The Rise of Ethan Ryder: The Despised Husband & CEO
“So this is what you really want, Jasmine?” he asked, his voice calm yet laced with an undercurrent of disappointment. “After everything?”
She crossed her arms, her expression hardening. “Let’s not pretend there was ever an ‘everything’ between us. You don’t get to guilt me, Ethan. I’ve been miserable, living with a man who has no drive, no ambition. I’ve wasted enough time.”
Ethan’s mouth tightened, but he stayed silent, letting her words sink in. She’d always seen him as a failure, the quiet husband who blended into the background. And now, with the prospect of a new life on the horizon, she was willing to cast him aside without hesitation.
In that moment, Ethan felt something within him shift—a quiet yet powerful resolve. She had no idea who he was, what he had done for her, and the lengths he had gone to support her dreams while sacrificing his own. The weight of his hidden life, his secrets, his true identity, all of it bore down on him, but he remained silent.
He calmly reached for a pen, signing his name with a steady hand. As he finished, he pushed the papers back to her, his eyes meeting hers with a new intensity. “You’ll get what you want, Jasmine,” he said quietly, each word filled with a weight she couldn’t quite decipher. “But I want you to remember this moment.”
She blinked, confused, perhaps even a little unnerved by his composed demeanor. “Remember it? What are you talking about?”
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Chapter: Chapter 45 Extended: Whispers Beneath the Ferryman's CloakThe battlefield was still screaming.Flames lit the horizon like dying stars, and the sky remained cracked with unnatural light—veins of violet and black where the Eater’s emissaries had torn through reality. Smoke coiled upward from shattered towers, and blood soaked the stones of Phoenix Manor.Ethan stood amidst the wreckage, his blade slick with ichor, his chest heaving. Around him, members of the Supernatural Oversight Council tended to their wounded. The Ferrymen had arrived under the banner of neutrality, only to strike when the barriers between realms were weakest.A betrayal.And yet… they had not fought to kill. They had fought to test. To send a message.He turned to the scorched ground where one Ferryman’s cloak still fluttered, burning like parchment in a slow fire. A single silver coin—marked with the sigil of the river of souls—lay beside it.A calling card.“The Ferrymen don’t choose sides,” Aria said beside him, her cheeks streaked with blood and sweat. “Why break tra
Last Updated: 2025-06-14
Chapter: Chapter 45 Extended: When Gods BleedThe silver streak slammed into the earth with a thunderclap that blew the burning creatures back mid-flight. Ash rained. The stone beneath Phoenix Manor cracked in a perfect ring. Lightning curled along the air like a whip. Ethan didn’t flinch—only tightened his grip on the blade humming with latent celestial power.The silver light dimmed—and standing in its place was Veyrion.The once-slumbering god. The Eternal Sentinel. The one Ethan’s mother once whispered about in the lullabies she sang when she thought no one was listening.But the figure who stood now wasn’t the serene, radiant being from legend. His silver armor was scorched. Veins of red light pulsed beneath his skin like fire trapped in glass. His wings were jagged. Fractured.And his eyes—gods, his eyes—were unreadable.“Veyrion,” Ethan said, the rain hissing against his sword. “You picked a hell of a time to wake up.”Veyrion tilted his head slowly. “The seals are broken. The Eater has sent his vanguard. You called. I cam
Last Updated: 2025-06-13
Chapter: Chapter 45 Extended: When Gods Wake (Contd)The first tremor struck just after midnight.It began as a whisper—a tremble beneath the Hale Consortium’s fortified tower that vibrated the reinforced obsidian floors. Then came the second. Stronger. A seismic groan of reality protesting the weight of something… ancient.Ethan Hale, standing at the apex of Phoenix Spire, didn’t flinch as the entire skyline of New York shimmered like heat waves. He felt it in his bones, like something clawing out from under his skin.“Elira,” he said, his voice dark with knowing. “He’s waking.”Across the chamber, Elira, still cloaked in the ceremonial garb of the ancient order, stepped forward from the shadows. Her eyes glowed a steady sapphire blue—she too felt it.“Not just him,” she whispered. “The Eater is stirring as well.”In the deepest levels of the tower, far beneath the city’s concrete veins, an ancient containment chamber cracked open. Within it, suspended in golden stasis, lay Veyrion—the god once bound by Ethan’s mother, Althea Hale, in
Last Updated: 2025-06-12
