All Chapters of The invisible Groom: Chapter 21
- Chapter 30
114 chapters
Chapter twenty-one
The highway blurred beneath them—streaks of neon and shadow flashing across the windshield as Ethan pushed the SUV harder, faster, past what most cars could handle.But this wasn’t most cars.This was a Ghost-modified engine.Built for pursuit.Built for war.Lila gripped the door handle as the city thinned into industrial outskirts. Each passing second tightened the atmosphere inside the SUV until breathing felt like work.Riker checked the map glowing on his wrist.“Sir, the dead-signal pulse reactivated. Stronger this time.”Ethan’s fingers tightened around the wheel.“He wants us locked onto him. He’s guiding us.”Lila swallowed.“That’s bad, right?”Riker snorted.“Ma’am… that’s catastrophic.”But Ethan’s eyes stayed on the road—calm, calculating.“He’s overconfident,” he murmured.“He wants me angry. Predictable. Rushing.”Lila turned to him.“Are you?”He didn’t look away from the road.“No. I’m focused.”But she saw it.The edge beneath the control.The storm held behind his r
Chapter twenty-two
The port district looked dead.But Ethan knew better.Nothing Ward touched was ever dead.Just staged.Just waiting.The SUV carved through the fog as they approached Port Storage Facility 9, its steel fencing rising like the ribs of some buried monster. A cold mist rolled in off the water, swallowing the edges of their headlights.Riker checked his scanner for the tenth time.“No heat signatures. No drones. Nothing.”Ethan didn’t blink.“Ward’s already watching us.”Lila’s stomach knotted.From where? How?As if answering her silent panic, Ethan spoke again.“He’s using optical micro-cameras. Size of dust. They’re reflecting light through the fog.”Riker swore softly.“I knew the fog was too deliberate…”Ethan pulled the SUV behind a stack of derelict containers.“We go on foot.”Lila nodded, fingers trembling. Ethan noticed. He offered his hand—not a comfort, but an anchor.She took it.His grip steadied her pulse.Just a little.⸻THE WALK INTO THE DARKThe fog thickened as they mo
Chapter twenty-three
The moment Ethan stepped toward the glass chamber, the temperature around him seemed to drop. Fog curled around his boots as if warning him back—but Ethan didn’t need warnings.He needed precision.“Positions,” he murmured into the comm.Riker moved silently behind the generator.Lila crouched beside the east support column, hands trembling around the insulated pliers Ethan had given her.Ethan felt her fear, even from meters away.He spoke softly, just for her:“Lila… breathe.”There was a tiny inhale—shaky, but there.Good.Because if she slipped by even half a second… Adrian would be vaporized.And Ward would win.THE WALK INSIDEThe glass door slid open with a hiss the moment Ethan touched it.Ward had expected him.Welcomed him.Inside, the lights were blinding—white, sterile, surgical.Adrian Cole hung from the restraints, his breath a soft, painful rattle.Ethan stepped closer.“Adrian,” he said quietly.Adrian’s head lifted weakly. One eye swollen. A cheek split open. Blood on
Chapter twenty- four
Glass rained from the cracked chamber wall as Ethan drove the masked soldier backward, strike after brutal strike. The sound echoed across the dockyard—bone, metal, and fury colliding like thunder.Riker shouted into the comm:“Sir, chamber integrity is failing! If that glass collapses—”“It won’t,” Ethan growled, catching the soldier’s wrist and twisting hard. “He’s not strong enough.”But Lila saw something Ethan didn’t.The masked soldier—He wasn’t struggling.He was measuring Ethan.Matching his timing.His rhythm.His aggression.Learning him.Adapting.Every passing second made him more precise.More dangerous.Lila stepped forward desperately.“Ethan—he’s not fighting you… he’s studying you!”Ethan hesitated—half a second, nothing more.But that’s all the masked soldier needed.He struck.Two quick blows—no wasted movement. The exact angle of Ethan’s weakest rib. The exact speed required to bypass his forward guard.Ethan staggered.Riker cursed.“Impossible—no one hits the Co
Chapter twenty- five
The morning begins with an unusual silence.Ethan stands on the balcony of his penthouse, overlooking the city that now bows to his name. For the first time in years, he feels a strange peace—brief, fragile, dangerous.It doesn’t last.A sharp, urgent knock echoes through the penthouse.Before Ethan can speak, Shadow opens the door.A trembling guard steps in.“Sir… you need to come downstairs immediately.”Ethan’s brows narrow. “What happened?”The guard swallows hard.“It’s… her family, sir.”Ethan freezes.The Dawsons.Shadow’s expression darkens instantly. “They wouldn’t dare.”“They dared,” the guard says. “And… they brought the press.”Ethan walks calmly—too calmly—toward the elevator.Shadow follows, already bracing himself for bloodshed.Outside the Cole TowerA noisy crowd forms.Reporters. Paparazzi. Onlookers.And at the center—Lila Dawson’s family.Her father, Richard Dawson.Her mother, Vivian Dawson.Her jealous cousin, Amelia.And worst of all—Lila’s older brother, Ma
