Submitting to my Ex Uncle-Chapter 244

Horror wrapped around Celeste’s face the moment her eyes parted.

For a few seconds, the world was just a blur, the heavy thud of her own heartbeat, and the smell of iron and dust.

When her vision sharpened, she froze.

Landon stood a few feet in front of her, a gun in hand, the barrel leveled directly at her forehead.

He looked nothing like the smiling man who once flirted at Dominic’s parties, who once pretended to respect his uncle. His eyes were sunken now, colder, and hollowed out by something darker than envy.

"What?" he drawled, his lips twisting into a half-smile. "Surprised to see me?"

Celeste didn’t answer. Her tongue was dry, and her throat constricted. She tried to speak, but the gag across her mouth muffled everything to a low sound.

Her wrists burned from the rope that bound her to the metal chair. The room was concrete with bare walls, and no windows. The air was cold, almost sterile, and it carried the faint scent of oil.

Landon took a slow step forward. "Don’t like surprises, do you?"

He tilted his head, crouching so his eyes met hers. "You broke up with me for my uncle."

Her pupils widened. She tried to shake her head, but the gag pressed tighter. He laughed, sharp, humorless, and bitter.

"What?" he taunted. "You thought I let it go? You thought you could just pretend it never happened? Play the innocent wife while you sleep beside him every night?"

She didn’t move. She knew the look in his eyes. She knew that glassy, unstable sheen that meant logic was already gone.

Landon straightened, running a hand through his hair. His tone dropped to quieter. "Do you have any idea what it’s like... to be the ghost of someone’s shadow? To watch him get everything? The name. The company. The respect. And you."

He turned the gun in his hand slowly, as if the movement itself calmed him. "You could’ve been mine, Celeste."

She flinched slightly when he said her name.

Landon smiled at the reaction. "He doesn’t deserve you. He never did. You were supposed to be mine before he stole you."

Her breath came sharp through her nose. She tried to tug her wrists free, the rope biting deeper into her skin.

"Careful," he murmured, glancing down. "That chair’s bolted. You’ll only cut yourself worse."

He said it softly, like he cared. But the gun never lowered.

A door creaked somewhere behind him, faint but distinct.

Landon turned his head slightly, his expression shifting. "He’s here, perhaps," he said quietly, almost to himself. "Took him long enough."

He turned back to Celeste, his grin widening. "You know, he’ll come. He always does. He’ll walk straight into the trap like the hero he thinks he is."

Celeste’s body went rigid.

"You should’ve stayed away," Landon whispered. "You should’ve married someone normal. But no, you wanted Dominic Cross. You wanted the name. The power. The protection."

He leaned closer until she could feel the faint brush of his breath on her cheek. "How’s that protection working out for you now?"

Celeste closed her eyes briefly, her breath shaking through her nose. Her heart was hammering, but there was something fierce in her silence. Even gagged, even tied, she wouldn’t give him what he wanted.

Landon noticed.

"Still trying to be brave?" His tone cracked into laughter. "You think I won’t pull the trigger because you’re his wife to be? I’d love to watch what that does to him."

He circled her slowly, the barrel of the gun dragging lightly against her shoulder as he moved behind her. The touch made her skin crawl.

"You know what he said about you once?" he murmured near her ear. "That you’re the only thing that makes him lose focus. The only weakness he ever had. I overheard,"

He moved back in front of her. "Do you know what that makes you, Celeste?"

She met his eyes, defiant, her jaw tight.

"It makes you the perfect way to end him."

He smirked, lowering the gun at last. "But I’m not stupid. Killing you won’t be enough. He’s too composed. He’ll bury the grief and turn it into war."

He crouched again, closer this time. "No. I want to watch him beg first. I want to watch him break."

Celeste’s heart twisted at the thought.

He reached for the gag and loosened it roughly, letting the cloth fall from her mouth. Her lips were dry.

"Landon..." she whispered.

He smiled faintly. "There she is."

