All Chapters of Abandoned King Gives No Mercy: Hell Will Burn: Chapter 31
- Chapter 40
50 chapters
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Chapter 31; When the Walls ShiftEthan's Pov;The rain hadn't stopped since the radio broke the news.It drummed on the windshield like impatient fingers, tapping out warnings I didn't need. Yvonne sat beside me in the passenger seat, still shaking from the warehouse. Her hands stayed curled in her lap. She kept her eyes on the glass, watching the water slide down in thin silver lines.She didn't say my name. She didn't ask if I was okay.She didn't need to.The silence between us felt too alive.When I pulled up outside her apartment building, she didn't move right away. Her fingers twitched on her thigh, brushing over the imprint of the ties still marked on her skin. She swallowed, once, hard."Do you want to come up?" she asked quietly.Her voice was small, but not weak like someone standing on bruised legs, pretending the ground didn't shake.I shook my head. "Not yet."She nodded like she expected that, even though it hurt her. She opened the door, hesitated, then leaned back
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Chapter 32; The Second DisappearanceEthan's Pov;Rain hammered the alley like it wanted to wash the whole street away.Yvonne's phone lay face-down near a puddle, the cracked screen glowing through the water. I picked it up slowly, thumb brushing over the shattered glass. It was still warm.She hadn't dropped it long ago.The message on the lock screen pulsed softly in the dark:Unknown: Don't scream. Just walk.My jaw locked. Something in my chest twisted, not panic, not fear. Something colder, sharper. The part of me I tried to bury the day I left Sally's house for the last time.I pocketed the phone. Rain slid down my face, mixing with the heat rising under my skin. 'He thinks he's ahead. Let him believe that for one more hour'I followed the alley path toward the street. Tire tracks streaked through the water, fresh ones turning out of the lot, curving toward the main road. A black SUV sped past a second earlier when I arrived. At the time, I'd dismissed it.Mistake.I pulled my
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Chapter 33; The TradeEthan's Pov;The warehouse felt colder the closer I got to him.Not the kind of cold that came from weather, the kind that built itself inside your rib cage, crawling under skin, waiting to burst.Derrick stood between two old storage racks, the flickering bulb above him throwing shadows across his face. He looked almost bored, hands still tucked in his pockets like we were talking over coffee.Yvonne was breathing too fast. I heard every shaky inhales across the empty room. Her wrists were tied again, rope biting deeper this time. She had tried to fight him. I could see it in the torn sleeves, in the way her hair stuck to her cheek, damp with sweat and rain."Ethan..." she muttered under her breath weakly.Her voice cracked. She shook her head once, slowly, begging without words.I didn't look at her. I couldn't.If I did, I would break the part of me I needed right now.I kept walking toward Derrick.He lifted a hand lazily."That's close enough."I stopped, b
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Chapter 34; The Aftermath of CollapseEthan's Pov;The warehouse finally went quiet.No groaning metal.No rattling beams.No Derrick yelling from underneath the wreckage.Just breathing mine and Yvonne's uneven, rough, real.She clung to my shirt like the fabric was the only steady thing in the room. Her fingers trembled, cold against my chest. I felt every shake. They landed under my ribs like blows."I've got you," I murmured against her hair.She nodded, but her breath hitched again. Not dramatic. Not staged. Just... human. Like the sound someone makes when they've held fear in too long and their chest finally cracks.When I pulled back slightly, her eyes were red, lashes wet, makeup smeared across her cheeks. She looked like someone who had been dragged through fire and somehow was still standing in the ashes.But her gaze didn't drop.She looked straight at me."You shouldn't have come alone," she whispered."I wasn't leaving you here."She closed her eyes, shoulders shaking f
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Chapter 35; Sally's ShadowEthan's Pov;The road back to the city cut through long stretches of wet pavement, the headlights carving thin paths through fog. Yvonne rested against the window, her breath fogging the glass, her hair still damp from the rain and sweat from the warehouse.Every few minutes, her fingers twitched like her body hadn't accepted safety yet.Like she was still bracing for someone to pull her back into the dark.I kept my hands tight on the wheel.My chest still held the echo of seeing her tied to that chair.Inner thought: 'Don't lose focus. She's here. Alive. That's the only thing that matters right now.'But the message from Sally sat in the back of my mind, buzzing like a mosquito you couldn't swat.He's not the only one who wants you gone - S.She always knew when to show up.She always sensed the right moment to ruin something.Yvonne blinked awake when the car slowed at a red light.She sat up, rubbing her wrists gently, wincing when her fingers brushed th