Chapter twenty- six
Hours after the Dawsons crawl away from the Cole Tower, Ethan stands alone in the dim war room beneath the building—walls glowing with digital maps, encrypted files, and surveillance feeds.Shadow and the operatives stand behind him, silent, waiting.But Ethan hasn’t spoken in minutes.He’s staring at a single file on the screen.A file marked with the emblem of a black, burning bird.The mark of Black Phoenix.Shadow clears his throat. “Sir, we traced the origin of the attack on the Dawsons. And we found… something strange.”Ethan turns slightly. “Speak.”Shadow hesitates.“It wasn’t a financial attack. It was personal.”Ethan’s frown deepens.“Who would target a small family just to deliver a message?”Shadow presses a button.Another folder opens.It contains pictures of—Lila Dawson.Ethan’s jaw tightens.“What is this?”Shadow steps forward grimly.“Sir… the Black Phoenix is not hunting the Dawsons.”He presses another button.A new screen lights up with bold red text:TARGET: LI
Chapter twenty- seven
Lila sits alone in Ethan’s private suite—massive, silent, suffocating with luxury she never imagined. Two operatives guard the door outside, their presence making the air feel heavier.Her mind spins.The Dawsons ruined.Black cars bowing to Ethan.Her husband transforming into someone she barely recognizes.And now—he sends guards to “escort” her here.She wraps her arms around herself.“What the hell is going on…?”The door unlocks.Ethan steps in.Not the quiet, submissive man she married.Not the “useless son-in-law.”A commander.A storm dressed in a black coat.His presence fills the room like gravity.Lila rises slowly.“Ethan… why am I here?”He doesn’t speak.He studies her—cold, sharp, calculating.Then he walks to her, stops inches away.“Lila,” he says quietly, “I need the truth.”Her breath catches.“The truth about what?”He pulls a small device from his pocket and projects the hologram—the infant with the matching face.Lila’s knees nearly buckle.“I don’t… I don’t unde
Chapter twenty-eight
The medical lights hum softly above her.Lila lies unconscious on the reinforced bed inside Ethan’s private bunker—a place built to withstand explosives, black-ops raids, and biological threats.But Ethan isn’t looking at the room.He’s watching her.Every breath she takes.Every twitch of her fingers.Every flicker beneath her eyelids.Shadow stands near the monitors, face tight.“Sir… her brain activity is abnormal. It’s spiking into frequencies we’ve only seen in Black Phoenix operatives.”“She’s not an operative,” Ethan growls.Shadow hesitates.“No, sir. But… something inside her is reacting like one.”Something inside her.Ethan’s jaw clenches.He turns to the scientist on the team, Dr. Malik.“Talk.”Malik clears his throat, nervous.“Her neural patterns indicate… layered memory partitions.”Ethan’s eyes narrow.“English.”“She has two sets of memories,” Malik says.“One is hers.The other… is implanted.”Ethan’s heart stops.Implanted.Project Seraphim’s darkest secret.“What
Chapter twenty-nine
The silence after Lila’s confession isn’t just silence.It’s a weapon.Sharp.Cold.Bleeding through the air like poison.Ethan doesn’t move.Not even when Shadow shifts subtly, ready to strike if Lila so much as twitches wrong.Lila is shaking.Not from fear of death.From fear of Ethan’s eyes.Those eyes that had always been controlled, steady, calculated—now hollow.Like something inside him had just died.“Ethan,” she whispers, “please say something.”He finally speaks.Quiet. Flat.“Shadow.”Shadow steps forward instantly.“Yes, sir.”“Scan her.”“Already on it.”Shadow lifts a small black device. It beeps twice, flashes red, then emits a soft, chilling hum.Lila flinches.“What is that?”Ethan answers without emotion.“A neural threat detector.”Shadow studies the reading, and his face darkens.“Sir… it’s active.”Ethan’s voice drops an octave.“What’s active?”Shadow swallows.“The implant.”Lila gasps. “No—no—I haven’t—I didn’t—”Shadow steps back, weapon drawn.“Sir, her neu
Chapter thirty
When Lila wakes, she wakes slowly.Heavily.Like someone clawing their way up from the bottom of the ocean.The first thing she feels is warmth.Arms.Strong. Steady. Holding her carefully as if even unconscious she might break.Ethan.Her eyes open.The room is dim—an underground medical bay, lights low, machines humming softly.Ethan sits beside her bed, elbows on his knees, hands clasped so tightly his knuckles are pale.He’s not looking at her.He’s staring at the wall.Like if he stops, he’ll drown in everything he’s thinking.She whispers, “Ethan…?”His head snaps up.In a heartbeat, he’s at her side.“Lila.”His voice is rough.Too rough for a man who never loses control.She reaches for his hand.He takes it instantly—but he doesn’t look relieved.He looks furious.Not at her.But because of her.“Ethan… what happened?” she whispers.He takes a slow breath.Then another.As if preparing to say something he never wanted to say out loud.“Lila,” he murmurs, voice razor-thin, “w