All Chapters of Ex-Convict To Mysterious Power : Chapter 71
- Chapter 80
172 chapters
Chapter 71
Cole’s eyes swept across the compound—cold, sharp, lethal. No one dared meet his gaze. Then a sound cut through the silence. One of the guards at the far end dropped to the ground—blood pooling fast. Amanda froze. Her breath caught. She wanted to run to Cole, but one look at his face stopped her. He wasn’t the man she’d been teasing a few minutes ago. He looked like someone she should run from. More bodies hit the ground—one after another, collapsing like sacks of rice. Cole turned to her, voice steady and cold. “Wait for me in the car.” “What about you?” “Go. Now.” “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not a baby, you know. And what are you going to do—” Something sharp whizzed past her ear. Cole yanked her against his chest. Whatever that was, it would’ve torn her face apart. He pulled her behind him, snatching a gun from a fallen guard. The air e
Chapter 72
The scream tore out of him. He fumbled for his gun—but the driver’s hand was already on it, smooth and quicker than thought, wrenching it away and unloading the magazine with a flat, clinical motion.Blake’s uncle raised his hands, useless now. The passenger door slammed open. Strong hands dragged him out, shoved him down hard. Steel pressed to his temple. He bit back a sound that wasn’t pain so much as disbelief.How had he fallen for it? The caretaker had warned about a secret exit only trusted guards knew. He’d thought himself clever—too clever.“Get the box,” Cole said, voice low enough to chill the night.A security man moved, taking the box from the back. From the corner of his eye, Blake’s uncle watched his five men — the ones who’d sworn loyalty and blood — forced into an unmarked black car. No license plate. No light. They were bundled in like merchandise.Something heavier than fear flooded him: shame. Regret. The memory of face
Chapter 73
Amanda covered her mouth. The woman was barely conscious — purple lips, swollen eyes, blood matted in her hair.“Don’t—” The word died on Amanda’s lips as Cole motioned for the men to lift the woman.She wanted to step forward, to do something, but Cole’s face stopped her cold. It was empty and hard and colder than anything she’d ever seen. All her words evaporated.“Has Eleanor ever done anything to hurt you?” Mr. Edward snapped, furious. “I trusted you with what was left of my daughter’s life. I wrote you a blank cheque for your salary, and this is how you repay me?” His mouth curved into something that was not a smile.“Please… spare me,” the woman gasped, voice ragged between sobs. “I’ll never— I’ll do anything—”Cole’s voice cut through like ice. “What does he have on you?”The woman’s gaze darted to him, eyes wild and pleading.“Do you want to talk?!” Mr. Edward barked.“He’s… he was my—my boyfriend,” she
Chapter 74
“Have you seen the meaning of dangerous now?!” she yelled over the roar of the wind.“Amanda—pl—please stop!” Cole’s voice cracked. His eyes were wide, knuckles white against the dashboard. They were inches from the railing—one wrong move and they’d plunge straight into the river.“Do you understand dangerous now?!” she screamed, eyes blazing with something between rage and mischief.“I do! I do now!” Cole shouted, like a man at gunpoint being forced to confess.“Okay then!” Amanda yanked the steering wheel back onto the road, the car fishtailing before straightening. But she didn’t slow down. Not even a bit.“Will you tell me now?” she asked, calm again. Too calm.Cole turned his head slowly toward her. “You’re insane.”She grinned. “Takes one to know one, husband.”Shit. Cole stared at Amanda. Talk about crazy.“You still think it’s crazy?” she shot back, catching his look.“There’s an herb t
Chapter 75
Inside, she grabbed the remote and turned on the giant plasma TV. Her social media page filled the screen.“What are these guys saying…” she murmured as she scrolled through comments. Her expression darkened.“Dang… I almost forgot. I have a live show with that crazy guy tomorrow,” she muttered. “Cole,” she suddenly called.Cole looked up, smiling slightly.“Let’s say you meet your ideal woman before our contract ends. What would you do? Go along with her and refund the money I paid? I mean, she’s rich — crazy rich — and she’s into you despite all your many flaws. Will you ditch me?”“...She’s rich?” Cole asked carefully.“Crazy rich. Makes over a hundred million dollars a day.”“Well… she’s rich?” he repeated, trying to guess what angle she was heading to this time. Amanda burst out laughing. “I knew it. You wouldn’t ditch me.”Cole nodded quickly, backing her up. “Of course.”He almost added
