All Chapters of DEAR EX-WIFE: IT'S PAYBACK TIME: Chapter 171
- Chapter 180
197 chapters
CHAPTER 170
DANTE.I told everyone I was going out. The words left my mouth easy enough but the weight behind them was heavier than the gunmetal sky.I had to take her back to her family To protect her. Because she mattered more than any plan, any fight, any empire.Ryan looked at me, sharp, calculating “If you go out, Julian will track you,” he said, voice low but firm His eyes flicked between me and the maps on the table as if the risk was a puzzle he could solve with logic.I shrugged, unbothered. “No worries,” I said. Truth was, I knew Julian. I had read him enough over the years to understand the danger but I also knew he didn’t have my mind, my resolve. If he tried anything he’d find I’d already anticipated it.Elizabeth, as always, was worried. “You’ll put us in trouble” she said,tone sharp almost accusing.I shook my head slowly “I’m not. If they take me, I’ll accept it. But I can’t risk leaving her here. Not while they’re hunting. Not while the air smells like their greed and ma
CHAPTER 171
RYANI sat down heavily as they carried Dante inside and locked the doors behind himMy eyes flicked to the window. Everything outside looked calm, too calm. My gut tightened. Calm was rarely a good sign in situations like this.I couldn’t shake the feeling that Dante had led me here for a reason and my instincts screamed that Julian was somewhere close, shadowing us, waiting for the right moment.Elizabeth appeared beside me,her presence quiet but firm“Do you sense it?” she asked, her voice low.I frowned. “Sense what?”She didn’t answer immediately, just looked at me sharply. “Stop pretending. I know Dante brought Julian here.”Her certainty should have unsettled me but I forced myself to inhale deeply. Panic wasn’t going to help. Not here I had to think clearly. I got up and made my way to Pa Jake, my mind racing with strategies and worst-case scenarios.“Should I send more men to secure the perimeter?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steadyPa Jake’s eyes were calm but I c
CHAPTER 172
MARY.I woke up slowly, dragged out of darkness by a heaviness I couldn’t explain. My body felt distant, like it no longer belonged to me. Every breath took effort. My head throbbed, my chest tight, and when I tried to move, nothing happened.I tried to lift my hand.It didn’t respond.Confusion rushed in first, then fear. I tried again harder this timeStill nothingMy legs felt like they weren’t even there, like someone had erased them from my body. Pain pulsed beneath my skin, deep and sharp, but movement never came.“No… no,” I whispered,panic rising in my throatThe room was white. Too whiteSterile. Quiet in the way hospitals always are, the kind of quiet that makes you feel small and powerless. Machines hummed softly around me.That’s when it hit me i was in a hospital.I opened my mouth and screamed“Doctor!” My voice cracked. “Doctor! I can’t move!”I tried again, louder, desperation pouring out of me. “Nurse! What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I move?!”The door opened q
CHAPTER 173
RYAN.The fight outside had been brutal, but controlledMr. Miller’s men had ambushed the mercenaries with precision, pushing them hard, hitting and killing with calculated efficiency I watched every move, coordinating signals, sending warnings, making sure civilians were safe.For a moment, I felt a flicker of relief the plan had worked.Then, shock. The mercenaries didn’t retreat in fear as I expected. Instead, they pushed back. My stomach droppedI could see it in Miller’s eyes too, confusion, disbelief.“What’s going on? Why are they pushing back?” he muttered under his breath.I couldn’t answer. This wasn’t normal.Not for the DynastyRetreating wasn’t their style.They came back, and my heart sank as I saw them regrouping outside the gates. Every muscle in my body tensed. I knew this was far from over.Inside, Pa Jake’s voice broke through my thoughts. “Why did they go back?”Miller shook his head, still scanning the perimeter. “Everything was set. We had the advantage. Gue
CHAPTER 174
RYAN.I walked slowly through the tunnel, the walls rough beneath my hands, dust motes floating in the dim light. Every step echoed carrying the weight of the centuries buried in this place. My mind raced thinking about what I had just uncoveredThis family… they put me here for a reason.Pa Cassian must have known that no one in the family could handle a situation like this, that Elizabeth alone couldn’t manage it.And yet, somehow, I had ended up here—a random man, fighting my way, clawing to protect my daughter.I shook my head.This is unbelievable Pa Cassian had survived everything, endured every kind of chaos, and still managed to protect his own.Maybe he had anticipated this exact moment, this kind of siege. Maybe he had known that one day the weight of protecting a family and a legacy would fall to someone unexpected.And now, it had fallen to meI felt a strange mixture of fear and pride, knowing the trust placed in me even if it had been through fate, chance, or sheer s