Chapter: Chapter 45 Extended: When God’s WakeThirty-One Years Ago – The Sacred Valley of ElessirThe valley was alive with song.Spring winds rustled the silver-leafed trees. Crystalline rivers gleamed under the twin moons. It was a land untouched by war, steeped in ancient magic and watched over by a solitary guardian—Selene Hale, the Lady of Elessir.She stood barefoot at the edge of a cliff, her obsidian hair tumbling down her back like a raven's wing. Her eyes—silver like starlight—watched the horizon with a gaze too wise for her age.Behind her, the wind shifted.“Watching the sky again?” came a voice—smooth, deep, and dangerous.Selene turned.Veyrion.He wore a cloak of ember-thread and black steel. Not yet the monster history would remember. Back then, he was still… beautiful.Selene raised a brow. “You always appear when the stars whisper too loudly.”Veyrion smiled. “Perhaps I’ve grown fond of whispers.”They met in secret, beneath moonlit waterfalls and beneath the boughs of trees older than the empires.She, the High
Last Updated: 2025-06-11
Chapter: Chapter 45 Extended: Bloodlines and BetrayalsThe chamber crackled with energy. Dust lifted in slow motion. Magic twisted in the air like snakes preparing to strike. Ethan Hale stood between the past and the future—one arm protectively around Elira, the other clenched at his side.The Warlord’s presence sucked the air from the room.Clad in obsidian armor laced with pulsating gold runes, the man radiated raw, ancient power. His face was carved with deep scars—some from war, others from self-inflicted rituals. His voice rumbled like distant thunder.“So… you inherited her eyes.”Ethan’s blood turned to ice.“You remember my mother?” he growled.The Warlord stepped forward, boots cracking stone.“I buried her under fire and ruin. She defied me. Just like you will.”Jasmine shifted beside Ethan, dual daggers drawn. “You know this guy?”“Not just ‘this guy,’” Ethan muttered, stepping protectively in front of Elira. “This is Veyrion, the Scourge of Vaelmoor. The warlord who led the massacre of the Western Marches. The man responsible f
Last Updated: 2025-06-10
Chapter: Chapter 45 Extended: The Past RedeemedPhoenix Manor was in chaos.Guards scrambled. Wards screamed. The mirror Aria had been taken through lay shattered on the floor, its silver shards humming with residual magic. The room stank of ozone and blood. And in the center of it all, Ethan Hale stood stone-still—his fists trembling, eyes glowing like dying suns.“She’s gone,” Jasmine said, breathless, her sword drawn. “That portal—I've never seen anything like it. Not even Voidwalkers can manipulate reflections like that.”“She screamed for me,” Ethan whispered, his voice hollow. “She screamed… and I wasn’t fast enough.”Behind him, Riven knelt beside the mirror shards, brushing his fingers over them.“She’s alive,” the Seer said quietly. “But she’s in its realm now. The Umbral Veil.”“The Shadow Between Realms,” Damien muttered. “A place twisted by vengeance and grief. No map leads there. No light enters. And if you stay too long…”“You become part of it,” Jasmine finished. “Forever.”Ethan straightened.“Then I’ll burn my way
Last Updated: 2025-06-07
Chapter: Chapter 193: The Shadow’s LegacyThe earth beneath Madeline's feet trembled violently. Dust swirled around her as the walls of the underground facility groaned under the pressure, cracking like bones breaking under strain. She barely registered the roar of destruction that filled the air—the hiss of overloading systems, the screams of machines giving way to chaos. The world as she knew it was collapsing, disintegrating into oblivion. Her heart raced, and her breath came in sharp, shallow gasps. She had no time to process what had just happened—the deactivation of the doomsday device had only been a temporary reprieve. The machine had been silenced, but it wasn’t enough. The damage was done. Beside her, The Ghost remained unnervingly calm, his posture unflinching as he studied the shifting environment. He seemed almost detached, like the destruction surrounding them was nothing more than an everyday occurrence. But Madeline couldn’t share that detachment. Her mind screamed for clarity, but it was drowned out by the
Last Updated: 2025-01-16
Chapter: Chapter 192: The Moment of TruthMadeline’s hand hovered over the activation console, every muscle in her body taut with the weight of the decision. The countdown was ticking, its rhythmic pulse a metronome to the unraveling world around her. Each second felt like an eternity. The hum of the machine vibrated through her chest, each thrum sinking deeper into her skin as though the very fabric of reality were trembling beneath her. Julian’s face flashed in her mind—the way he had looked at her with such fierce trust, the desperation in his voice when he begged her to make the right choice. His sacrifice. His death. All of it had led her here, to this moment. Her breath was shallow. The temperature in the room seemed to drop, her fingertips tingling with an icy sensation. The world outside this facility was in shambles. People were dying, cities were falling, and a war for the future of mankind raged in every corner of the globe. Madeline’s mind raced. Her father’s legacy called to her—control, order, structure. A wo
