Obsession His Runaway Bride (Noelle and Adrian) novel Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Rebel

Chapter 46: Rebel

Calix moved through the wreckage while his sharp eyes scanned the injured and the ones he lost. His men were tended to by what few medics they had left. It was a mess. A complete disaster. But it did not piss him off at all.

He crouched beside one of his men, a who had taken a rifle butt to the face and was now bleeding from his temple. The man groaned as Calix grabbed his chin, tilting his face up to inspect the damage.

“Stop whining. You’re still breathing,” Calix muttered, letting go roughly as he reached for a clean cloth and tossed it at him. “Press that down unless you wanna pass out from blood loss.”

The man did as he was told, wincing as he applied pressure.

Calix stood and turned his attention to another who was nursing a bullet wound in his shoulder. He recognized him as one of the newer recruits, too eager to prove himself, and now paying the price for it.

“How bad?” Calix asked.

The man clenched his jaw. “Went clean through. I’ll live.”

“Damn right, you will.” Calix scoffed.

He moved on with a plain expression as he passed more injured men. Some had taken hits in the crossfire, others had been overwhelmed in hand–to–hand combat. Valerian’s people hadn’t just come in with firepower, they had torn through them with skill and zero hesitation.

It had been almost like a complete slaughter.

And yet, Calix felt not much of concern over the state of their men. He noted the damage, acknowledged the losses, but there was no real sense anger at what had unfolded. If anything, his mind was elsewhere.

Because, for him, this was even not enough. It was simply a subtle revenge on his part after what he had found out

-Flashback-

Calix had been making his rounds through the estate when he arrived at one of the large master bedroom doors. He had no real reason to be there. He was just passing by, bored and restless. But he stopped in his tracks when the door suddenly swung open.

Adrian stepped out, rolling his sleeves as he calmly buttoned up his shirt. His cufflinks glinted under the hallway lights in a smooth and unbothered way. He looked well–rested and satisfied.

And that alone told Calix everything..

Adrian barely acknowledged him at first. But after a brief pause, he jerked his thumb toward the room he had just stepped out of.

“Make sure she gets the beauty rest she needs. We are getting married tomorrow after all.” He added, “Lock the door when you’re done.”

He said it so casually. So simply. As if the command was no different from ordering a drink or tying his shoes.

Then, without another word, Adrian adjusted his cuffs and walked off, leaving Calix standing there.

For a long moment, he didn’t move yet ended up letting out a quiet chuckle.

‘What a poor woman.‘ He thought.

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Chapter 46: Rebel

+25 BONUS

With a shake of his head, he reached into the pocket of his combat pants, fingers closing around a small autoinjector. The sedative inside was potent, designed to keep someone under for hours long enough to ensure compliance or to prevent escape.

He then walked inside.

There he saw Noelle lying on the bed, covered only by a thin blanket with her body completely still. She hadn’t moved nor reacted to his presence, as if she had already accepted whatever fate awaited her.

Calix stood at the doorway with the sedative in his hand, while scanning her motionless form. He had seen women like this before. It didn’t faze him. He had learned long ago not to dwell on things that didn’t concern him. This was just another job and another order to follow.

“Alright now, you’ll be having your shot,” he muttered, stepping closer as the soft click of his boots against the floor became the only sound in the room.

Still, Noelle didn’t move.

She lay on her side with her back turned toward him and her breathing shallow and controlled. He noticed the way her dark hair cascaded over the pillow, how her body barely rose and fell with each breath. But what stood out the most were the bruises–fading fingerprints on her wrists, darkened marks littered across her delicate skin.

Something about it made Calix pause. There was a dull flicker of anger surfacing inside him, but he quickly pushed it down. This wasn’t his business. He exhaled sharply and reached for the blanket, pulling it back just enough to expose her arm where he would inject the sedative. But the moment the fabric slid away, his hand stopped.

His breath caught in his throat and his entire body stiffened

There, on her bare back, was a scar.

A scar he knew.

A scar he would never forget.

His mind was suddenly thrown into a memory he had buried long ago. A childhood accident. A mistake he had never been able to erase. The reckless actions of a stubborn boy who had been so desperate to prove himself, to be something greater than the life forced upon him. He had wanted to be a soldier, had fought against everything and everyone who tried to hold him back. But in his arrogance, in his desperate need to show his strength, he had caused that scar.

His throat felt tight as his gaze slowly lifted to her face. She was still turned away from him, still unmoving, oblivious to the storm raging inside him.

For years, he had buried his past, convincing himself it didn’t matter. That he didn’t need to look back. But now, here she was–lying right in front of him, broken, bruised, and he had been too blind to see it.

It explained the strange pull of familiarity he had felt toward her the moment Adrian had dragged her into the island. But he had ignored it, dismissed it as nothing more than vague recognition of a face he might have passed once, long ago. Even when Adrian had mentioned her name Noelle, it had meant nothing to him. Just another woman. Just another name. He hadn’t thought twice about it. After all, he had met countless people in his life. He had been everywhere, done everything a man like him could do.

His fingers loosened around the sedative as it fell on the floor. His vision blurred for a second as realization crashed into him like a hammer to the chest.

Noelle wasn’t just some woman Adrian had dragged back from the past.

Chapter 46: Rebel

She was his sister.

Calix couldn’t dare look at her in the eyes and tell her the truth.

How could he?

After all these years, after everything that had happened, he could be nothing but a stranger to her.

+25 BONUS

The sister he had left behind… The girl who had once followed him around with wide, trusting eyes was long gone. In her place was a woman who had endured more than he could even begin to imagine. A woman who had been dragged into a nightmare he had unknowingly played a part in.

What right did he have to stand before her now and claim to be her brother?

His fists clenched at his sides. He could barely breathe past the weight pressing against his chest. The truth burned at the back of his throat, but it refused to leave his lips. He had spent so many years running from his past, severing every tie, burying every trace of the life he once had. And now, standing here, looking at the sister he had failed in more ways than one… he realized that there was no way to undo what had been done.

She didn’t know him.

And after everything, maybe she never should.

End of Flashback-

Chapter 47: Terrified