Even in Darkness She Chose to Rise (Tatiana and Jasper) novel Chapter 16

Chapter 16 Blood Debts

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Shawn walked in, guilt all over his face, forcing a smile. “Jasper, you wanted to see me?”

“Where is she?”

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“Who? Oh–you mean Tatiana? Don’t worry, I did exactly what you told me. Taught her a good lesson. She won’t dare show up again!”

Jasper’s gaze sharpened. “What did you do?”

Shawn rattled off the excuse he had prepared. “Tatiana followed you all the way to Moonlight, even becoming a cleaner just to get close. Disgusting, right? So I thought I’d teach her properly. I sent her to Bob!”

Bob–the drunk from last night. A bottom–feeder among the rich second generation, notorious for abusing women.

Shawn hated the thought of his goddess sullied by a man like that. But Bob was useful–for moments like this.

“Bob has plenty of tricks,” Shawn sneered. “I bet she didn’t have a good time last night. Serves her right–now she’ll never dare bother you again, Jasper.”

Jasper’s voice cut like a blade. “You gave her to another man?”

The air thickened, the atmosphere turning deadly.

Only then did Shawn sense something wrong. His voice quivered. “Y–yeah… wasn’t that what you wanted me to do?”

A boot slammed into his chest. He crashed to the ground, writhing in pain, face gone white. “Jasper-”

Jasper hauled him up by the collar, eyes gleaming with bloodlust. “Shawn, have you forgotten? No matter how much I despise her, she is still my wife in name. And you gave my wife to be used by someone else? Hmm?”

Reality struck Shawn. Years ago, Jasper and Tatiana had married under Gordon Jackson’s witness–with an actual certificate.

Regret burned through him. “Jasper, I–I didn’t think it through! I only wanted to help you teach her a lesson. I swear no one else will know. I-”

Crash.

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Chapter 16 Blood Debts

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Jasper slammed him onto the glass table, shattering it with the force. Pain ripped through Shawn as he gasped for breath. “Jasper, I was wrong!”

Jasper’s eyes burned crimson, colder and harsher than steel. Even he didn’t understand why fury consumed him so completely.

“You’d better be grateful your last name is Qian.”

The Cooper family had been allied with the Jacksons for a century, bound by mutual interests. For Moses Cooper’s sake, Jasper stayed his hand.

But Bob…

Bob would die.

The drunk awoke from his blissful sleep to a bucket of ice water. Spluttering and cursing, he looked up–only to see Jasper standing there. His bravado vanished instantly. “Mr. Jackson! Wh- what a surprise seeing you here!”

He was naked, his greasy, swollen body a grotesque sight–evidence enough of what had taken place.

“Who was with you last night?” Jasper’s tone was arctic.

Bob paled. A man like him would never even get near Jasper under normal circumstances. He scrambled to please. “Just a cleaner, sir! Shawn told me she was the fake daughter of the Lowell family, a vile, scheming woman.”

He had no idea his words sealed his fate. Smirking, he even added, “Still, the woman tasted damn fine… the way she screamed—”

The words died in his throat. Jasper’s hand now held a gleaming dagger.

The room filled with muffled screams, swallowed by the walls. No sound escaped.

When Jasper stepped out again, his pale–blue sleeve was speckled with fresh blood. He frowned in disgust. A subordinate hurried forward with a handkerchief and a clean coat.

“Boss, we’ve tracked Ms. Steele’s whereabouts.”

Jasper paused mid–motion, eyes narrowing. “Where?”

“At the Steele residence.”

He strode off at once, tossing one final command over his shoulder. “Get a doctor. Don’t let him die.”

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Chapter 16 Blood Debts

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Through the cracked door behind him, Bob’s body lay motionless in a pool of blood. Only the faint rise and fall of his chest proved he was still alive.

Beside him lay a piece of flesh, unrecognizable, its very shape making every man in the room instinctively clench his legs in phantom pain.

The boss was ruthless.

Bob would never again wield his weapon of violence. Justice, in a twisted way, had been served.

On the city’s western outskirts, in a rundown village-

“Useless brat! Bathing this long–water doesn’t cost money, huh? You think you can waste it just because you don’t pay the bills? Any old towel would do!” Linda cursed outside the bathroom door.

Yet even as she scolded, she didn’t dare barge in to shut off the tap. Zion was still in the hospital, after all. This brat had poisoned before–who knew if she’d come out swinging a knife?

Inside the bathroom-

Tatiana watched as water mixed with blood spiraled down the drain. Her eyes were vacant, her knees trembling, barely able to hold her up.