All Chapters of THE FORGOTTEN SON-IN-LAW : Chapter 21
- Chapter 30
273 chapters
Chapter Twenty-one
Assassins cloaked in moonsteel struck in silence. Their daggers shimmered with poison that even Adrian’s flames struggled to burn. Selene shielded Kael, but one blade grazed her scar — and she screamed as if her soul were torn open.Kael’s shadow-self ripped free, taller, darker, more human than ever. It slaughtered Nysera’s blades without hesitation, whispering into Kael’s ear:“See how easily they fall. You don’t need him. You don’t need her. Only me.”Furious, Adrian raised a firestorm across the camp. Assassins burned, tents turned to ash. Rival kings shouted — some saw him as savior, others as a demon. By dawn, every throne had chosen a side.The wound on Selene’s scar spread, veins of black crawling across her chest. She gasped, whispering:“It’s not poison. It's a curseblade. They’re trying to *merge* me with the Master.”Adrian held her tighter. “Not while I breathe.”Captured mid-battle, Nysera spat blood and laughed.“You think I serve the Master? No — I serve myself. A worl
Chapter Twenty-two
Selene danced with Kael before the crowd. Whispers rose: “The Black Prince and the Queen look well together.” Adrian stood frozen, every step of the dance a dagger.That night, Selene touched her scar and for a heartbeat saw another memory: Adrian cradling her in a burning temple, begging, “Please don’t leave me.” Tears streamed down her face. She didn’t know why.Kael confronted Adrian privately: “If she never remembers, I’ll make her mine. But if she does, and she chooses you, I’ll still fight beside you. Not as your shadow. But as your equal.”Two rival kings forged an alliance, declaring Adrian unfit to rule with a “mad, cursed queen” and a “shadow-born brother” beside him. War drums thundered at the borders.Selene dreamed of kissing Adrian under the stars. She woke in Kael’s tent, lips trembling as if remembering a touch she’d lost. Kael saw her shaken look — and realized she was beginning to remember.The Master whispered in her scar: “Memories are chains, child. Break free — o
Chapter Twenty-three
In the Shadow Realm, Adrian burned through legions of wraiths with reckless fury. Kael saw it in his eyes — each battle drained his soul. “Brother,” Kael warned, “you’re becoming the very monster you seek to kill.” The Fire Crown cracked as Adrian poured too much into it. Flames turned black around his hands. Even his soldiers began to fear him, whispering that he had no king’s restraint left. Selene stood on a balcony of living shadow as the Master drew her close. “Why should you suffer for his war?” he murmured. “You are already mine. Adrian loves the throne. I love you.” She closed her eyes, trembling. Adrian stormed into the palace and saw the Master holding Selene. Rage blinded him. Fire and shadow clashed, shaking the realm itself. Selene screamed, torn between stopping them and surrendering to whichever side survived. The Master forced Adrian to his knees, binding him in dark chains. “Look,” he said to Selene. “See how weak he is. Choose me, and I will spare him. Refuse
Chapter Twenty-four
“Adrian—” Selene’s voice trembled as she fought to hold her ground. Her hand quivered with every swing, her breath ragged. She was strong, trained to command legions of shadow warriors, but this was different. This was him. “You could have stood with me,” Adrian snarled, driving her back step by step. His cloak of ash whipped around him, a storm of gray embers rising with every movement. “You could have fought by my side, Selene. But you—” His blade slammed against hers, sending vibrations up her arms. “—chose him!” Her eyes burned with tears, blurring her vision. “I didn’t have a choice!” “There’s always a choice!” His voice was a roar, shaking the hall itself. Behind them, the Master lounged on the Shadow Throne like a king amused by a private game. His fingers drummed idly on the armrest, his smile widening with every clash of blades. “Perfect,” he murmured. “Break her, Adrian. Break her completely.” Kael whirled toward him, fury blazing in his eyes. “You planned this—”
Chapter Twenty-five
The hall trembled as the Master rose to his full, terrible height.His form was no longer entirely human — if it ever had been. Shadows cascaded off him like smoke, writhing tendrils clawing at the marble walls. His face was a shifting mask, sometimes calm and regal, sometimes monstrous and skeletal.The throne itself dissolved into black mist beneath his feet, merging with his form as though the seat of power had never been separate from the man who claimed it.“You think you’ve won something here?” the Master thundered, his voice reverberating like a storm in a cavern. “Breaking my hold on the girl changes nothing. The game was mine before it even began.”Adrian stood tall amidst the swirling ash, his cloak whipping violently around him. He did not flinch, though his body bore wounds from his fight with Selene, and his breath came heavy and ragged.He raised his sword, its pale blade glowing faintly, a stark defiance against the oppressive darkness.“You’ve ruled through lies, fear,
