A Love Restored

wound was found in this deafening silence. Liam knelt before me, his eyes gleaming with a disturbing intensity.

bedingt par plies. The shume gleamed menacingly in the dim light.

P

1px. Tears streamsed down my face, blutting my vision. “Please,” I whimpered, my voice choked with

He held the pliers up, the points mere inches from my trembling hand. “Beg,” he commanded, his voice a cold rasp.

wokind of pune terve. He hadn’t even touched me vet. But I was shaking. Even as the sound echoed through the

The intensity flickered, replaced by a flicker of… what was it? Disappointment?

the metallic clink a jaring counterpoint to the pounding of my heart. A harsh laugh escaped his lips. “Such a fragile

It seems Felix is the one with the real spint

using through me.

him.” He sighed dramatically, “I just hope he comes soon.”

slowed, his voice echoing through the cavernous space.

A moment later, a figine emerged from the shadows at the back of the warehouse. To my utter disbelief, it was Lydia, Liam’s mother. The sweet old

Best a few days ag

sig clutched in her wrinkled hands. Her eyes, usually filled with warmth, now held a steely glint that mirrored

can bet up, Mom, Liam entered, gesturing towards me with a careless hand. “We don’t want her bleeding out before Felix gets here.”

Lydia knelt before me, her touch surprisingly gentle as she cleaned the raw scrape on my wrist where the zip tie had dug in.

apologize, Flora,” she murmured, her voice barely a whisper. “This is… necessary.

Her words landed on me like a physical blow. The kind old lady who’d been so nice to me was a facade, a carefully crafted illusion. Here, in the grimy depths of this warehouse, the truth was laid bare – a mother as consumed by vengeance as her son.

Despair threatened to engulf me. Liam wasn’t just my enemy, he wasn’t just Felix’s. Hed poisoned his entire family with his bitter hatred. And I was caught the crossfire, a pawn in a twisted game I didn’t understand.

As Lydia finished cleaning my wound, a fresh wave of tear washed over me. They weren’t done. They stopped Lian from hurting me… Felix was their true target. And the thought of what they might do to him sent a fresh wave of terror coursing through me.

for now.

I had to find a way out of here. For myself, for Felix. But with Liam and his vengeful mother watching my every move, escape seemed like a distant.

A fresh soh ripped through me at the thought, the taste of blood and despair thick on my tongue. I wasn’t sure how I was even crying anymore. My vision blurred with tears, the dim light of the warehouse morphing into shimmering, distorted shapes. As Lydia finished bandaging my wrist, a hulking figure eiterged from the shadows behind her.

light in my throat, a strangled gasp escaping my lips. My heart lurched, slamming against my ribs with a frantic panic. It couldn’t be. Not him. Not after all these year.

His name echoed in my mind. The tall, broad–shouldered man stood framed in the doorway, his face shrouded in darkness. But even in the dim light, I

recognized the cruel curve of his lips, the chilling glint in his eyes.

wave of nausea swept over me, the warehouse for tilting benea mother’s lifeless body, hang on her bed, blood staining her white who had destroyed everything, the une who had shuttered ou

My gaze darted between Ascensio and Liam, a horrifying realization dawning connecting Liams rage to a past tu desperately tried to burn. Angerska

Panic morphed into a primal furs. They were using me, using Fein, to exact the

Ascensio stepped closer, his shadow engulfing me. A crel smile voice a gravelly rasp. “Surprised to see me?

flooded back, vivid and relentless. The sight of

his take a mask of cold indifference. He was the

mother. He had ruined everything for me.

about Bella. This web abs, the spuck that had genited

graner kiretched back years,

“Flora” be drawled, his

The question hung in the air, heavy with menace. There was no warmth, hint of recognition in bos on shivers down my spine.

voll, predatory gleam that sent

stammered, my voice barely a whisper. “You how “You can’t be here…

He chuckled, a dry, humorless sound. “Can’t I His gaze dropped to the bandaged wound on my what a ticket of something cold passing through his eyes. Letting you live all these years was a mistake. But now, it krona, bon revel

His words sent a fresh wave of terror crashing over me. All this time, I had thought I was safe. But the man who had haunted my nightmares, the on who had ruined our lives, was still out there, waiting for his chance.

Why? I croaked, my voice tagged with emotion. Why are you doing this why are they doing

Ascensio turned to Liam, a sardonic smile playing on his lips. Explain yourself,

Liam met my gate, his eyes shadowed with a complex mix of emotions – but before any words could escape his lips, a guttural roar erupted from

e’ve brought het here.”

anger, frustration, something ikan to regred? He opened his mouth to speak.

scrisan,

“Speak, damn you!” he bellowed, his voice echoing through the warehouse. “Tell her what her family did to ours

Liam sank heavily onto a nearby crate, the color draining from his face. “My name.” he began his voice bourse, a Lim Valen

The

name hung in the air, a foreign sound to my cars. Yet, a tremer of recognition can through i The Valeries. The other side of the brink, the firmly. my father had made a bargain with years ago. His warration that day in the cell came to me.

Liam continued, his voice a low grow. “Ascensio is my uncle. Ascensio Valerio. My father trusted the Corsings. They made a deal. But my father couldn’t complete his end of the bargain. And my father…” He choked back a sab the raw emotion in his voice was palpable, the

“Killed by who 1

o?” I whispered, the answer already forming on my tong

“By Felix and his father, Liam spat, his eyes blazing with hatred. “They took everything from me my family, my future.”

chilling realization dawned on me..Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I remembered this. Felix’s first kill. He had to

told me. Very briefly. Many years ago.

“And

thats why you’re doing this? I asked, my voice trembling with a mix of anger and despair. This elaborate game all because of the past

“They stole my life, my father, my mother’s husband” Liam snarled. “And I’m going to take everything they hold dear

cruel twist of his lips. Felix loves you, doesn’t he? You’re his weakness. Just like your mother was your father s.“

mind reeled. It was all so clear now. They d used me to get close to Felix, to rip him apart by taking away the one person he cared about most

“You killed my mother, I whispered, the memory of that fateful night flickering in my mind.

matike, Ascensio interjected, a cruci glint in bis ees. “I mean, well, we intended to kill you both.. Hurt Felix and his father. And then

“But you failed,” I said, a m

new found.

d strength rising within me. “My father took me. You lost

A Bicker of surprise crossed Asemios face at me ung voice, replaced by a cruel smile. Until you. And now, the game continue

he said, his vOICT

ping with malice. The found

Phap its

Mix, mond teeled te vollton All of this. All of the Hate U had poopt. If xix all then so main people toward the busted plais.