All Chapters of The Man She Called A Nobody: Chapter 41
- Chapter 50
64 chapters
Chapter 42: The price of a lead
“This can't be possible," Nelson muttered, his voice dropping into a low, gravelly register that barely carried over the steady hum of the store's refrigeration units. "Why the hell does everything keep getting harder the closer we get?” Nelson’s hands tightened into white-knuckled fists against the worn surface of the counter. The veins along the backs of his hands and up his forearms rose, bulging under his skin as his blood pressure spiked. The ambient noise of the 24-hour convenience store—the low buzz of fluorescent lighting, the distant hum of traffic from the avenue, the rustle of plastic packaging—instantly faded into a dull, insignificant blur. His mind entirely narrowed down to a single, frustrating reality: every calculated move he made was being met with an immediate, exhausting roadblock. The trail wasn't just cold; it was buried under layers of deception. The young cashier looked at him, her eyes softening slightly as she took in the sheer desperation etched into h
Chapter 43: Blood and love
Nelson’s phone buzzed twice on the small bedside table before he even registered what the sound was. He reached for it slowly, his arm heavy, the ache from the fight still sitting deep in his muscles like it had no plans of leaving anytime soon. He turned his wrist slightly as he picked up the phone — the skin around it still red and raw, a reminder of exactly how the last few hours had gone. He cleared his throat before he answered. “Hey Emily. How are you doing? I was going to call earlier but something came up.” He tried to keep his voice easy. Normal. Like a man who had spent the last few hours doing absolutely nothing worth mentioning. Emily wasn’t convinced. “Nelson.” Her voice came through careful and measured. “You don’t sound okay. Switch to video.” He hesitated for just a second just long enough for it to mean something then switched the call. But before the camera fully loaded he tilted the phone slightly, angling it just enough that the bruise on the side of his fa
Chapter 44: Unwanted guest
*Ding-dong.* The clear, melodic chime echoed through the high stone archway. Nelson stood squarely in front of a massive, heavily paneled wooden door that looked like it belonged to a historic fortress rather than a residential building. The reinforced edges of the dark oak speak volumes of generational wealth; the intricate, hand-crafted scrollwork running along the perimeter highlights an ancient prosperity that time cannot erode. This was not the flash-in-the-pan luxury of modern corporate skyscrapers; this was old, untouchable power. He pressed the illuminated bronze doorbell once more, then stepped back onto the granite welcome mat. He waited for several seconds, the silence of the estate stretching out uncomfortably, before turning his head toward John. His partner was standing just half a step behind him, an image of absolute calm and elegant readiness, his long coat draped perfectly over his broad shoulders. “I hope we are at the right location, John,” Nelson murmured, his
Chapter 45: Mrs Salvador
The sound came from the stairs first. Each step the old woman took on the wooden staircase creaked under her weight, slow and steady, like the house itself was announcing her before she even appeared. Nelson and John looked up from where they were sitting in the living room. She stopped halfway down and looked at them from above. Her eyes moved across the room and settled on Nelson. She didn’t say anything yet. Just looked at him with a small smile that carried something behind it something old and knowing that Nelson couldn’t quite place. She came down the rest of the stairs carefully and walked straight toward them. Nelson and John both got to their feet without thinking about it. Nelson gave a small bow. “Good morning ma’am.” She didn’t answer straight away. She walked right up to him and stood there looking at his face the way someone looks when they are trying to find something they remember. Like they are matching a face to a memory that has been sitting somewhere
Chapter 46: Never part of the plan
“That’s right Nelson. Karlus has done enough and if nobody stops him now things will only get worse from here. Every day that man sits in that seat is another day he uses it to destroy everything your father spent his whole life building.” Nelson rubbed his chin slowly. The whole thing was settling in his mind piece by piece and none of it was landing in a comfortable place. He came into this house with one plan and was now sitting with something much bigger and much heavier than he had prepared himself for. He leaned back in the chair pressure hitting him every second John leaned close to his ear and spoke in a low voice, the warmth of the coffee still on his breath. “Sir. What about Edmund? That was the reason we made this trip.” Nelson blinked and sat up slightly. He had not forgotten Edmund but everything Mrs Salvador had just told him about Nathan had pushed everything else sideways in his head. A brother. His own blood was sitting behind prison walls for something Karlus
