2026-01-22 14:57:10
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
I'm leaving
The spare room door closed. Bella stood still in the middle of the floor. She felt numb. The words from the office played in her head. She has to go. A reminder. They didn’t sound angry. That was the worst part. They just sounded true.A knock. Soft. “Bella.” Iden’s voice.She didn’t want to talk. But she opened the door.He looked at her. He didn’t smile. He just walked in and sat on the bed. He patted the spot next to him.She sat. Not too close. They were quiet. The house was quiet too.“You heard,” he said after a while.She nodded.“They are not wrong,” he said. His voice was gentle but the words were not soft.“I know.”“This feeling you have now,” he said, staring at the wall. “If you let it turn to hate for them, it will make you sick inside. That kind of sickness… it calls to bad things. You would be an easy target again.”She nodded again. A tear ran down her face. She wiped it fast. “I don’t hate them. I really don’t. I get it. I wrecked their home. Knowing they’re right ju
She has to go
The office was too quiet. The only sound was the tap of Leo’s fingers on his laptop keyboard. He wasn’t really working. He was just staring at numbers that didn’t mean anything.The door pushed open. Chloe stood there holding two glasses of orange juice. She walked in and set one down on a clear spot on his desk.“Thanks,” Leo muttered. He took a sip but didn’t look up from the screen.Chloe didn’t leave. She just stood there. He could feel her watching him.“Don't you think we should talk,” she said finally.“About what?” He kept his eyes on the laptop.“Come on, Leo. You know about what. About… all of it.”He let out a short breath, almost a laugh, but not a happy one. “You didn’t want to talk before. When I was asking. When it was actually happening. So maybe we just don’t. I'm over it anyways.”“That’s not fair,” she said. Her voice was quiet but tight. “You're not over it. You’re still mad. You’re sitting there all closed up. You haven’t really looked at me in days.”Now he did l
we're going to take her
The car ride was silent at first. Then Mark spoke. His voice was tight, like a wire about to snap.“This is your fault,” he said. He didn’t look at Maria.She stared out the window. “I know.”“No, you don’t know!” he shouted, hitting the steering wheel. “You brought this… this madness into our lives! You chased ghosts and now a ghost has our daughter! What were you thinking?”“I was thinking people were dying!” Maria shot back, turning to him. “I was thinking I could help stop it!”“And did you? Did you stop it? Or did you just make it look at us?”They went back and forth like that. Harsh words in the closed space of the car. Leo, Chloe, and Iden followed in their own car, giving them space. The anger was hot and scared. It filled the car until there was no room to breathe.Then Maria’s phone rang. It was her partner, Ben. His voice was all business. “Maria. We found the car. The one from the school cameras. Abandoned in the old industrial park off Route 9. No sign of the driver. But
Who are they
He was here. In front of her.But he had just picked her up twenty minutes ago.The world tilted. The angry thoughts died. A cold, understanding worse than fear washed over her.The man last night hadn’t been a dream.He had told her they would come for Maya.They hadn’t just come.They had already taken her.The thing that looked like Mark, that smiled like Mark, that Maya would run to… it wasn’t her husband. It was something else. And it had her daughter.“Maria, you’re white as a sheet,” Mark said, reaching for her. “What’s going on? Where’s Maya?”She couldn’t speak. Her mouth was too dry. She looked at the real Mark’s face, full of real confusion and dawning fear.The woman at the desk spoke up, her voice now frightened. “Mr. Ruiz… you already picked her up. We have your signature.”Mark looked at the screen. He saw his own name. His own signature. But it wasn’t his writing. “That’s not me,” he said, his voice hollow. “I was in a meeting across town. I just got here.”He looked a
Maya is gone
Maria didn’t sleep. She sat on the floor by Maya’s bed, her back against the wall. She watched the slow rise and fall of her daughter’s blankets. She listened to every tiny sound the house made. Every creak was a footstep. Every car passing was them coming back.When the gray light of morning came through the window, her eyes were dry and gritty. Her body ached from sitting still. Maya stirred, blinked open her eyes, and smiled. “Mommy? You’re here.”“I’m here, baby,” Maria said, her voice rough. She forced a smile.She got Maya dressed for school. She made breakfast. Her hands shook. Mark came out of the bedroom. He looked at her sitting there, still in yesterday’s clothes. He didn’t say anything. He poured coffee.When Maya was eating, Maria turned to him. “We can’t stay here,” she said quietly.Mark sipped his coffee. “What?”“This house. It’s not safe. I have… I know a place. A safe house. We need to go there. Today.”Mark put his cup down hard. Coffee sloshed over the side. “A sa
We're coming for her
Maria’s office was small and messy. Files covered her desk. She had pulled the cold cases, the ones that never got solved. Before, they were just sad stories. Now she read them with new eyes.A man died in his locked study. No marks on him. Just a look of pure fear on his face. All the food in his fridge was rotten. He had just gone shopping.A whole family was found in their living room. Sitting on the couch. All dead. No reason. Their notes talked about how nothing mattered.Her head hurt. This was too big. She was a cop. She dealt with robbers and liars. Not… feelings that wore people’s skin.Her phone buzzed. A text from Maya’s school. The after-school program ended in fifteen minutes. She was late.“Oh, no,” she whispered. She jumped up, grabbed her keys, and ran out. She yelled to the desk sergeant she had a family thing.She drove too fast. She pulled into the school lot just as another car pulled in. Mark’s car. Her husband.She got out. “Hey! I’m here, I got the message.”Mar
You may also like
ZILLIONAIRE’S COMEBACK.
Becca71.6K viewsSon-in-Law: A Commoner's Path to Revenge
Naughty Snail122.7K viewsBillionaire in Disguise
Faith123.9K viewsThe Lowly Son in Law is Quadrillionaire
Riku Ormstrom92.8K viewsRETURN OF DON' CARA FROM USELESS TO GREATNESS
Bigsnowy 922 viewsThey Buried Me Alive, I Rose As A King
Esther Ernest189 viewsOUT OF PRISON, HIS REVENGE BEGINS
Author E317 viewsHomecoming of the Guardian Father
Anonymously78 views