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Chapter 26 - Chasing A Ghost
publish date:
2026-06-22 01:02:34
Latest chapter
Ex Husband, Prepare To Burn Chapter 39 - The Past Wants A place In My Future
Elara's POV"It's Ian.""I know."I was still sitting on the edge of the bed. The burner was warm in my hand and the crack in the ceiling running from the light fixture toward the corner exactly where it had been when I'd opened my eyes this morning.I waited."I didn't confirm it," he said.I said nothing. Silence was the cheapest way to make someone keep talking and Ian had always filled silence badly. Some things didn't change in five years."The announcement. She sent it out before I was awake. I didn't know until I saw it on my phone this morning.""Why are you telling me this?""Because I thought you should—""Ian."I cut him off cleanly. "What do you want?"A pause. I could hear a slight shift"I want to meet you.""No.""Elara—""You're calling a lady at eight in the morning the day your engagement announcement dropped in every major publication in New York." I stood up and started moving because the room was too small to sit still in. "Whatever you're about to say — save it."
Ex Husband, Prepare To Burn Chapter 38 - The Quote
Ian's POVThe bed was empty.That wasn't new. Camila had been an early riser for as long as I'd known her — up before six, dressed before seven, the day already half-managed before most people had decided to be conscious. I'd stopped registering the empty side of the bed the same way I'd stopped registering a lot of things about this house. It was just how mornings worked here.What was new was my phone.I reached for it out of habit and the notifications were already stacked — twelve, fifteen, still coming in while I was looking at the screen. Not work. Not the board. My name. Camila's name. A date. A venue.Wait…. I sat up.The headline was the same across every publication. Clean, prominent, already everywhere before eight in the morning.Ian Vance and Camila Vale Confirm Engagement — Wedding Date Set for Next Month.I read it once.Read it again.Next month.I set the phone face down on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the floor. The room was exactly as
Ex Husband, Prepare To Burn Chapter 37 - The Wedding She Didn't See Coming
Elara's POVThe ceiling was different.It was lower than the villa with a crack running from the light fixture toward the far corner that someone had half-heartedly filled in at some point and given up on.Dara's spare room.Right.I lay there for a moment and took stock. Head clear, the grogginess completely gone, a stiffness in my shoulders from a mattress that had been doing its best for several years too many. Nothing broken. Nothing that wouldn't sort itself out with coffee and movement.I reached for the burner on the nightstand and called Sydney.Noah answered on the third ring with the particular texture of someone who was technically awake but had submitted to it under protest."It's early," he said."It's eight-fifteen.""That's early.""Noah."He made a sound that communicated his position on the matter without requiring actual words. Then shuffling, and Claire's voice in the background — is that Mama, give me, Noah give me the phone — and then Claire was on."Mama.""Hey b
Ex Husband, Prepare To Burn Chapter 36 - Too Late
Camila's POVThe wine was a good one.Ian had picked it — one of the bottles from the case his business associate had sent over from Tuscany last spring, the kind that cost enough to make you pay attention to it. I opened it an hour ago and poured two glasses. Ian had taken his to his office and I'd taken mine to the sitting room and that was fine. That was how evenings worked in this house lately. Separate rooms, separate silences, the appearance of a shared life conducted from a comfortable distance.It was fine.I curled my feet beneath me on the sofa and looked at the room. Everything exactly where it should be. The flowers Petra had arranged Tuesday were still fresh on the side table. The cushions are straight. My phone lit up on the cushion beside me.The contact.I picked it up. "Tell me she's settled.""She's gone."For a moment, everything froze. I set the wine glass down on the table beside me carefully. "Say that again.""She's gone. The door was opened from the inside
Ex Husband, Prepare To Burn Chapter 35 - The Warehouse Escape
Elara's POV"Four minutes," I repeated. "That's it?""That's it. Move."Dara was already at the door, easing it open just enough to check the corridor before pulling it wide. I followed her out, my legs still not entirely convinced they belonged to me, and the cold air outside that room hit my face like something I hadn't realised I'd been missing.The corridor was narrow. Made of concrete and industrial lighting, the kind that buzzed the same way the bulb in my room had, like the whole building ran on one tired generator that resented being asked to do anything."Where are we?" I whispered."Warehouse. Queen's side." Dara didn't slow down. "Don't ask me how I know that, ask me later."Fair enough.She moved fast and quiet, hugging the wall, and I matched her pace even though every part of my body wanted to sit down somewhere and process the fact that I'd just woken up in a locked room for the second time in five years. There would be time for processing later. Right now there was a
Ex Husband, Prepare To Burn Chapter 34 - History Won't Repeat Itself
Elara's POVUrgh. What the hell?My head throbbed like something had been taken out of it and put back incorrectly. Slowly I opened my eyes and the first thing that hit me was the smell — antiseptic and something stale underneath it that immediately felt wrong.That's weird. Wasn't I just heading to my car?The ceiling above me was unfamiliar. A single bulb overhead, buzzing faintly. I blinked at it for a moment trying to get my bearings and then the memories started coming back in pieces. The car park. Bay fourteen. The indicators blinking. Something behind me that didn't belong.Shit.I was kidnapped. Again.I sat up slowly and immediately regretted it — the room tilted hard and I gripped the edge of the cot until everything decided to stay still. My head was pounding, my mouth tasted like chemicals, and somewhere at the back of my throat the sweetness of chloroform was still sitting there reminding me exactly how I'd ended up horizontal on a cot in a room I didn't recognise.Kidnap
Ex Husband, Prepare To Burn Chapter 22
Ian's POVThe drive home was quiet.My driver said nothing. The city lights bled past the window in slow streaks of amber and white. I sat with one arm against the door, two fingers pressed to my mouth, staring at nothing in particular.You remind me of someone.I'd said that out loud. And to a wom
Ex Husband, Prepare To Burn Chapter 5 - The Game Begins
Elara's POV I followed Ian out of the fashion show and kept my distance, slipping behind a marble pillar in the corridor. My pulse was steady, trained to hide itself; my breath slow. From my hiding place I could hear him—low, flat—answering a call.“You need to hurry up with Camila,” his mother’s
Ex Husband, Prepare To Burn Chapter 4 - The Rules of Love and War
Elara's POV “What are you thinking about, Mum?” Noah’s small voice pulled me from my thoughts.“Nothing much, dear,” I said softly, smiling at him. “I was just remembering the day I gave birth to my lovely triplets. I love you, my children.”“Mum,” Emily said, her eyes sparkling with mischief, “we
Ex Husband, Prepare To Burn Chapter 3 - The Night Everything Ended
Elara's POV My fingers trembled so hard I could barely unlock my phone. One deep breath. One last ounce of courage. Then I hit send — the recording, Ian’s confession, every single shred of betrayal he had thrown at me. I attached it all with a note that burned like poison on my tongue.> “Let’s se
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