2025-02-14 01:25:05
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Chapter 31
The city didn't sleep. Not really. Especially not in the older parts where time seemed to move differently and everything had a shadow, even in the dark. Benjamin and Amanda found themselves in a narrow alleyway in a part of town that smelled like old books, wet stone, and secrets. Vieux Marché was the kind of place that wasn’t listed on maps, but everyone who mattered knew about it. They stood in front of a heavy iron door. It was weathered, with strange symbols etched into the metal—symbols that shimmered faintly under the flickering lanterns above them.Amanda looked uncertain. She tugged the scarf around her neck a little tighter and glanced at Benjamin. “You sure this is the place?” she asked, voice low.Benjamin didn’t answer right away. He stared at the door, his eyes tracing the glowing symbols like he was reading something only he understood.“Yeah,” he said finally. “It’s the kind of place where secrets are sold, and people disappear.”Before Amanda could ask anything else
Chapter 30
“I swear,” Amanda muttered, side-eyeing the worn brick walls pressing in on them, “if we end up in another dusty crypt, I'm filing an official complaint. With someone. Somewhere.” Benjamin didn’t slow down. “It’s not a crypt. It’s a reading room.”“A reading room? This feels like the prequel to a horror movie.” They were halfway down an unmarked alley behind an antiquarian bookstore in the heart of the old city. It was late afternoon, but here, the shadows came early. The alley turned sharply into a corridor made of aged timber, its forgotten whispers echoing through the space. At the far end stood a heavy, iron-bound door. No handle. No bell. Just an inscription etched above the frame. What is kept must be earned. Amanda exhaled sharply. “That’s not ominous at all.”Benjamin stepped forward and knocked. Once. Twice. Once again. A beat passed. Then a fourth knock, quick and sharp. A pause. Then a soft mechanical click.The door creaked open. “Remind me again,” Amanda whispered
Chapter 29
Word of the restaurant incident traveled faster than wildfire. By morning, the news had filtered through the marble corridors of the city's elite. Shared in whispers at golf courses, murmured at private dinners, and dissected in encrypted group chats that never mentioned names outright but always knew precisely whom they were discussing. Diego Rivera had been humiliated Not just bruised or threatened but publicly dismantled by a man no one recognized, and that made it was. To the uninitiated, it wasn't just a brawl between young men with too much pride. But Rhod,e who understood the game, the ones who dealt in blood-stained money and silent power. At the Rivera estate, chaos reigned behind the wrought iron gates and rose gardens. Don Antonio Rivera, the Mafia Boss of the East, was livid.His face, usually unreadable, was twisted with fury as he paced the sitting room of his private villa. Servants were dismissed. Bodyguards stationed at every exit. His son, bruised and hunched o
CHAPTER 28
Diego's sneer twisted into a full scowl as Benjamin took a quiet, deliberate step forward. “Teach this trash a lesson,” Diego snapped, waving a hand towards his bodyguards Two of them stepped forward without hesitation, towering figures in black suits. They looked more like small mountains than men. Expressionless, built like tanks, trained to end a confrontation in under a minute. One cracked his knuckles. The other tightened his gloves, eyes locked on Benjamin as if sizing him for a grave. The restaurant fell silent. Plates and cutleries stopped clinking. Conversations died. People leaned back in their seats, slowly, nervously trying to put distance between themselves and the incoming storm. Benjamin stood still.To the casual observer, he looked like a man resigned to his fate. His shoulders relaxed, his hands loose at his sides. But something about his stillness was unsettling. There was no fear in his eyes. No panic. Only calculations. Emily felt her breath catch in her thr
CHAPTER 27
The sharp edge in the man’s voice brought Marcus to an abrupt halt just as he began dialing.“Before you go making any decisions that might waste my precious time,” the man said, his grin widening with devilish satisfaction, “why don’t I properly introduce myself?”Marcus lowered his phone slowly, his gaze narrowing with mild curiosity and irritation. He crossed his arms, the muscles in his jaw tightening.“This should be good,” he said with a cocky smirk, the air around him thick with bravado. He wasn’t the type to be easily impressed, certainly not by some loudmouthed stranger throwing his weight around.But the man stood taller, with a smugness that oozed confidence. His presence alone was unsettling, and something about his gaze said he was used to getting what he wanted.“My name,” the man began, his voice dropping slightly in pitch, “is Diego Rivera. Son of Antonio Rivera. I’m sure you’ve heard the name.”The second the name left Diego’s mouth, Marcus felt a jolt, like ice water
CHAPTER 26
The man who had been thrown to the floor staggered upright and stumbled out of the restaurant, clutching his side and muttering threats under his breath.Applause erupted around the room."That's what I'm talking about!" someone cheered.Marcus stood tall in the middle of it all, grinning like a knight fresh from battle. He turned to Emily with a self-satisfied smile that practically glowed with pride."Are you okay?" he asked, reaching for her arm and brushing imaginary dust off her shoulder. It was a gesture done more for show than out of concern.Emily nodded, still trying to piece together what had just happened. Marcus had fought for her. Her. He stood up, pushed someone twice his size, and defended her while everyone else, including Benjamin, had frozen.Benjamin.Her eyes flicked toward him, standing a few feet away, motionless and pale. He hadn't moved the entire time. Not one step forward. Not one word of protest.The contrast was glaring.Marcus Robert was bold, unflinching—
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