CHAPTER 47: Crime scence
“Beep.”Emily stared at the screen as Nelson’s name disappeared from it. Fifth missed call. She let the phone drop back onto her lap and looked away from it.Lisa was standing across the room watching her with the kind of enjoyment that had nothing to do with happiness.“Nelson always thought he could protect you. Didn’t he?” Lisa walked slowly as she spoke. “When you were with him you had no idea how close your downfall really was. I told you, Emily. I told you that you were going to pay for this. You just did not want to listen.”Emily was on her knees. Her face was swollen from crying, her eyes red and heavy, her whole body carrying the weight of someone who had been broken down slowly and had nothing left to fight with in that moment.“Lisa please.” Her voice came out cracked and small. “I am begging you. My brother has nothing to do with any of this. You already have me here. I will do whatever you want. Anything. Just please do not hurt him anymore.”Lisa looked down at her and
CHAPTER 48:Alone on this
“Sir are you not going to rest at all? It is almost 12:00 and we have a lot to cover tomorrow. You need to at least close your eyes for a few hours.”Nelson laughed quietly without looking up from where he was sitting. He had been in that same position for a while now, his mind working through things that sleep could not compete with.“I hear you John. I understand what you are saying and I appreciate it. But I have to think this through properly because the decisions I am about to make are not small ones. Some of them might cost me more than I am ready to lose. Maybe everything I have left.”John sat up slowly from the bed and looked at him. Really looked at him. The kind of look that goes past the surface of a person and tries to read what is actually going on underneath.“Sir is it really necessary to go that far? I have watched you carry a lot since all of this started. More than most men would still be standing under. But sometimes the smartest thing a person can do is recognise
CHAPTER 49: The search
Nelson was already awake before his alarm went off.He lay on the bed staring at the ceiling in the early morning dark, his mind already running through everything that needed to happen today. Sleep had done what it could and now his body was done with it. He turned to the other side of the room where John had been sleeping.The bed was empty and already made.Before he could get fully to his feet the room door opened and John came in carrying two cups of coffee, moving carefully so he did not spill either one.“Good morning sir. Got something going before we head out.”Nelson smiled genuinely.“That was good thinking. I have been missing proper coffee since we left the city. Emily used to make it a certain way every morning and nothing out here has come close.”John set the cups down and laughed quietly.“I cannot promise it matches Emily’s but try it before you judge me.”Nelson picked up the cup and took a slow sip. He held it for a moment then looked at the cup with a small smirk.
CHAPTER 50: The deleted file
“This must be the building.” John slowed the car as they pulled up in front of a structure that looked like it had been built from the ground up by technology. Sleek and modern, the kind of building that announced itself without trying too hard. Nelson looked down at the camera sitting in the bag on his lap then looked back up at the logo fixed high above the entrance. Same design. Same mark. “That is definitely it. Let us go in.” They stepped out of the car and walked toward the entrance together. As they pushed through the doors different surveillance cameras rotated toward them from various angles around the ceiling and walls. It made sense for a company that built cameras for a living but it did not make it comfortable. John dropped his chin slightly and kept his face angled away from the lenses without making it obvious. “I do not like all these cameras pointing at us sir.” The building was still quiet. Not all staff had arrived yet. Just, a few ones — the person holding do
CHAPTER 51: pursuit
Nelson hit the glass door with his shoulder before it had fully opened and stepped out into the car park scanning left and right for any sign of the man. But the car park was empty, with no one moving. He stood at the door for some time, moving his eyes across every corner of the parking area. Just before he could turn back inside, he heard an engine turning on somewhere to his left. He spun toward the sound just in time to see the same man who had walked into that building calm and composed not two minutes ago now gripping his steering wheel with both hands, reversing out of his spot with the kind of urgency that had nothing calm left in it. Sweat was already visible on his face from where Nelson was standing. Nelson turned on his heel and went straight back through the doors. “John. We have to move right now.” John was already out of the chair before Nelson finished the sentence. They moved toward the exit with speed. Behind them, the guy at the counter stood up from his desk