2025-07-25 00:54:19
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Chapter 55: Ashes and Inheritance
Verity didn’t sleep much that night her fingers moved absent mindedly over her sketchpad, but the lines had no meaning. Just noise she felt with the silence that comes before a storm, heavy and watchful. A soft knock came at her door she opened it, half expecting Damon. But it was Elian again Damon's friend coming to check her again. “Verity…” he said, more gently than usual. Her brows furrowed. “What is it?” “You need to come downstairs.” She followed him without asking where the common room of the safehouse was dim, lit by one tired bulb swinging from the ceiling. Everyone stood around the table and it was tense because of the silence. Someone had set down a data tablet Verity stepped closer. A newsfeed was playing with the headline hitting her like a cold slap: “Professor Marcus Alden, former cybersecurity lecturer turned biotech magnate billionaire, dies in private jet crash off on his way to the Mozambique coast.” She stared. “No… that’s not him he was careful.” Elian p
Chapter 54: What We Don't Say
Damon found Sabine sitting on the old bench outside the safehouse. The sun was low, casting long shadows across the gravel. She was staring at the horizon, legs crossed, a cigarette burning slowly between her fingers she hadn’t smoked in years he hesitated at the door. She didn’t look back. “I thought you’d be with her.” “I was,” he said. “But I needed to see you.” Sabine took a slow drag, exhaled. “Why? Guilt?” “No,” Damon said softly. “Because I owed you something more than silence.” She turned her head, finally meeting his eyes. “Then talk.” He walked over, sat beside her but didn’t touch her. The air between them was heavy, not with hate but with history. “I didn’t plan it,” he said after a while. “You and I were… real. You were my anchor.” “I was your shadow,” Sabine said, voice calm. “You went looking for me after I left this place and convinced me that we can build a future together. Don't you care about me anymore?." “I do care.” “You loved me out of surviva
Chapter 53: Her Decision, My Wound
Sabine stood outside the kitchen, still gripping the mug that had long gone cold she hadn’t meant to listen. But the moment she heard Damon’s voice through Verity’s cracked door, she knew something had changed. And now hours later Verity’s bag was still by her bed she didn’t leave. Sabine’s chest tightened aquiet storm brewed behind her eyes. She had held her tongue for weeks, letting things play out. But this was too much she found Verity alone in the hallway, tying back her hair and pretending like nothing had happened. “You’re still here,” Sabine said sharply. Verity turned, surprised. “Yeah. I decided not to leave.” “You decided,” Sabine repeated, her voice cold. “Just like that?” “You were the one begged me not to leave when things got hard,” Verity said calmly, brushing past her. But Sabine moved fast, stepping in front of her. “No,” she said. “But I just didn’t think you would change your mind just like that, especially after Damon begged you to stay. I heard you guys i
Chapter 52: The Door
The sound of the zipper was quiet, but it echoed in the room like a siren. Verity stood by her bed, stuffing the last piece of clothing into a worn black bag. She didn’t cry, she didn’t shake. Her hands were steady almost too steady. As if she’d practiced leaving in her head a hundred times before today. But she didn’t expect Damon to walk in as he closed the door behind him gently his eyes didn’t leave her. “So it’s true,” he said. His voice was low. Hurt. “You were going to leave without saying goodbye.” Verity froze. She didn’t turn around. “I didn’t think you’d understand,” she whispered. “Try me.” She finally turned her face looked tired but not broken but tired in a way that said she didn’t want to fight anymore. “I don’t belong in this war,” she said. “Not with my family. Not with you. Every day I stay here, I lose more of myself. I need out, Damon. I need air.” He nodded slowly, walking closer. “Then why didn’t you tell me?” “I was afraid you’d try to stop me.” “Maybe
Chapter 51: The Exit Plan
Sabine found Verity in the old study, hunched over the glowing screen of a cracked data pad. Outside, dusk was falling, casting long amber shadows across the safehouse walls. Inside, the tension was quieter but no less deadly. “Still tracking signals?” Sabine asked from the doorway. Verity didn’t look up. “No. Job hunting.” Sabine stepped inside. “For what?” “I studied journalism and now I am applying for journalist post and I would be able to expose Isabel in that way in the shadows” Verity's voice was flat, but the undercurrent was unmistakable. She wasn’t joking. She wasn’t pretending. Sabine's jaw tightened. “This isn’t the time to spiral into sentiment.” “It’s not sentiment.” Verity finally looked up. “It’s strategy. I want out.” Sabine blinked, once. “Out?” “Yes. I’m applying for off world trade contracts im going to start with small admin posts, resource distribution centers as well as journalism… anywhere beyond the war lines.” She pushed a strand of hair behind her ea
Chapter 50: Fracture Lines
The kitchen was quiet with morning sunlight streaming through the cracked blinds, soft and gold, lighting dust motes in the air. The safehouse was still drowsy, its rooms silent but it was saved by the hum of an old refrigerator and the occasional creak of concrete shifting under heat. Verity stood at the sink, bent slightly as she rinsed out a mug. She was barefoot, wearing one of Damon’s old shirts over her own skirt too long in the sleeves, but she liked the way it hung over her shoulders, like armor she didn’t ask for. She didn’t hear him come in and didn’t know he was watching her until he spoke. “You always take the last clean mug.” His voice was casual, but there was heat behind it. Unspoken it was unshaken since the night in her room. Verity straightened, but not fully just enough to glance over her shoulder, hand still in the water. “Get up earlier next time.” Damon stepped closer too close the fridge hummed louder or maybe it was her pulse in her ears. “You wore my shir
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