All Chapters of Ex-Convict To Mysterious Power : Chapter 91
- Chapter 100
172 chapters
Chapter 91
“Damn,” Amanda shook her head. “I bet he didn’t tell you anything.”“What? Wait… you don’t love him? And you paid him? What does that even mean?” Bella’s face twisted in bewilderment.Amanda shook her head again. “Forget it. If he didn’t tell you, I’m not the one to say it.”“Tell me?” Bella asked cautiously.Amanda glanced at her, leaning back casually. “Bella, continue what you’re reading. I’ll continue looking at the pictures until he comes back.”“Ma’am…” Bella started, hesitant.Amanda turned, raising an eyebrow. “Didn’t know you had this much respect.”“Please. Just tell me. I promise I won’t tell him anything.”Amanda paused, letting the silence stretch. Then she sighed and sat back down. “Okay. What should I tell you?”“About…” Bella frowned. “We were talking about Cole. About your… marriage to him.”“Yeah. I know. My brain’s pretty above average, you know.” Amanda smirked.“So
Chapter 92
Cole settled his mother’s hospital bills after another chat with the doctor, who assured him she was doing everything to get his mother out of the coma as soon as possible.He glanced at the bill: $120,500.99.Five years ago, that amount would have had him running around the world, sweating over every cent. Now? It barely phased him. Sick family or not, he knew the weight of money then… and the audacity it took back then to even participate in that fateful interview that led to Amanda.He turned, almost colliding with someone.“Cole?” The man’s voice carried surprise, almost disbelief. His smile said it all: shocked to find Cole still standing.“Been a while,” Cole replied, keeping his own smile calm but firm.“I saw the news…” the man hesitated, scanning Cole like a man assessing a wild card. “You… got out of prison?”Cole nodded, composed. “How have you been?”“I’ve been fine, but…” He cocked his head, inspecting Cole closely. “How did you manage to get out in one piece?”Cole’s gaz
Chapter 93
Cole’s eyes didn’t move. “Why are you doing this?” he asked, low, deliberate, only loud enough for the guy. “Because I’m disappointed in you… as a friend,” the man snapped. Cole’s glare didn’t waver. “This isn’t what friends do.” The man scoffed. “If calling you out is sick, so be it. I have a sick mother too. In the last three years, I’ve made money—lots of it—without doing what you did. I can take care of my mother, just like that.” He snapped his fingers, theatrically. Two men in suits stepped forward, each carrying a briefcase. “Cole, I just want to show you what it looks like to live without being a criminal.” He lifted one briefcase and opened it. Bills. Stacks. A lot of them. He poured the money over Cole’s head like it was dirt. “See?” Cole brushed a few notes off his shoulders, voice steady, calm, almost bored. “What’s the meaning of this?” “Showing you what it means to make money without being a criminal, homie. And be grateful I’m your friend. Pack those bills and
Chapter 94
Bella was shocked—but Amanda? Amanda was more shocked. They had been watching Cole from a corner all along. She had almost stepped forward to defend him, thinking he’d break down when that puffy guy in a suit started talking—of course, Cole wasn’t a baby, but anyone could tell his heart was that of one.If not for the fact that she just landed a new collaboration, she’d have stepped in fully to defend him. Yet Cole had torn the guy apart in his own way, paid him back with a calm precision that made Amanda’s heart swell with pride.“He’s so cool, right?” she whispered to Bella, her voice barely audible, as they watched him walk away.Bella nodded, tears pricking her eyes. If not for the sunglasses Amanda had insisted they wear, her tears would have spilled over completely.“Let’s go see him,” Amanda said, determination flashing in her eyes. They had only managed to figure out where he was—no idea what he had come to do.She sauntered to the front desk, her stride confident. She smiled
Chapter 95
Matteo finally agreed to a meeting at his rest house. Cole rode there with Scarface. Scarface drove; Cole sat in the back, scrolling through the file Scarface compiled on Matteo.Scarface wanted more time — hours, maybe — so Cole could memorize everything. Cole just said, “We go now.” That was it.The closer they got, the more Scarface’s nerves kicked in. He’d never met Matteo before. And he had no idea how Cole would hold up face-to-face with a man like that.At the gate, armed men checked them. Slowly. Suspiciously. Then they waved them through.Cole stepped out first. He dropped the tablet inside the car and shut the door.Scarface’s heart jumped. No way Cole had memorized all of that in such a short time. But you don’t question your leader in a mafia boss’s compound. You don’t show fear either. Not if you want to leave whole.He grabbed the cigar box and followed Cole inside.Matteo sat alone, humming to himself, scribbling casually on a sheet of paper.He barely looked up.“Look