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Chapter 36; The Woman Who Wouldn't Let GoEthan's Pov;The headline sat on the TV like a punch that refused to land.Sally Tyler.Restraining order.Harassment.My name dripping through every sentence like poison.Yvonne's breath hitched beside me. She didn't move at first just stared at the screen, lips parting slightly, chest rising in tiny, quick bursts. Then she turned to me, confusion and fear tangled behind her eyes."Ethan... what is this?"Her voice wasn't accusing.It wasn't angry.It just... hurt.I swallowed slowly. "It's a setup."Yvonne's gaze dipped for a moment, lashes trembling. "She's doing this because of me.""She's doing this because she's desperate," I said.Yvonne hugged her arms tighter around herself, the oversized shirt sliding off one shoulder. A bruise formed along her collarbone, a dark reminder of Derrick's hands.I wanted to kill him all over again.The TV played Sally's voice next, fake-sweet, trembling in manufactured vulnerability:"I feared for my
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Chapter 37; The Meeting PlaceEthan's Pov;The night air hit me like cold metal the moment I stepped outside.Sharp.Clear.Too honest.The city felt different at night. The noise had a different heartbeat, slower, like it was waiting for something to break. I didn't take my car. I didn't want Sally knowing my route. Instead, I walked three blocks, then called a private ride and sat in the back of a dark-tinted sedan.The driver didn't speak.Good.I wasn't in the mood for noise.Yvonne's voice echoed in my head the whole ride.Come back to me in one piece.The way she said it...It wasn't dramatic.It wasn't desperate.It was something else, something softer. Something I didn't know how to sit with yet.I should've stayed with her. I should've ignored Sally. I should've...I stopped the thought before it grew teeth.You can't think like that in the middle of a war.And this was a war.When the car pulled into the location Sally sent a run-down rooftop bar that closed months ago the d
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Chapter 38; The Unseen PlayerEthan's Pov;The message glowed on my screen like a bruise.Unknown:Round two starts now.The wind cut across the rooftop, snapping at my coat. Sally's footsteps were already gone, just the echo of her threats lingering behind.I stood there for a long moment, letting the night settle into me.Letting the rage quiet instead of burn.Letting the fear harden into something useful.Inner thought: 'If Derrick isn't the one pulling strings... then who the hell is?'I pocketed the phone and headed down the stairwell.The ride back to the penthouse felt too slow, even though the driver cut lights and ran yellow signals. Every second stretched thin. I kept checking the rearview mirror, scanning the sidewalks, searching for a tail.Nothing.Nothing was worse than something.When we pulled up to my building, I got out quickly and took the back elevator up. The moment the doors slid open, I heard the quiet shuffle of someone pacing.Yvonne.She was in the living ro
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Chapter 39; MarcusEthan's Pov;The room went so still I could hear the rain tapping the window like fingertips.Julian's voice echoed in my head long after he stopped speaking.MarcusMy CFO.My oldest employee.My first hire.The one man I trusted to guard everything I built.Yvonne sank slowly onto the couch like her knees had given out. She wrapped her arms around her waist, pulling the fabric of my shirt tight against her ribs.Julian pressed his palms flat on the counter. "He's siphoning everything. Right now. In real time.""How long?" I asked.Julian swallowed. "Since before Derrick. Months, maybe."My jaw locked. "Why didn't we see it?""Because he did it quietly," Julian said. "And because you trusted him. We all did."Yvonne's voice came in a whisper. "Why would he do that to you?"I didn't answer at first.Because the answer slammed into me too fast. Because he was always waiting. Watching. Envious. And I never saw it.Julian pushed a stack of printed screenshots tow
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Chapter 40; The Interrogation RoomEthan's Pov;The elevator dropped floor by floor with a slow, heavy hum.The agents stood stiff on either side of me, hands resting near their belts like they were waiting for me to snap.I didn't.My heartbeat stayed steady.My breathing stayed controlled.But Yvonne's face...The way she said come back...Her eyes were shaking like she was holding the last thread she had left...That wouldn't leave my head.Inner thought: Derrick tried to break me. Sally tried to break me. Marcus wants to erase me. But she's the only thing they can still use to get inside my armor.When the elevator reached the ground floor, the taller agent gestured toward the garage exit."This way, Mr. Hank."I didn't look at him.I scanned the garage instead of the corners, the shadows, the vehicles parked too perfectly. Nothing moved. Nothing shifted. Too clean.A controlled scene.A staged arrest.Marcus planned this.The agents led me to an unmarked black car. One opened the