looked at me.“I’m going wherever you go.”“You can barely move your arm.”“I only need one.”“That isn’t reassuring.”“It wasn’t supposed to be.”Even now, with Tina and Alastair trapped in Lucien’s hands, Callum still found enough strength for sarcasm.Usually, I would have argued.Instead, I took the spare bandage Ramirez handed me and tightened it around Callum’s shoulder.He hissed.“Sorry.”“You’re not.”“No.”I pulled the knot tighter.“I’m really not.”For half a second, his mouth curved.Then we both looked ba

Aya's POV"I'm the woman who helped your mother save you."The words seemed to hang in the abandoned maternity room.I stared at the stranger.She looked to be in her forties, perhaps older. Long dark hair framed a pale face marked by exhaustion, and there was something painfully familiar in the way she looked at me.Not because she looked like me.Because she looked at me as though she had been waiting years for this moment.Callum immediately moved in front of me."Who are you?"The woman stopped."My name is Evelyn Carter."Detective Cruz kept her weapon raised."Hands where I can see them."Evelyn obeyed."I don't have a weapon.""That doesn't make you harmless.""No."A sad smile touched Evelyn's lips."I suppose it doesn't."Helena stepped forward.The moment she saw Evelyn clearly, all color disappeared from her face."No."Evelyn looked at her."Hello, Helena.""You died.""That was the idea."Richard frowned."You know her?"Helena didn't answer immediately.When she finally d

Aya's POVThe gun remained pointed at the Raven.Alastair's hand shook so hard I could hear the metal clicking against his fingers.No one moved.No one dared.Tina was still tied to the hospital bed.Callum stood beside me.Detective Cruz held her weapon low, but ready.The Raven kept both hands raised.His eyes never left Alastair."I didn't know what Lucien planned to do to you."Alastair laughed bitterly."You were there.""Yes.""You watched.""Yes.""You let them take me."The Raven's jaw tightened."I was trying to get Aya out."My chest tightened.Alastair looked at me.For one second, the anger in his face disappeared.Then it returned."So I was the price?""No."The Raven shook his head."You were collateral."The words were a mistake.Alastair's expression snapped."Collateral?"His finger tightened around the trigger.Callum moved slightly in front of me."Careful."The Raven nodded."I deserved that.""You're damn right you did."Alastair's voice cracked."I spent years t

Aya's POVAlastair's scream tore through the speakers.I stopped breathing.Upstairs, somewhere above us, my brother was being dragged back into Lucien's conditioning.And the trigger had been Dad's voice.Protect your sister.Three words.Words that should have meant love.Lucien had turned them into a weapon."No."I spun toward the staircase.Callum caught my arm."Aya.""Let me go.""If you run back now, Lucien wins.""Alastair is screaming!""I know."Callum's voice cracked."But Ramirez and Evelyn are with him."I looked through the glass.Dad was still tied to the chair.His face twisted with horror as his own recorded voice echoed throughout the hospital."Alastair...""Protect your sister."Again.And again.Lucien stood behind him, holding the microphone.Calm.Smiling.I hated him.Not in the distant way I had hated names in old journals.This was different.Personal.Alive.He had taken my mother's courage.My father's voice.My brother's love.And turned all of them into t

Aya's POV"And Jamey is still inside."For one second, I couldn't understand the words.Jamey.My brother.Brinkley Estate.Fire.Then everything hit me at once."No."I grabbed the Raven's phone."Who told you that?""One of my people outside the estate.""Is he sure Jamey's there?""Yes."My chest tightened."Why?"Dad answered before anyone else could."He went back for me."I turned toward him."What?"Dad's face filled with guilt."Before Lucien's people took me, I called Jamey.""Why would you do that?""I didn't know they were already watching us."He swallowed."I told him I'd found something Eleanor left behind."The key.The third part of Mom's evidence."You sent him to Brinkley?""I told him where to find it.""Dad!""I thought it was safe!""Nothing connected to this family has been safe!"The words came out harsher than I intended.Dad flinched.Immediately, I regretted them.But there was no time.Callum stepped between us."We can fight later."He looked at the Raven.