Chapter 96
They say if you think long enough, the answers will come—and that evening, Tyler finally got his. After a day lost in meditation, spiraling thoughts, and the chaos Amanda had stirred, the truth hit him. That brat… he’d deal with her.“Pause…” he muttered, forcing himself to stop before spiraling further. He needed to get out of this mess first.He walked into the garden, where the matriarch sat, reading a magazine, the late evening sunlight brushing her face. She had just closed a deal with the governor, and in hours, their fortune had grown beyond years of effort.Tyler lowered himself beside her.“Do you have something to tell me, Tyler?” she asked, flipping a page.“Grandma… am I still your heir?”“Why would you ask that?” she replied, eyebrow raised.“I mean…” he shrugged. “The way Amanda moves… it might get into her head and bring things down.”“I know that,” the matriarch said calmly. “But we should enjoy it while it lasts.”“I’ve brought more to this family than she has,” Tyler
Chapter 97
Cole had told Scarface he needed time to think about how to navigate Matteo. Poor Scarface had been worried sick the entire drive away from Matteo’s compound, imagining gunfights, betrayals, and sudden bloodshed.But that wasn’t what bothered Cole.What bothered him was one question:Would Amanda apologize to Matteo?No.Not under Cole’s watch.He wasn’t about to stand there while his wife apologized to that sick old man. Over his dead body.He’d find a way out of this.Of course he would.But right now?He was starving. He had been running all day on an empty stomach.“One of the men guarding Blake’s uncle said the bastard is begging to speak with you,” Scarface said as he escorted Cole to the car.“I don’t have conversations with people who’ve got ass for brains,” Cole muttered.Scarface snorted under his breath. Cole’s descriptions were getting more poetic by the day.“Should we keep Blake free?” Scarface asked carefully.Cole nodded. Not because he wanted that idiot free—far from
Chapter 98
“I haven’t skipped dinner in a long time,” Bella said.“It’s eleven–oh–six p.m.,” Cole supplied.He finally gave up trying to break into their little bubble. He got some pizza from inside, dropped onto the couch, pulled out his phone, and opened the encrypted materials Scarface had sent. Files about the ring—the one his mentors had pressed into his life like a prophecy. Nothing about them was normal. Even opening the documents required codes complicated enough to fry an average brain. Cole had crammed them from memory.Amanda and Bella finally came out minutes later.Cole glanced up from the files on his phone… then went back to scrolling… then froze. His brain absolutely short-circuited. Slowly, he lifted his head again.What. The. Hell.“What’s—” His eyes flicked between his wife and his sister. Both of them had makeup on. Amanda’s look hit him so hard he forgot how to breathe for a second. Bella’s? He immediately understood why fathers carried shotguns in movies. No way she wasn’t
Chapter 99
Cole opened his eyes slightly, someone tapping him.“I have to go home now. Got some things to submit, plus I still need to upload videos on my page. And I have to meet grandma,” Amanda whispered.Cole blinked fully awake. “What time is it?” He glanced at the window. Barely any light was coming in—they had gone to bed around 3 a.m.“Six,” Amanda whispered. “I don’t want to wake Bella.”Cole swung his legs off the bed and walked her to the door.“Should I drive you home?” he asked as she slipped into her shoes.She glanced at him. His eyes were still heavy with sleep, yet somehow, he looked ridiculously attractive. Why does he look like this at six in the morning?Nonsense, she scolded herself. “I’ll just catch a cab. Already booked an Uber—it’ll be here in…” she checked her phone. “Three minutes. You can go back inside. I’ll wait over there,” she said, pointing at a small fence she could sit on.Cole nodded sile
Chapter 100
“Have you ever been on a date?” Cole asked Bella as he opened the window, letting more sunlight flood the room. She had woken up a few minutes ago, greeted him, then retreated inside, only to come back out again.She glanced at him, shaking her head. “No.”“Do you want us to go on one?”Bella looked at him again, unsure.“I want to show you what a guy is supposed to do on a first date. If you ever meet someone who does less, you can toss him straight into the red-flag trash,” Cole said.“I watch movies. I know how a date is supposed to go,” she said.“Movies are nothing compared to real life,” Cole countered. “Think of it as a class. I’m giving you a class on dates.”“How many dates have you been on?” she asked, curious.Cole counted on his fingers for a few seconds. “Zero.”Bella blinked at him, both shocked and amused. “You’re the one who needs the date the most!”“Just kidding,” Cole said wi