Chapter 76
Amanda picked up the phone with her public number — the one everyone had.Predictably, her inbox was a disaster zone.Hundreds of messages.Most of them ridiculous.Like, who even wakes up and texts a celebrity asking for ten million dollars for a “collaboration” when she didn’t even know their name? Jokers. All of them.She was about to drop the phone when a video from an unknown number caught her attention.Her frown deepened as she clicked it open.Cole appeared on the screen — standing in a dimly lit room with two other men. Not the kind of men you’d want to be seen with. The type that made the air feel heavy.Then came a voice: “Wire the rest of the money. We already got ten million. The remaining two million won’t kill you. Then we hand over the flash drive with the real stuff.”Amanda froze.What the hell was she watching? Cole? With them?She replayed it, eyes narrowing.Fo
Chapter 77
Blake had met crazy women all his life—occupational hazard of dating too many—but never, never had he imagined a woman as unhinged as Amanda. He’d fainted twice already: first when the men bundled them into the car, and again when they threw them into this smelly hall. Whatever had happened in this place before was definitely unforgivable. But Amanda?She’d been sitting calmly the entire time, even holding eye contact with the guy smoking his life away a few feet from them.The man puffed smoke in her direction—a warning to look away.“Have you ever been to rehab?” Amanda asked, to Blake’s absolute horror.With the dim light from one of the phones in the room, Blake saw the smoking guy raise a brow.“I bet you've been like this since you were a kid,” Amanda went on. “One of those really troubled kids. Maybe the type that kills their siblings."Blake tried to signal her to shut up. The guy had a gun. A gun. But with both their han
Chapter 78
How did she even come up with the name?Logic—pure, panicked logic.Watch enough mafia series and you’ll see Matteo appear at least ten times. And it’s always the name of the boss, the boss’s son, or the boss’s shadow.It had to count for something.It did.Because the smoking guy and the man with the sword exchanged a sharp glance.“Does Boss have a…mistress?” the smoking guy asked, and Amanda heard the fear bleeding into his tone.“Boss?” another man echoed from the entrance. “What happened? He’s been calling someone lately. Doesn’t say who, but he—”He paused, correcting himself mid-sentence.“He makes…jokes. On the phone. With that person.”The smoking guy slowly turned back to the one with the sword.“Which Matteo are you talking about?” he asked Amanda—trying very hard to sound threatening, but his voice carried that careful edge of someone afraid to accidentally insult the wrong person.Amanda looke
Chapter 79
Where the confidence came from, Amanda couldn’t tell. But when you’re standing in a crucible like this, ideas come. Survival beckons them out of you.Silence fell like a heavy curtain.The men at the gate drifted closer, forming an uneasy tapestry of shifting eyes and clenched jaws.Every gaze was fixed on Amanda.“Let’s… let them go,” the guy with the sword whispered first, fear finally cracking through his voice as he glanced at the smoking guy.“I can’t believe…” one of the men muttered, then swallowed his words.“At least boss should tell his second-in-command…” another grumbled under his breath — not loud, but loud enough for Amanda to catch it.That was it. The missing puzzle piece.The smoking guy… he wasn’t just some lieutenant.He was Matteo’s second-in-command.She needed to tread carefully. One wrong move and she’d be on the floor before the lie could finish forming.“Five more seconds for you
Chapter 80
Chaos erupted. Men cursed as they got their weapons ready. They scattered instantly.Outside, Amanda was sprinting with Blake — the idiot had tripped twice already.“Get the fuck—”A gunshot split the air.The rest of her words died as she hit the ground hard.Footsteps thundered closer.This was it.The end.She squeezed her eyes shut—More gunshots.Closer.Louder.The kind of sound that made everything feel like she’d been dropped straight into an action movie.“Are you okay, ma’am?” a familiar voice asked.Slowly, Amanda lifted her head. The guy kneeling beside her—Scarface—was one of the men who’d helped rescue them from Blake’s uncle the other day.“Where is Cole?” she asked instantly, eyes darting around.“I couldn’t reach him, ma’am—”“Good.” She cut him off. “Have you taken care of those men?”(Obviously he had. Dumb question, but her brain was