The King Of War Returns (Jaden Rift) novel Chapter 149

Rider staggered back, breathing hard. Sweat clung to his temples as the crowd's cheers blurred into background static.

But it wasn’t exhaustion gripping him.

It was fear.

Something about Jaden Rift didn’t add up. His eyes… they weren’t the eyes of a mere combatant. They were something far darker—something ancient. Calm. Cold. Inevitable.

And then he said those words again.

“Do you remember the woman who jumped from a building ten years ago?”

The memory hit Rider like a lightning bolt through his spine.

He remembered.

That night had started like a joke. A party. A dare. A private suite. Laughter. Screams muffled behind glass.

He remembered standing at the edge of the rooftop. Watching her cry.

The woman had begged. Begged.

And they’d laughed.

His fists clenched, blood rushing to his face.

“No,” he growled. “That was nothing. Just another casualty. You think I care about—”

CRACK!

Jaden’s fist slammed into his ribs like a hammer. Bone crunched.

Rider’s scream was drowned out by the gasps of the crowd.

He staggered again, spitting blood, only to be grabbed by the throat before he could even blink.

Jaden lifted him off the ground with one hand — his grip vice-like, crushing his windpipe slowly, cruelly.

Blood trickled from Rider’s nose. Then his mouth.

“I—I will not die at your hands,” Rider rasped, voice strangled. “I am not weak…”

Jaden’s expression didn’t change. His voice was like frost.

“Oh… trust me. I never planned on killing you that easily.”

He slammed Rider into the arena floor, the tiles beneath them shattering like glass.

The crowd erupted in chaos.

Rider coughed, wheezed — tried to crawl. But Jaden stepped on his hand, grinding it against the broken floor until three fingers snapped sideways.

“You remember now, don’t you?” Jaden whispered, crouching beside him.

“She wore a red jacket. You pulled it off. She screamed your name. She said she had a son.”

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