Chapter 45

▫️STELLA’S POV...

I trusted him. I really did. But if he’s out here spreading lies, what the hell is going on? My head was spinning as I sprinted to Ava’s room, where she was busy admiring her new piercing in the mirror.

"Ava!" I shoved my phone in front of her face. "Look at this fucking message!"

She frowned, snatched my phone, and read it. Then, in true Ava fashion, she said, "What is going on, bro?"

"Right?" I threw my hands in the air. "I trust him, but—"

Ava interrupted, shaking her head. "Nah, that man can NEVER cheat on you. He’s head over heels, practically your personal second heart."

I exhaled in relief. "So should I block this dude?"

"Wait," Ava smirked. "Let’s see what receipts he has first."

Without hesitation, she typed "Send."

The guy saw the message immediately and sent three pictures. The first one was a dimly lit club. Chris was sitting on a sofa, Liam was near him, and a girl was beside Chris—but her face wasn’t visible since she was looking at her hands.

Ava and I looked at each other.

Heart rate: 200 BPM.

We slid to the next picture.

Chris's hand was on her thigh.

Ava gasped. I clenched my fists.

"This lunatic pervert," I muttered, seeing red. "He’s gonna be dead meat when he gets back."

Fueled by rage, I swiped to the last picture.

And my soul left my body.

Chris was kissing her. Not just any kiss—HE was leaning in. HE INITIATED IT. That fucking asshole. Horny brat.

My stomach dropped. My fingers turned ice cold.

Was I dreaming? Was my love story this short? Was I really that delusional? Where was my happy ending, damn it?

"What the hell does this mean, Ava?" My voice came out hollow.

Ava, equally shocked, hesitated. "Maybe… maybe this was before you two got together?" She frowned. "But no one mentioned anything like this before."

"Or maybe they’re fake?" I whispered, grasping at straws.

I wanted to believe that. I needed to believe that.

Ava grabbed my shoulders. "Stella, don’t overthink. Chris is coming back soon—just confront him, okay?"

I nodded weakly. But inside? Chaos. Pure, unfiltered chaos.

Without thinking, I typed, "Who are you?" to the mysterious sender.

No reply.

Ava’s eyes suddenly sparkled with genius. "Wait a damn minute." She quickly screenshotted the pictures. And just like that, the account disappeared.

She exhaled. "I knew it."

She handed me my phone. "Relax. This is fishy as hell."

But how could I relax? My delulu brain had already split into two modes:

1. If Chris didn’t cheat: I would cuddle him, kiss him and promise my loyalty.

2. If Chris cheated: He would not see the sun tomorrow. His funeral would have the most aesthetic flowers, though and his wife will look stunning there.

Ava, being the smart one, immediately called MJ.

After two rings, he picked up. "Ya?"

"Where’s Chris?" Ava asked, casual but firm.

MJ hesitated. "Uh… at the club with Liam."

My heart stopped.

So the pictures were real?!

MJ added, "Why? Everything okay?"

Ava, the best liar, smiled. "Yeah, just checking. When are you guys coming back?"

"By evening."

"Okay," Ava said, hanging up.

I checked my messages again. Nothing. Chris hadn’t replied since last night.

HE WAS FED UP WITH ME, WASN’T HE?

Oh, this asshole.

My overthinking ass started planning dramatic movie scene in my head:

I barging into the club, flipping tables, dragging that mystery girl by the hair and cutting her lips.

Chris stammering, "B-babe, I can explain! Leave my whore, I beg you or else whose ass I'll lick."

Me grabbing a champagne bottle and aiming for his head while cursing him.

Liam hiding behind a chair.

MJ recording.

Ava cheering me on like a football coach.

But in real life? I just sat on the bed, chewing my lip, waiting.

If this was a misunderstanding, Chris better bring a PowerPoint presentation to explain himself.

If not?

CHRIS KNIGHT, may your soul rest in hell seeing your whore fucked by another manwhore.

▫️CHRISTIAN’S POV...

The moment we landed in Russia, we got into the car and headed straight for Hunter Michael’s mansion. The bastard had been here for a while now.

On the way, my phone buzzed—a message from Stella.

She had sent me a picture of herself pouting. Looking cute as hell.

I smirked and sent a few heart emojis. I couldn’t send her mine.

Minutes later, we arrived at Hunter’s place. The guards let us in without hesitation. They knew better than to question us.

As we stepped into the lavish living room, Hunter walked in casually, his lips curling into a smirk.

"What brings you here, Chris?" he asked, then glanced at my men. "Oh, MJ, Liam, Nick… you guys too?"

I didn’t bother with greetings. "So you were the one who sent an intruder to steal our information?"

That bastard laughed.

"Why the hell would I do something so childish?" he asked, crossing his arms.