Chapter Twenty-six
The throne room lay in ruins.Pillars lay toppled like fallen giants, marble shattered into jagged shards. Smoke and shadow still curled along the broken floor, whispering faint echoes of the Master’s power. The once-mighty palace of darkness had become a tomb for the old world — a symbol of chains broken at last.Adrian stood at the center, sword lowered, his chest heaving. His cloak of ash had disintegrated into nothingness, leaving him bare beneath the fading light. His hands trembled, not from fear, but from the sheer weight of what he had done.The hall smelled of blood and fire and something far older — like a storm’s aftermath.Behind him, Selene stirred. She rose unsteadily, leaning heavily on Kael for support.“Adrian,” she called, her voice hoarse, raw with emotion.He turned slowly, his face unreadable. In her eyes, he saw not the queen who had ruled at the Master’s side, nor the warrior who had raised her sword against him, but the woman he had once loved beneath a sky of
Chapter Twenty-seven
The wind howled across the desolate plain, carrying with it the stench of smoke and something older —something foul that no fire could burn away.Adrian stood alone at the edge of a blackened forest, his cloak ragged and gray with ash. Behind him, the city he had saved was barely visible through the fog, a distant smear of gold and silver in the dawn light. He didn’t look back. He couldn’t.Every step away from Selene felt like tearing open an old wound.But if he stayed, the wound would fester and never heal.There is no us, he had told her.The words were still lodged in his chest like shards of broken glass.He adjusted his grip on his sword, now dulled from the battle with the Master. Even faded, it hummed faintly with power — a promise of vengeance yet unfulfilled. The Master was gone, yes, but not destroyed. Adrian could feel it.Somewhere, in the cracks between worlds, that malignant presence still lingered, whispering, waiting.And Adrian would find him.Even if he had to burn
Chapter Twenty-eight
The village of Rythmar burned. Smoke rolled through the streets.Selene stood at the edge of the devastation, her sword sheathed but ready.Once, this village had been vibrant—a thriving river town known for its markets and bright festivals. Now it was nothing but ash and silence, the laughter of its people replaced by an eerie, choking stillness.She tightened her grip on the balcony of the gutted watchtower where she stood, her knuckles pale. Behind her, Kael climbed the last few steps, his armor scorched from battle.“No survivors,” he reported grimly. His voice was hoarse, exhaustion cutting through it like a blade. “At least, none we can reach.”Selene closed her eyes, swallowing back the surge of grief that threatened to choke her. “And the creatures?”Kael’s jaw tightened. “Dead. For now.”The implication was clear.They would rise again — unless the source of the corruption was cut away.Selene exhaled slowly, forcing her composure to return. She couldn’t afford to falter, not
Chapter Twenty-nine
The forest roared around Adrian as he ran. Branches whipped at his face, roots tore at his boots, but he didn’t slow. The vision still burned behind his eyes — Selene standing in a sea of fire, her sword raised against impossible odds. And behind her, a darkness so vast it seemed to swallow the very sky. He had felt her fear. Her determination. Her call for help. She’s in danger. Adrian’s teeth clenched as he pushed himself harder. His cloak, once pristine, was now shredded by thorns and streaked with ash, a testament to the unrelenting pace he’d set since leaving the circle of corrupted stones. His breath came in sharp bursts, each inhalation tasting of blood and smoke."I’m coming, Selene. Hold on." The girl’s scream ripped through the night like shattered glass. Black water geysered upward, spraying the soldiers in a rain of icy corruption. From the riverbed, twisted figures clawed their way into the open air — monsters shaped from shadow and hate. Their limbs were too long
Chapter Thirty
The battlefield was chaos incarnate.Shadows screamed as they clashed with steel, their bodies dissolving into clouds of black mist when struck down — only to reform moments later. The river churned like a living thing, boiling with corruption as it spilled over its banks, drowning the ruins of Rythmar in filth and darkness.At the center of it all, Adrian and the Master collided, their power tearing the night apart.Ash surged around Adrian like a living storm, wrapping his form in a shifting cloak of gray fire. The Master’s darkness coiled and writhed, each tendril tipped with teeth and claws. Every strike was cataclysmic, sending shockwaves rippling through the ground and knocking soldiers off their feet.Selene and Kael fought at Adrian’s back, cutting through wave after wave of shadow beasts.Selene’s blade blazed with silver light, a sharp contrast to the oily black of their enemies. She moved with lethal grace, her breath ragged, her muscles screaming — but her focus never wave