Absolutely! Here's Chapter 9: The Stranger Who Stole the Sunset formatted in a clean, reader-friendly style perfect for Webnovel upload:
Claire's POV
The day had bled away like spilled ink, leaving behind a sky painted in bruised purples and fiery oranges. The ranch lay quiet under the fading sun, but inside me, a storm was raging — the kind that no sunset could calm.
Madison's poison had seeped into the town's veins overnight, and the sharp edges of suspicion cut deeper than I'd expected. I had spent the morning avoiding the sharp stares and whispered questions like a woman walking through a field of rattlesnakes. But none of that prepared me for the sight waiting by the gate as the day died.
A truck.
Old and worn, its paint chipped like it had fought many battles and lost most of them. The engine growled low and steady as it slowed to a halt.
And then he stepped out.
Marcus Raines.
A name from a past I'd spent years trying to bury. His coat hung heavy on his frame, stained by weather and time, and his hat cast a shadow that hid more than just his face. But his eyes — dark, sharp, calculating — met mine, and I felt every secret I'd buried stir beneath my skin.
"Marcus."
The word slipped out before I could stop it, fragile as a ghost.
He gave a slow, almost mocking smile. "Claire."
Before I could gather myself, Ethan was beside me, his presence a shield I hadn't realized I needed until that moment.
"What're you doing here?" he demanded, voice low and hard.
Marcus tipped his hat, eyes never leaving mine. "Business. And maybe a reckoning."
The air tightened between us like a noose, and I knew — the past wasn't done with me yet.
Ethan's POV
I didn't like the way Claire's jaw tightened or the way her hands clenched the porch railing. Marcus Raines was trouble, plain and simple. I'd seen enough to know he wasn't the kind of man you invited into your life, or your home, without expecting consequences.
"What kind of business?" I asked, stepping forward.
Marcus's smile was thin. "The kind that answers questions. Some old debts are coming due."
Claire didn't move, but I could see the tension in her shoulders. She was weighing her options — staying quiet wasn't one of them.
"Let's talk inside," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
Marcus nodded and followed us inside, the weight of his presence settling like a dark cloud.
Claire's POV
The house felt colder once Marcus stepped inside. His gaze swept the rooms, assessing everything as if it were evidence waiting to be gathered.
Then he pulled out a worn envelope from his coat, setting it deliberately on the kitchen table.
"This," he said, voice rough, "is why I'm here."
I glanced at Ethan, who gave me a look that said this was going to be a long night.
I unfolded the letter inside carefully. The paper was brittle, the ink faded, but the signature at the bottom was unmistakable — a name from a chapter I'd hoped never to reopen.
"You can't run from your past forever, Claire." Marcus's voice was a low warning.
Ethan's POV
I watched Claire's fingers tremble as she traced the faded ink on the letter. There was a weight in the room heavier than Marcus's presence — the kind that settled deep into your bones, the kind you couldn't just shake off.
"What does it say?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm, though my gut was tightening with every second.
Claire looked up, eyes filled with a storm I hadn't seen before. "It's from my father."
The words hit me like a bullet I hadn't seen coming.
"He's alive?"
She shook her head, swallowing hard. "No. But this letter... it's proof he left something behind. Something important."
Marcus stepped closer, eyes flicking between us. "And that 'something' has people looking for it — people who won't stop until they find it."
I clenched my fists. The gold. The missing deed. All the pieces suddenly snapped into place.
"We're in deeper than I thought," I muttered.
Claire's POV
For years, I'd tried to bury the past — my father's mistakes, the secrets he left me, the shadow he cast over my life. But now, standing here with Ethan and Marcus, that past was clawing its way back.
"What kind of people?" I asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Marcus's face darkened. "Men who'd kill for what he left behind."
The room felt smaller, the walls closing in. I could hear my own heartbeat pounding, drowning out everything else.
Ethan reached for my hand, steadying me. "We'll handle it. Together."
But even as he said it, I knew this was only the beginning.
Ethan's POV
The night settled over the ranch like a shroud, but sleep was a stranger to me. Marcus's arrival had shifted everything — the delicate balance Claire and I had fought to maintain was now hanging by a thread.
I paced the floor, wrestling with the truth that maybe, just maybe, I didn't know Claire as well as I thought.
When she came into the room, her eyes met mine, searching.
"We have to trust each other," she said softly.
I nodded, but the doubt still gnawed at me.
Because trust wasn't just about the past — it was about the future.
Claire's POV
The days that followed were a whirlwind of whispered conversations, coded messages, and shadows lurking at every corner. Madison's smirk haunted me like a specter, knowing she'd set this all in motion.
But Marcus… Marcus was the wild card. He held keys to doors I didn't want opened, but also the promise of answers I desperately needed.
One evening, as the sun dipped below the hills, Marcus pulled me aside.
"You need to know who's really coming," he said, voice low.
I frowned. "Who?"
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he handed me a small, worn notebook.
"Your father kept it," Marcus said. "It's the map to everything."
Ethan's POV
The notebook felt heavy in my hands — not just from the worn leather binding, but from the weight of what it represented.
"This is it?" I asked.
Marcus nodded. "Everything your father left behind, written in here. Names, places, secrets. And not all of them safe."
Claire's eyes were fierce, alight with a mixture of hope and fear. "If this is true, then the gold, the deed... it's all connected."
"And now," Marcus said, his voice low and grave, "so are the people coming for it."
I glanced out the window — the night had fallen fully now, and the ranch felt vulnerable, exposed.
"We need to prepare," I said.
Claire's POV
That night, sleep was impossible. The notebook lay open on the kitchen table, pages filled with cramped handwriting and cryptic notes.
Every word felt like a thread pulling me deeper into a tangled web I wasn't sure I wanted to be part of.
But there was no turning back now.
As I stared into the dark, a shadow moved just beyond the porch light.
My breath caught.
Someone was watching us.
Ethan's POV
I grabbed my rifle and stepped outside, the cold air biting through my jacket.
"Who's there?" I called.
No answer — just the whisper of the wind through the grass.
But I knew better.
This was just the beginning.
Claire's POV
I locked the door behind me and slid against it, heart hammering.
"We're not safe," I whispered.
Ethan's voice was steady, but I could hear the tension beneath. "Not for a long time."
And as the moon rose high over the ranch, casting silver shadows across the land, I realized the stranger who stole the sunset had brought more than secrets.
He had brought danger.