All Chapters of The Son-in-law: Chapter 31
- Chapter 40
117 chapters
THE DECOY'S SHADOWS
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE:Rain hammered the asphalt as the team trudged away from the burning hydroplant. The smell of ozone and scorched metal lingered in the air. Billy’s ears still rang from the blast, but his mind was louder — his father’s final words replaying like an echo through static.“Round two.”He gritted his teeth, sliding the cracked data crystal into a reinforced case. Evelyn glanced sideways. “You really think that thing’s still active?”Billy didn’t answer immediately. His eyes tracked the horizon, where black smoke smeared the storm clouds. “He planned for this. Every move, every failure — he left breadcrumbs. That plant wasn’t his end. It was a warning.”Tyla wiped blood from her lip. “A warning for what?”“That he’s already somewhere else.”---They regrouped in the back of an abandoned freight yard. Floodlights buzzed dimly, and old train cars lay derailed like rusted bones. Owen set up his portable console on a crate, the screen reflecting in his rain-slick glasses.“I
THE BLACKOUT CITY
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO:The city was dying in fragments.One neighborhood after another sank into darkness until the skyline looked like a burnt-out circuit board. Streetlights flickered, then went out completely. Only the hum of generators and the distant wail of sirens broke the silence.Billy and Evelyn moved through the shadows like ghosts, slipping between shuttered shops and overturned vehicles. The air smelled of rain and gunpowder. Somewhere, a transformer exploded, sending a shower of sparks into the night.Evelyn adjusted the strap of her rifle and glanced at him. “You think this is random?”Billy shook his head. “No. This is orchestration. Someone’s pulling every switch at once.”He wasn’t wrong. Ever since the broadcast—the one that exposed fragments of his father’s empire—the city had become a chessboard of chaos. Power grids failed in synchronized waves, communications jammed, and the police vanished from entire districts.It wasn’t collapse. It was replacement.They reached
THE CORE BENEATH
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE:The world above was silent.But beneath it, the earth hummed like a living thing.Billy crouched near the edge of the drainage canal, watching the last patrol fade into the mist. The city’s blackout had driven people indoors, leaving the streets hollow—perfect for ghosts like them. Behind him, Evelyn checked her ammo clips while Tyla wrapped her shaking hands in bandages scavenged from a med kit.“How many do you think?” Evelyn whispered.Billy’s gaze didn’t shift. “Enough to kill us before we get ten feet inside.”Tyla winced. “Then why go in at all?”He turned to her, his expression unreadable. “Because if we don’t, this blackout becomes permanent. No recovery, no system, no freedom. They’ll own every second of life left in this city.”His voice carried a quiet conviction that silenced argument.They moved at dawn. The air was heavy, saturated with ozone and the faint metallic tang of machinery. Their destination loomed across the water: the old hydroelectric s
STRINGS OF DECEPTION
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR:The faint hum of the ceiling fan broke the morning silence. Billy stirred awake, his vision blurred, his body aching as though he’d wrestled with the night itself. The scent of antiseptic filled the small safehouse room. Beside him, on a wooden table, lay the Luoshen—its surface half illuminated by the soft dawn light, revealing faint, ghostly markings that hadn’t been there before.He sat up slowly, the images of last night flashing in his mind—the blackout, the sudden heat wave, and the faint shimmer he’d caught on the painting before everything went dark. Now, under the morning rays, the Luoshen looked alive, as though his father’s voice was whispering through the ink.Owen entered quietly, holding two cups of coffee. His eyes were tired, the lines on his face deeper than usual.“You’re awake,” he said, setting one cup near Billy. “You gave us a scare last night.”Billy rubbed his temples. “I saw something, Owen. The heat—it revealed something on the Luoshen. W
THE GALLERY OF GHOSTS
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE:The drive to the gallery was long and quiet.Rain drizzled over the windshield, blurring the world into streaks of silver. Billy sat beside Owen, eyes fixed on the folder resting on his lap — the one Monsieur had left behind, containing nothing but an address and a strange sketch that looked like half a cipher, half a riddle.Owen kept glancing at him between turns. “You sure about this, kid? If that man’s playing a game, we’re walking straight into the middle of his board.”Billy’s tone was steady. “I need to see what my father left behind, Owen. Whether it’s a trap or not, this—” he tapped the folder “—is the only lead we’ve got.”Owen exhaled, jaw tight. “Then we stay sharp. No trusting smiles, no handshakes. If Monsieur so much as breathes wrong, we’re out.”By the time they reached the address, dusk had settled.The gallery wasn’t what Billy expected. It wasn’t a grand museum or an art house — it was a forgotten three-story structure tucked between warehouses
