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A FADED PICTURE
publish date:
2026-06-17 19:02:12
Latest chapter
THE COST OF SAVING HIM SURPRISED INVITATION
Nadia's POVThe back garden was exactly what Kane had said it would be — quiet, tucked away from the rest of the house like someone had deliberately forgotten to make it impressive. No fountain, no carefully trimmed hedges trying to look like something out of a magazine. Just grass and a few old trees and a stone bench that had probably been there longer than anyone currently living in the house. I liked it immediately.I'd been sitting there for almost an hour with a book open in my lap, not really reading it. My eyes kept moving across the same paragraph without taking any of it in, and eventually I stopped pretending and just sat there looking at the trees, letting the afternoon do what it wanted around me. Birds. Wind. The distant sound of someone moving around inside the house. Nothing alarming, nothing urgent, nothing asking anything of me.It was the most peace I'd had in longer than I could accurately remember.I turned a page I hadn't actually read and stared at the next one.
THE COST OF SAVING HIM I COMPLAIN TOO MUCH
Nadia's POVI didn't remember falling asleep. One moment I had been crying and the next I was opening my eyes to complete silence, staring at the ceiling while everything that had happened replayed itself in pieces — the warehouse, the chair, those men, their laughter, the video, the blood that had soaked through my shirt. I shut my eyes again. I didn't want to remember any of it.A soft knock came from the door and it opened slowly. The older housekeeper stepped inside carrying a tray, her smile gentle in the way that made something in my chest ache a little. "I thought you might be hungry."I sat up slowly. "I'm not.""You haven't eaten since yesterday."I looked away. "I know."She placed the tray on the bedside table and walked over with the quiet certainty of someone who had made this argument before and intended to win it again. "Just a little." I wanted to refuse, but looking at her worried face made it impossible — she'd already been through enough because of me. I nodded once
THE COST OF SAVING HIM BROKEN —
The recording light flashed.Then before he could finish the sentence, gunshots erupted through the warehouse.The door exploded inward.Nadia barely had time to register what was happening before something warm and wet hit her face and chest, and for one terrifying second she thought it was her own blood, thought maybe she'd been hit and hadn't felt it yet, her body going rigid with shock. Then she saw the man beside her — the older man, the one who'd been smiling into the camera — collapse sideways onto the concrete floor, and she understood. It wasn't her blood. It was his.The room descended into chaos immediately. Gunfire echoed off the concrete walls from every direction, sharp and overlapping, and Nadia screamed without meaning to, twisting against the restraints as bodies moved fast around her, shouting, falling, fighting. Through the smoke and noise she caught a flash of a familiar figure moving with brutal precision through the room — Kane, his expression unreadable even now
THE COST OF SAVING HIM I'M NOT HIS WIFE!
Nadia's POV"...She's waking up."The voice sounded distant, like it was coming through water, and for a moment I thought I was still dreaming. Then another voice came, closer this time."Told you she'd wake up eventually."I forced my eyes open. Everything looked blurry and my head throbbed with a heaviness that went all the way to the back of my neck. I blinked several times, slowly, until the room came into focus around the edges.The first thing I noticed wasn't where I was. It was the fact that I couldn't move my hands.I pulled instinctively and got nothing — my wrists were restrained behind the chair, tight enough that the position sent a sharp ache shooting through both shoulders the moment I tested it. I looked down. My ankles were restrained too, fixed to the legs of the chair with something I couldn't see clearly, and my heartbeat quickened immediately, the kind of fast that didn't feel like it was going to slow down on its own."What..." My voice came out hoarse, rougher t
THE COST OF SAVING HIM KIDNAPPED
Nadia's POVThe afternoon had been unusually peaceful. The house was quiet, most of the staff having returned to their work after lunch, leaving only the occasional sound of footsteps echoing through the long hallways. I stood near the living room window looking out at the garden, not thinking about anything in particular, just looking.The silence didn't feel uncomfortable anymore, not exactly. I was beginning to understand how the house breathed — every employee moving with purpose, nobody raising their voice, nobody asking unnecessary questions, even the security guards outside changing shifts without disturbing the calm. I wrapped my arms around myself and sighed. Maybe I should read. Maybe I should go back to the kitchen. Maybe—A sharp crack echoed from outside.I frowned. Another followed, louder, then another, and my heart skipped before my brain had caught up. Fireworks? No. The realization landed almost instantly, cold and certain.Gunshots.Someone screamed downstairs. A se
THE COST OF SAVING HIM KANE
Kane's POVThe private jet landed just before noon. Kane stepped onto the runway without waiting for anyone to open the door, and a line of black SUVs waited several meters away with their engines already running. Lev walked beside him holding a tablet. "The meeting starts in twenty minutes."Kane adjusted his shirt cuff. "Move it to fifteen.""I'll inform them," Lev said, without question.The convoy left the airstrip almost immediately, and the city outside the window looked nothing like home — lower buildings, less traffic, more warehouses than offices. Kane watched it pass in silence until the vehicles pulled into the compound of one of his business partners.The conference room was already occupied. Five men stood the moment he entered, greeted him respectfully, and took their seats again. Kane sat at the head of the table and the meeting began immediately, no introductions, no unnecessary conversation. Contracts were pushed across the polished surface, profit projections filled
THE COST OF SAVING HIM PRIVACY
I woke up slowly, not because I wanted to, but because for a few seconds my brain simply refused to cooperate. Everything felt unusually soft, too soft, my body sinking slightly into the mattress, and for one brief moment before memory returned I thought I was home. Then I opened my eyes and immedi
THE COST OF SAVING HIM FORTY—EIGHT HOURS
For several seconds after Kane spoke, nobody moved. The room stayed exactly as it was — the morning light still stretched across the floor, the phone remained in my hand, Mara's name still sat at the top of the screen. Everything looked normal, which felt wrong, because a few minutes ago she had si
THE COST OF SAVING HIM "THEY DON'T WANT YOU"
Nadia's POVFor a few seconds after Kane asked the question, nobody moved. The room remained exactly as it was — Lev standing near the desk, Kane beside the window, me sitting there trying to convince myself I had misunderstood what I just heard. Because there had to be another explanation. There
THE COST OF SAVING HIM KANE
Kane's POVThe mansion was quiet when Kane stepped inside, but it wasn't the peaceful kind of quiet most people associated with luxury. It was the sort that came from discipline, from dozens of people learning exactly when to speak and exactly when to keep their mouths shut. Conversations that had
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