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CHAPTER 120:The End of the RopeEthan's Pov;The last ladder was cold under my hands.Wet.Rust-covered.Shaking from the impact of Lysander’s men battering the platform below.Each step up felt like I was climbing out of the life that had tried to destroy me for years.Yvonne climbed with me one hand gripping the rung, the other clinging to my arm. Her breaths were sharp, uneven. Her ankle trembled every time she lifted it, but she didn’t stop.Not once.At the top of the ladder, the wind hit us hard and violently, like the sky itself didn’t want us here. The roof was flat, wide, marked with an old landing pad symbol faded by storms.The helicopter waited on the far side.Blades spinning lazily.Engine humming.A quiet, hungry sound.Lysander stood beside it.He didn’t look rushed.Or panicked.Or threatened.He looked patient, like a man waiting for a delayed meeting.Danica and Reina reached the roof behind us, guns raised. Evan helped Derrick up. Aiden collapsed on his knees, pant
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CHAPTER 119:The Last StaircaseEthan's Pov;Gunfire shredded the metal behind us.Screams.Footsteps pounding.The platform rattling beneath us like it wanted to break apart.I didn’t look back.I kept my hand around Yvonne’s wrist, dragging her forward as the whole world behind us exploded with bullets.“Go, go, go!” Danica yelled.Reina fired over her shoulder, covering us. Aiden stumbled, nearly tripping over a pipe. Evan yanked Derrick up by his collar like he weighed nothing.Lysander’s voice echoed through the fog, calm even as chaos erupted:“Do not let them reach the top level.”A set of armored footsteps followed fast, disciplined.More than one.Too many.We reached the main staircase, a rusted spiral bolted onto the side of the platform structure. It groaned under the storm wind, swaying just slightly.Danica cursed under her breath. “This thing’s held together by prayer.”“Move,” I said.I didn’t care if it snapped under uswe weren’t surviving the alternative.Reina grabb
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CHAPTER 118: The Line That BreaksEthan's Pov;The platform vibrated under our feet. Wind slammed into the rusting beams, and the ocean roared beneath us like it wanted to swallow the whole structure. Everything felt unstable: the metal, the air, even the people around me.But nothing was more unstable than Evan standing in front of me.His chest rose and fell too fast. His jaw trembled, just barely. His eyes wouldn’t settle. They flicked from me, to Lysander, to the others, then back to me like he was searching for an escape from his own skin.“Ethan…” he whispered. “Don’t listen to him.”I didn’t move.I didn’t trust myself to move.Lysander stepped forward, that same quiet smile cutting across his face.“I see the way you hesitate,” he said. “You already know the truth.”Evan flinched like the words burned.And maybe they did.Yvonne’s hand tightened around my arm small, shaking, but grounding. Her grip told me she felt everything I felt: anger, confusion, fear, betrayal twisting i
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CHAPTER 117:Ethan’s Breaking PointEthan's Pov;The spotlight hit us like a punch.Bright.Cold.Too white the kind of light meant for exposure, not illumination.Yvonne flinched and shielded her eyes. I pulled her behind me, feeling her fingers curl into the back of my shirt, shaking with terror and exhaustion.A hum followed deep, mechanical and a sleek helicopter lowered closer to the platform’s upper deck. Its rotors kicked up sprays of saltwater, whipping our hair and clothes.A man stepped out.Lysander Vale.Tall.Refined.Suit immaculate, even here.Black gloves.Silver cuffs.A face as calm as a surgeon’s, with eyes dead enough to belong to a corpse.He walked with the confidence of someone who owned the world.And in his mind, he did.Danica whispered behind me, “That’s him.”Reina murmured, “We’re screwed.”Aiden whimpered, “I knew we should’ve turned ourselves in.”Evan didn’t move.Lysander reached the edge of the platform, his movements precise, almost elegant. A shark i
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CHAPTER 116: The Oil Platform TrapEthan's Pov;The ocean swallowed us.Waves slapped the hull. Fog wrapped around the boat like cold fingers. The engine rattled beneath Evan’s grip, coughing like it might die at any moment.We were barely ahead of Cole’s pursuit.Barely.Yvonne sat pressed against my side, fingers digging into my shirt. She was still shaking, her breaths small and uneven. Saltwater dripped from her hair, her lips pale from the cold. Every time the boat hit a wave, she winced, her ankle throbbing, ribs bruised, skin raw.“Are you warm enough?” I murmured.Her voice was thin. “Not really.”I pulled her closer. She let her head drop against my shoulder, clutching me tighter.Reina shouted over the engine, “I see lights up ahead!”Danica narrowed her eyes. “Platform. Abandoned.”Aiden groaned. “Oh great. Another abandoned death trap.”Derrick whimpered, “Why can’t we just… surrender? They want Ethan, not us!”Evan spun and smacked the back of Derrick’s head. “Say somethi
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CHAPTER 115: Run Until Everything BurnsEthan's Pov;Cole’s voice cut through the fog like a blade.“Round two, Ethan.”I spun around, pulling Yvonne behind me. She was still coughing water, still trembling, her fingers cold as ice against my arm.Evan lifted his gun. “Where is he?!”Reina scanned the shadows. “He’s moving. Fast.”Danica hissed, “He’s using the fog. He’s not working alone.”“No,” I growled. “He never does.”Cole had always been a parasite too weak alone, too smart to stay that way.My ribs screamed as I helped Yvonne stand. She tried walking but nearly collapsed again.“Easy,” I said, grabbing her waist.She swallowed. Her voice was thin and shaky: “Ethan… please don’t let him take me again.”I tightened my hold on her, jaw clenched. “He won’t touch you.”“You can’t promise that,” she whispered.“I just did.”Her eyes filled with terror and something else that hurt worse than my wounds.Trust.Pure, blind trust.Even after everything, she still looked at me like I cou
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