THE ILLUSION UNRAVELED
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX:The morning light crept through the broken blinds, scattering thin lines of gold across the motel room floor. Billy sat on the edge of the bed, eyes distant, fingers tracing the edge of the silver locket that once belonged to his mother. It had been three days since the blackout ended, but his mind hadn’t stopped spinning since.Every sound, every whisper of wind outside the cracked window, felt like a reminder that something wasn’t right. Monsieur had vanished without a trace after the chaos at the plant, leaving behind only questions that gnawed at Billy’s sanity.Tyla moved quietly behind him, tying her hair into a loose knot. “You haven’t slept, have you?” she asked softly.Billy didn’t answer. He just turned the locket over, watching how the light caught its surface. “He said things only my father could’ve known,” he murmured. “Dates. Places. My mother’s favorite song. How could he have known all that?”“Maybe your father told him once,” Tyla offered, but the
THE LAST CIPHER
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN:The night pressed in thick around Billy as the storm roared over the Loushen’s steel deck. The sea beneath thrashed in relentless fury, hurling waves high enough to claw at the vessel’s bruised hull. Each crash of thunder echoed through the metal corridors like a warning.But Billy wasn’t listening to the sea anymore. He was focused on the flickering holographic interface before him — the puzzle his father had left behind. It was a labyrinth of shifting symbols, light fractals that rearranged themselves every few seconds as though mocking his efforts to decipher them.He wiped the rain from his face with a trembling hand. His pulse hammered against his ribs. “Come on,” he whispered. “What are you hiding, Dad?”A shadow moved behind him.Monsieur’s voice sliced through the darkness — calm, almost soothing. “You’ve always been impatient, Billy. That’s what makes you dangerous... and useful.”Billy didn’t turn. He’d long stopped trusting the man’s tone — the fabrica
SHATTERED BONDS
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT:The storm had passed, but the world still trembled.Billy stood at the shore as dawn broke, his clothes clinging to his skin, reeking of salt and smoke. The Loushen was gone — swallowed by the sea, leaving nothing but curling mist and the faint hum of memory. For a long moment, he just stared at the horizon, numb. The wind cut through his hair, cold and sharp, whispering the same question that had haunted him since the explosion.What now?He had destroyed the very thing his father built, the legacy that had shadowed him his entire life. Yet, the silence inside him didn’t feel like victory. It felt like aftermath — the echo that follows a scream.Billy reached into his soaked jacket and pulled out a waterproof envelope. Inside it were the documents he’d printed before boarding the Loushen. Legal, precise, final. The divorce papers. His signature was already there — a single slash of ink that looked like a wound.He thought of Tyla. Her voice, her stubborn belief
THE SILENT BETRAYAL
Chapter THIRTY NINE:Billy sat in the dim glow of his office, the city lights of Parsippany-Troy Hills flickering through the floor-to-ceiling windows. His fingers tapped against the polished mahogany desk, a rhythm that mirrored the tension coiling in his chest. Since recovering the Luoshen, every move he made had been calculated. Every breath measured. Yet, the feeling of unease refused to leave him. Monsieur’s shadow loomed large, even from the confines of a prison cell, and the memory of Noah’s betrayal lingered like a bitter aftertaste.The Luoshen rested on the velvet cloth before him, its intricate brushstrokes almost mocking in their serenity. To the untrained eye, it was just a rare painting. But Billy knew its secret: it was a map, a guide left by his grandfather, Alexander Anderson, to treasures that could rival nations. Gold artifacts, priceless relics, treasures of a civilization long buried in history, all meticulously hidden. And now, Monsieur’s obsessive greed and jeal
SHADOWS OF REVENGE
CHAPTER FORTY: Billy leaned against the van, crates secured and heart hammering with adrenaline. The night air was thick, humid, and heavy with anticipation. He could almost hear the city holding its breath along with him. Tyla stayed hidden in the shadows, silent but alert, her eyes reflecting a mixture of awe and guilt. She hadn’t expected to see Billy like this — confident, unyielding, a force molded from betrayal and pain.Owen’s voice crackled through the comms. “Extraction point is two blocks away. Move quickly. I have eyes on a suspicious vehicle circling nearby. Could be Monsieur’s men.”Billy’s jaw tightened. Monsieur’s reach was long, and he never missed a beat. Every detail of his plan was precise, calculated. Yet, he had underestimated Billy’s resolve and ingenuity. Billy pressed forward, every step careful but fast.He glanced at Tyla, who hesitated. “Stay low,” he whispered. She nodded, her face pale under the dim glow of the streetlights. She had seen his transformatio