I took a step forward, my voice cold. "Don’t play games with me, Hunter. You and I both know you're the only one who would stoop this low."

Hunter’s smirk didn’t fade. "I don’t even know what you’re talking about."

"You do." My jaw clenched. "But let me remind you. Your men, on your orders, stole our private information. Because of that, fifteen of my men are dead. Brutally murdered."

Hunter’s expression darkened slightly, but he still stood his ground. "I don’t run my operations like that, Knight. You know me—I might be ruthless, but I don’t cross that line. Killing men this way? Leaking their locations? That’s not my style."

I narrowed my eyes. "You expect me to believe that?"

Hunter sighed, rubbing his temple. "Look, if you think it was my men, I’ll prove it wasn’t. I can give you full access to my men’s locations, their movements for the past two weeks—everything. But I didn’t do this, Chris. Someone else did, and they want you to think it was me."

I studied him, looking for any sign of deception. But he was serious.

"Fine," I muttered after a long pause. "If you’re lying, I’ll know."

Hunter smirked. "I never lie, Knight. You should know that by now."

With nothing else to pin on him, we left.

---

Back at our bungalow, I headed straight to my room. The second the door shut behind me, I ripped off my shirt and stepped into the shower.

But no amount of hot water could wash away the rage boiling in my veins.

Fifteen of my men. Gone. And not just dead—torn apart.

This morning, we received a package. Inside? Bodies. No, pieces of bodies. Arms, legs, torsos—chopped apart like animals. The doctors were still trying to piece them together, to identify them.

I failed them.

They had sworn loyalty to me, trusted me with their lives—and now they were gone. Because I wasn’t careful enough.

I slammed my fist against the shower wall, breathing heavily.

Whoever did this was going to regret their existence. I wasn’t just going to kill them—I was going to make them suffer.

---

An hour later, we sat down to go over what we knew.

Liam came in, his face grim. "We retrieved the deleted CCTV footage from the night the information was stolen."

We all crowded around the screen. The footage played.

A man—one of our own men—was seen entering the restricted data room. He copied the information and walked out, as if he had every right to be there.

My fists clenched so tight my knuckles turned white. Betrayal.

Liam exhaled. "We’re tracking him. We’ll have him soon."

I leaned back in my chair, running a hand through my hair. It had to be an inside job. Someone from my own ranks had sold us out.

And that meant… there was another traitor among us.

---

Next Day

Morning came too fast.

Liam burst into my room, looking pissed. "We found him."

I stood up immediately. "Where?"

Liam’s jaw tightened. "Dead."

What the fuck.

The one person who could’ve given us answers was now a corpse.

"Forensics is working on the body," Liam added. "We’ll have answers by tomorrow."

I slammed my hand against the table. One step forward, ten steps back.The deeper we dug, the messier this got. Someone was tying up loose ends before we could reach them. And now, the only lead we had was gone.

I exhaled sharply. "I need a fucking drink."

Liam and I went to a private bar. I wasn’t planning to get wasted—just enough to take the edge off.

As I sipped my whiskey, a woman approached, trying to flirt.

I ignored her.

She sat next to me, leaning in.

Still ignored her.

Then she placed a hand on my arm.

Enough.

I stood up, pulled out my gun, and pointed it straight at her head.

The bar fell silent.

The girl’s eyes widened in pure terror as she raised her hands. "I-I so-rry—"

Liam rushed in, grabbing my wrist. "Chris, put it down."

I didn’t move, my eyes locked on the trembling girl. My finger hovered over the trigger.

"Chris." Liam’s grip tightened. "This isn’t how you deal with shit. Put the fucking gun down."

For a second, I considered ignoring him. Letting my anger spill out in the worst way possible.

Then Liam yanked me back with full force, dragging me away from the table. My gun lowered slightly.

The bar erupted into whispers.

I shoved my gun back into my jacket and stormed out, my pulse still hammering.

Liam followed, grabbing my arm once we were outside. "What the hell was that?"

I ran a hand through my hair, exhaling sharply. "She touched me."

Liam gave me a look. "She was flirting. Not trying to fucking assassinate you."

I gritted my teeth. "I can’t think straight, Liam. Fifteen of our men—"

"I know," he cut me off, his voice softer. "But you can't go around pulling guns on random people. We need to stay focused."

I exhaled slowly, trying to regain control.

Liam sighed. "Let’s go back. You need to cool off."

Without another word, we got into the car and drove back.

The moment we reached the house, MJ greeted me at the door.

"Ava called," he said.

I frowned. "Everything okay?"

MJ shrugged. "She just asked where you were."

That put me on alert.

I pulled out my phone. Shit.

Stella’s message from last night was still unread.

I quickly opened it.