The violet in Samuel’s eyes flickered before vanishing, replaced by his usual dark irises. He sat up sharply, his breath uneven, as if he had just been dragged from the depths of an ocean.Sarah and Ethan stepped back cautiously, exchanging wary glances.“You blacked out,” Sarah said, scanning his face. “Samuel, what happened?”Samuel flexed his fingers. He could still feel it. The abyss. It had retreated—for now—but it was there, waiting just beneath the surface, whispering promises in a language he was starting to understand.“I saw it,” he murmured.Ethan’s grip on his sword tightened. “Saw what?”“The abyss. It spoke to me.” Samuel swallowed. “It… it offered me a deal.”Silence.Sarah's expression darkened. “And what did you say?”Samuel hesitated. He hadn’t accepted. Not completel

Samuel’s scream echoed into the void as his consciousness was dragged deeper into the abyss. The real world around him fractured like a shattered mirror, the Brook estate, Victor, and his allies dissolving into an unending darkness.The abyss was endless, stretching in every direction, yet it felt alive—watching him. It pulsed like a massive, slumbering beast, and with every beat, Samuel felt something awaken inside him.“Samuel…”A whisper slithered through the shadows, deep and ancient. He turned, but there was nothing—only the abyss.Then, the ground shifted beneath him, forming into something solid. A throne. Black as the void itself, carved with runes he somehow understood. It was his.His heart pounded. He clenched his fists.“No.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “I won&rsquo

The echoes of Victor’s screams rippled through the chamber, the sound raw and filled with something Samuel had never heard from him before—pure terror.The abyss had coiled around Victor's body, constricting him, feeding on his very essence. The once-mighty puppet master was now the one being controlled.Samuel stepped closer, his midnight eyes glowing as the abyss twisted around his fingers. He could feel it—it wanted to consume Victor, to erase him from existence.And for a moment, Samuel wanted that too.The man had ruined his life, manipulated him, tried to turn him into a mindless beast. Victor deserved to suffer.But then, through the chaos, a voice pierced the storm."Samuel, that’s enough!"Sarah.Her voice grounded him.Samuel turned slightly, his expression unreadable. The abyss pulsed, conflicted.Victor, still trapped in the suffocating darkness, gasped for breath. "Don’t—listen—to her," he choked out. "You want revenge? Take it! End me, Samuel!"Samuel's fingers twitched.

The moment Victoria Brook disappeared, the air in the room shifted. The weight of Samuel’s decision hung heavy, pressing against Ethan and Sarah like a suffocating fog.Ethan’s fingers twitched, his body tense with unspent rage. "I can’t believe this," he muttered. "You actually shook hands with that—monster."Samuel didn’t flinch. His golden eyes were eerily calm, but beneath the surface, the abyss within him churned like a storm. "It was necessary."Sarah’s voice was barely a whisper. "She has your mother, Samuel… but at what cost?"His silence was answer enough.Ethan exhaled sharply and turned away, running his hands through his hair. "Damn it, man. We spent all this time fighting against the Brooks, and now you’re in bed with them?"Samuel’s jaw tightened. "I said I made a deal. I never said I was loyal."Sarah’s brows furrowed. "Then what is this, Samuel? A long con?"He met her gaze. "Exactly."The words should have reassured them, but they didn’t. The line between deception an

Samuel sat in the dimly lit room, his thoughts a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. The weight of what he had done pressed heavily on his chest. He had controlled the creature, bent it to his will—but at what cost? The darkness inside him had responded too easily, too eagerly. It felt like the line between himself and the abyss was beginning to blur.A soft knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.“Come in,” he called, his voice rougher than he expected.Victoria stepped inside, dressed in a sleek black gown that hugged her figure. She looked every bit the heiress of the Brook empire—dangerous, untouchable. But tonight, there was something else in her eyes. A flicker of something he couldn’t quite place.“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she remarked, crossing the room with effortless grace.Samuel exhaled sharply. “Maybe I have.”She smirked but didn’t sit. Instead, she leaned against the desk, arms crossed. “What’s really bothering you, Samuel?”He ran a hand through his hair.