Ethan Storm’s Dark Awakening novel Chapter 24

The restaurant buzzed with the low hum of conversation and the soft clink of cutlery. Waiters weaved between tables, and golden light spilled from ornate chandeliers. But that peaceful ambiance shattered like glass the moment Belen Morgan stormed through the entrance like a thundercloud on legs.

His sharp eyes scanned the room—and froze.

Near the window, poised like she owned the place, sat a woman in an elegant black dress. Alice Morgan. The niece his family had written off. The woman everyone had assumed was lost, if not dead.

Belen’s mouth dried. She looked untouched. Unharmed. Alive.

But that could only mean one thing.

She had submitted to Martin Irving.

“Alice!” Belen’s voice cracked like a whip through the restaurant.

Conversations dropped. Forks paused in mid-air. Alice slowly lowered her wine glass, not a single muscle betraying emotion, and turned toward him with the kind of smile that could cut steel.

“What a coincidence,” she murmured, voice laced with sarcasm. “Did you come here to ruin everyone’s dinner—or just mine?”

“Cut the crap!” Belen snapped, stomping across the restaurant floor like he owned it. “You—how dare you show your face here like nothing happened?! After being taken away by the Irvings, I thought you were finished! And now you’re out here… flirting with some random man?”

The man beside her chuckled, resting his hand lightly on the table. “Random? That’s rude. I’m sitting right here.”

Alice leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs slowly, deliberately. “Belen, go away. You’re making a scene.”

“Go away?” His laugh was bitter. “Are you joking? You think this is some kind of game? Martin Irving took you—everyone saw it. No one expected you to survive that, let alone waltz into a restaurant with a smirk and some mysterious stranger. Do you have any idea what kind of danger you’re putting all of us in?!”

“Oh, please,” Alice drawled. “You all stood by when I was dragged away. Not one word. Not one attempt to help. Now you’re scared because I came back without crawling?”

Belen’s face darkened. “We stayed silent for your sake! We thought—”

“No,” she cut him off sharply. “You hoped. You hoped I’d be broken. You hoped Martin would crush me so you and dear Grandmother Veronica could finally be rid of me.”

“Don’t twist things!” he barked. “Grandmother’s doing everything she can to protect this family. You—you’re the one jeopardizing everything!”

Alice’s eyes flared. “You mean everything I built?”

Belen’s grip tightened on the back of her chair. “You need to go back to Martin and fix this mess before it blows up in our faces. Apologize. Serve him. Do whatever it takes to keep him calm.”

Alice stood abruptly, her chair screeching behind her. The restaurant hushed, tension thick in the air.

“I’m not your puppet,” she said, her voice low and trembling with suppressed fury. “And Martin Irving is not my master.”

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