All Chapters of DARK DIAMOND : Chapter 61 - Chapter 69

♠️ MARLENE ♠️I don’t know how many days it’s been since the Alkaled party. Time feels blurred, like someone hit pause on the world and forgot to press play again.Dad in jail. Grey Michaelson in jail. Secrets spilled everywhere. Raheem’s life exploded. Ruby is pregnant and planning to vanish. Ethan found out Grey is his real father, and Ruby is his sister. Reina’s condition is hanging by a thread.My phone won’t stop buzzing—reporters, lawyers, family, friends, strangers. The Blackwood name is ash in everyone’s mouth.I can’t breathe in this city anymore. Ethan feels it too. We’re lying in bed at his place, curtains drawn, the world locked outside. His fingers trace lazy circles on my bare shoulder.“I need to get out of here,” I whisper. “Even if it’s just for a few days.”He kisses my temple. “Then let’s go. Today. Wherever you want.”I turn to face him, searching his eyes. “You sure? With everything…”“I’m sure,” he says firmly. “We deserve this. You and me. No chaos. No secrets.

Georgia’s penthouse had finally started feeling like a sanctuary, no more Blackwood drama, no more threats. She was in the kitchen, pouring evening tea, when the doorbell rang.She checked the intercom camera.Brandon.Battered, scarred, eyes wild, but alive.Her blood ran cold. She’d seen the reports: escaped convict, dangerous.“Don’t open it,” her assistant whispered from the hallway.But Georgia, always too trusting, too composed, pressed the buzzer. “What do you want?”“Just to talk,” he called up, voice ragged. “Five minutes. About Francesca.”Against every instinct, she cracked the door, chain still on.That was all he needed.He slammed his shoulder into it, the chain snapping. Georgia stumbled back as he barreled in, knife flashing in his hand.“Quiet,” he snarled, grabbing her arm hard enough to bruise. “We’re going for a ride.”She fought, clawed, screamed, but he was bigger, desperate. A cloth over her mouth, chloroform stench, and the world went black.By the time her ass

♠️ ETHAN ♠️The night air felt lighter as we drove away from the warehouse.Freedom.After all the blood, the secrets, the chains, we were finally free. Salvador’s word was ironclad; I knew it in my gut. No more debts hanging over me and Dre. No more looking over our shoulders.Dre sat in the passenger seat, quiet for once, staring out the window.“We did it, man,” he said finally, voice low. “It’s really over.”I nodded, a small smile pulling at my lips despite everything. “Yeah. We can breathe now.”Marlene was waiting at home with Ruby. Georgia was safe with her sons. Reina… Reina would get the best care money could buy, no strings attached.For the first time, I let myself imagine a future, real, quiet, happy. With my woman and the peace we’ve always craved. Then my phone rang.Hospital number. My heart dropped at the sight.“Hello?”“Mr. Pierce… it’s about Reina. You need to come now. It’s… it’s time.”The world tilted.I don’t remember the drive. Just tires screeching, red light

♠️ ETHAN♠️Time doesn’t heal, it just moves. Months passed in a haze of grief and quiet rebuilding. Graduation came and went like a dream I watched from the sidelines.Blackwood Academy’s ceremony was scaled down, no grand Alkaled-level spectacle after everything that happened. Just caps, gowns, and a stage under the California sun.I sat in the audience with Marlene, Dre, Lilian, and Georgia. Reina’s empty seat beside us felt louder than any applause. She was supposed to be here, cheering while her brother graduated college.When my name was called, I walked across that stage feeling nothing and everything at once. Degree in hand, but the victory tasted hollow without Reina cheering in the front row.Marlene’s hand squeezed mine the whole time. She graduated too—summa cum laude, of course. The crowd cheered loudest for her, the Blackwood princess who’d survived the fire.Ruby graduated the same day. We’d kept her secret. No one told Caspian. She walked the stage glowing, barely showi