Chapter 5

I stood in Lucas's study, clutching the folder of evidence in my trembling hands. Medical bills for my father's treatments—treatments I'd thought were charity cases—all paid by Lucas months before we ever officially met. Photographs of me going about my daily life, taken long before our

Chapter 6

The cool night air hit my face as I stepped out of the hospital. Mrs. King was finally stable, and the doctors had assured me she would recover fully with proper rest. I pulled my cardigan tighter around my shoulders, exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster of the past few days. The

Chapter 7

The warehouse air felt thick with tension as Vivian circled me like a predator toying with its prey. My wrists burned from the zip ties cutting into my skin, but the physical pain paled compared to the emotional turmoil raging inside me. Lucas stood just twenty feet away, his face a mas