"You don’t have to do this."

He laughed softly. "Don’t I?"

"You think this will hurt him?" she rasped. "You think killing me or using me will break him? You don’t know him at all."

Landon’s grin faltered. "What?"

"You’re not his shadow because of luck," she said quietly, her voice gaining steadiness. "You’re his shadow because you can’t stand in your own light."

His hand twitched.

"You hate him because he’s everything you’ll never be," she went on, her tone cutting through the silence. "Not because he took something from you. But because he never even noticed what you wanted."

Landon’s jaw clenched. His finger hovered dangerously near the trigger.

"Shut up," he hissed.

She didn’t. "You won’t touch me. You can’t. Because even now, you’re trying to prove you’re better than him. And you’re not."

The sound of the safety clicking off filled the air.

Landon’s voice was low. "You shouldn’t have said that." He gelled, and immediately gave her a back hand slap with his free hand.

Blood smeared across the corner of Celeste’s lips. The sting came first, then the warmth. Her head whipped to the side from the force, but when she turned back to face him. Her expression had barely changed.

Her eyes met his.

Landon’s smirk wavered.

"You shouldn’t have said that," he muttered again, as if saying it might justify the slap. He was shaking slightly now, with the gun trembling in his hand.

Celeste exhaled slowly. "You’ve been saying a lot of things you shouldn’t," she murmured.

He froze.

Something in her tone unnerved him. She sounded too low, calm and steady for someone who should be terrified.

He stepped closer, shoving the barrel of the gun beneath her chin. "You think I won’t do it?"

She stared right back, the faint trace of a smile ghosting across her face. "You won’t."

The words were soft but dangerous.

Landon’s eyes darkened. His breath came out harsh. "You have no idea what I’m capable of, Celeste."

She tilted her head slightly, the metal digging into her skin. "I do. I’ve seen what fear does to you."

He blinked.

"You don’t want me dead," she said quietly. "You want me scared. You want me crying. You want me begging so you can finally feel like the one in control."

He said nothing.

"You won’t get that from me."

The words hung between them, heavy.

Landon took a step back, pacing once, then twice, while running both hands through his hair. His laugh came out cracked. "You think this is bravery? You think he’ll come save you? He won’t."

Celeste didn’t answer.

"You’re on your own, sweetheart."

Still, she didn’t react. Only her fingers twitched slightly against the rope, testing the knot again, and feeling how deep it bit into her skin. She wasn’t trying to escape yet.

Landon’s voice rose, snapping with frustration. "Say something!"

She looked up at him then, her eyes glinting. "You should’ve left the moment I told you I didn’t love you. I was a home to you."

His jaw tightened.

"Instead," she said, "you followed me around like a ghost. And now, here you are, trying to build a throne out of ashes."

He let out a low, strangled sound. "You talk with so much dagger."

"I learned from your uncle."

That name, uncle, shattered what little restraint he had left. He slammed the gun across her face again.

The impact split her lip this time. Her chair rattled from the force, scraping across the concrete.

Her head fell forward briefly. Her breath came out shallow and broken.

Then, slowly, and painfully, she lifted her head again. Then, she smiled.

"You’ll never win," she whispered with pity.

Landon stepped back. "You’ll change your mind when I bring him in here and make you watch him die."

Celeste’s heart stopped for half a second. But she didn’t show it. She didn’t flinch.

He wanted a reaction, and he wouldn’t get one.

She lifted her eyes again, her voice steady. "You won’t touch him."

"Why not?"

"Because deep down," she said softly, "you still want his approval."

Landon’s breath hitched. The gun in his hand shook. His lips parted like he wanted to speak, but no sound came.

And for a moment she saw the boy behind the madness. The one who wanted to be seen.

Then it was gone.

He turned abruptly and stormed toward the door, slamming it open.

Celeste’s head fell back against the chair. Her lungs burned. Her body trembled from the adrenaline she refused to show.

"Amara. Where’s Amara?" Celeste panicked.