Last Updated: 2025-01-16
Chapter: Chapter 191: The Last GambleThe air was thick with tension, crackling with the hum of the doomsday device that loomed before Julian and Madeline. The device’s core pulsed ominously, its glow casting erratic shadows across the chamber as if the very air itself held its breath. The swirling vortex of energy at its center was maddening, a singular point of impending destruction, and it seemed to echo in Julian’s chest.Across from them stood The Ghost, their posture unmoving, a figure of cold calculation. The mask they wore was gone, revealing eyes that gleamed with a sickening mix of control and confidence.“You have a choice,” The Ghost spoke, their voice like smooth velvet, impossible to ignore. “Join The Collective. Together, you can reshape the world. Rebuild it from the ashes of the old. Or refuse, and watch everything crumble into dust.”Julian felt Madeline stiffen beside him. The weight of the offer hung between them like an unbearable burden.“What’s the catch?” Madeline’s voice was sharp, her grip tighte
Last Updated: 2025-01-16
Chapter: Chapter 190: The Final ConvergenceJulian's heart pounded in his chest, the pressure building with every rapid click of his fingers over the console. His mind raced as his eyes darted to the countdown timer ticking down with relentless precision. The hum of the doomsday device vibrated through the floor, its glowing, pulsating lights casting ominous shadows on the cold metal walls around him."Almost there," Julian muttered to himself, breath shallow and fast, as he worked frantically, his hand slick with sweat. He was so close to disabling the device, to stopping everything from going to hell.But then, the tremors started. A low rumble, soft at first, then growing steadily stronger until the ground beneath him seemed to vibrate in warning. Julian’s eyes widened in alarm.“Madeline,” he growled, his voice tight with urgency, “we’ve got company.”She was already moving, her stance hardened, eyes scanning the cavernous room. She raised her weapon, her fingers curling around the grip with practiced ease.“Not yet,” she w
Last Updated: 2025-01-16
Chapter: Chapter 189: A World on the EdgeJulian’s pulse pounded in his ears as he paced in the dimly lit underground corridor, the weight of Madeline’s confession pressing down on him like a vice. Every word she had spoken was a jagged piece of a puzzle he couldn’t quite fit together. Her betrayal, her lies, everything he had believed about her, it all felt like a cruel trick. But now—now she stood at his side. Was she an ally or an adversary? Could she truly be both?As they descended further into the labyrinth of tunnels, his thoughts spun wildly. He couldn’t shake the image of her tear-streaked face, her whispered confession. She’s torn, he thought bitterly. She’s still deciding. But will she make the right choice when it matters most?He turned to her, his voice cold, the question that had burned in him since her revelation escaping his lips. “You said you’d help me stop this,” he spat, anger and distrust clear in his words. “But tell me, Madeline—what happens when it’s over? Are you going to pick up where your father le
Last Updated: 2025-01-16
Chapter: Chapter 188: The Truth About MadelineThe underground base hummed with the low, unyielding buzz of machinery, but all Julian could hear was the thundering beat of his own heart. His eyes were fixed on Madeline, her pale face betraying the storm of thoughts she tried so desperately to hide. The air between them crackled with unspoken truths, each second thicker than the last. The hesitation in her gaze, the quick flicker of guilt—he had seen it before, but now it carried the weight of something much greater. Julian’s voice cut through the oppressive silence, sharp and unforgiving. “Tell me the truth, Madeline,” he demanded. His eyes bored into her, seeking the answers buried beneath the facade. “What’s really going on? No more lies. No more half-truths.” Madeline froze, her breath caught in her throat. For a moment, she looked like a deer caught in headlights, trapped between the weight of her past and the consequences of her choices. Slowly, she stepped back, but not from fear. It was the step of someone preparing to fa
Last Updated: 2025-01-16