CHAPTER 175
RYAN.Five days underground. Every hour, every step, every shadow had begun to weigh on me but I didn’t let it show. I kept moving, kept thinking, kept watching The family was together, and that made all the difference.Jasmine slept near me her breathing steady. Seraphine stayed close, alert, scanning every corner. Seeing them safe gave me a small comfort in this endless dark.But Mary… I couldn’t stop thinking about herShe wasn’t here. The hospital was a temporary refuge, but I didn’t trust it. Not completelyThe Dynasty could find anyone, anywhereThat thought gnawed at me constantly Every time I closed my eyes, I imagined their agents slipping past security, their footsteps silent, their hands taking what I loved. I had to find her I had to be sure.The tunnel stretched ahead, twisting and turning like a living labyrinth beneath the old Cassian estate. Pa Jake, old but sharp, suggested we explore more of it. “There’s more than one way down here,” he said. “Better know
CHAPTER 176
RYANThe paper felt heavier than it should have.One of Pa Jake’s guards handed it to me without a word.There was no envelope. No seal Just a folded sheet, creased once, deliberate Julian’s style. I didn’t open it immediately. I already knew whatever was written there wasn’t meant to inform me It was meant to unsettle me.When I unfolded it, the message was short. Cold and personal.No threats spelled out.No explanations.It was Just confirmation.The Dynasty brothers are in America.Jacksonville CityMy chest tightened.How is that even possible? I thought. These weren’t men who moved casually.Every step they took was calculated, public when it needed to be, invisible when it didn’t. Them coming here meant one thing: this was no longer a distant power pressing from afar They had crossed the ocean to end this themselvesFear hit hard not the kind that paralyzes but the kind that sharpens everything too much This wasn’t just intimidation. This was a declarationThey meant bus
CHAPTER 177
DANTE.The building was dead.That was the first thing I noticed the silence wasn’t just quiet, it was hollow, like the place itself had been stripped of purpose and left to rot.A big abandoned structure, concrete bones exposed, windows broken long ago.The kind of place no one came to unless they were hiding.I sat on the floor with my back against a pillar, head lowered, elbows on my knees. My thoughts wouldn’t slow down.Maybe we shouldn’t have left.The idea kept loopingLeaving Ryan. Leaving the others is dangerous for us.Running off like fugitives with no plan except fearThis wasn’t working The farther we got from the tunnel, the worse it felt. Like every step away sealed a mistake I couldn’t undoElizabeth didn’t seem to feel it.She was careless again just like before. Talking too loud, moving like the world wasn’t hunting her.Like consequences were optional.I watched her earlier and felt something twist in my chest.She needs to learnThen I corrected myself immediat
CHAPTER 178
SERAPHINE.I knew something was wrong the moment the guards shifted.The tunnel was never quiet, not truly. There was always the low hum of generators, the muffled breathing of too many people packed into one hidden space, the soft murmurs of fear no one wanted to admit out loudBut this was different. This was tension sharp, sudden, aliveElizabeth and Dante appeared at the entrance.They looked different. Dirt-streaked. Hollow-eyed. Like people who had run until their lungs burned and still hadn’t escaped what was chasing them.They spoke quickly. They said they tried to burn the Chinese Dynasty.They missed. They said the Dynasty hunted them immediatelyThat they barely escaped. That coming back here was their only option.I watched Ryan as they spoke.His face didn’t change at first.No shock. No relief. Just something closing behind his eyes.“No,” he said when they finished. One word. Final.Elizabeth stepped forward. “Ryan, listen—”“No,” he repeated, louder. “You don’
CHAPTER 179
RYAN.The room was quiet.Not the kind of quiet that brought peace, but the kind that pressed in on the ears, reminding me how alone leadership really was. No voices. No footsteps. Just the faint hum of electricity and the soft glow of screens reflecting off the walls.I sat at the desk, surrounded by files—Chinese Dynasty records, Cassian archives, financial reports stacked and layered like the weight they carried. Page after page. Numbers. Names. Accounts. Routes.I didn’t even know what I was looking for.I just knew I had to keep looking.When you lead, you don’t get the luxury of rest. You search even when you don’t know what you’re searching for. You keep digging because stopping feels like surrender.I leaned back in the chair, rubbing my eyes. My body was here, but my mind kept drifting—to Seraphine, to the children, to the families sleeping under borrowed roofs, relying on decisions I wasn’t even sure were right anymore.I didn’t want this life.I wanted freedom.Freedom from