Nobela ni praise writes

CHAPTER 19Lyra’s POV “Megan!”My scream tore through the night air as people began shouting below. Nurses ran. Security alarms went off. Someone yelled for an ambulance even though we were already inside the hospital.My hands gripped the balcony railing so tightly my fingers hurt. She wasn’t moving. Oh God. She wasn’t moving. Behind me, the voice repeated calmly, “You shouldn’t have pushed her.”I spun around.Cassian stood a few feet away, expression sharp, eyes searching my face. For a split second, confusion swallowed everything.“Pushed?” My voice came out broken. “What are you talking about?” He stared at me, then walked quickly to the railing and looked down. His jaw tightened. “What the hell happened?”“She… she fell,” I stammered. “She was talking and then she just…”Security burst onto the balcony. “What happened here?”“She slipped!” Ava shouted, rushing forward. “She slipped!”Guards pushed past us, calling into radios. “Female down on the east side! Possible fall victim

CHAPTER 18Lyra’s POV The alarms eventually stopped. The frantic movement slowed. Doctors left Eli’s room one by one, their urgent steps replaced by quiet murmurs and exhausted sighs. Machines inside the ICU returned to their steady rhythm.I stood outside the glass wall, watching my son breathe with the help of machines. Tubes ran from his small arms. A monitor blinked above his head. His chest rose slowly, mechanically.Too still.Too quiet.Dr. Julian Vane stepped out, removing his gloves. His expression hadn’t changed.“His vitals are stabilized,” he said.Stabilized. Not safe. Not recovering.Just… not dying right now.“What happens next?” I asked, swallowing hard as I tried to stabilize my emotion..He glanced at Eli through the glass.“The toxin already caused neurological stress. Some damage may be temporary. Some may not.”My heart clenched.“He’ll wake up, right?”Julian’s tone remained clinical. “If his body tolerates detoxification, yes.”If.The smallest word suddenly fe

Lyra’s POV “You know him?” I asked quietly.Cassian blinked. Then his usual calm mask returned.“No.”The doctor continued speaking, but I barely heard him.My eyes stayed on Cassian.Why did that name disturb him? And why did that suddenly scare me more than anything else tonight? Something was definitely wrong and even more frustrating was the fact that I wasn’t able to piece anything together.The hallway outside the ICU felt colder than before. Maybe it was the air conditioning. Maybe it was fear. Or maybe it was the realization that no matter how fast I ran, how loud I screamed, or how much money or influence we threw at the situation…Eli was still lying behind those glass doors, fighting something none of us understood.The alarms had finally stopped. Doctors had stabilized him again.And suddenly, revenge didn’t matter. Dorian didn’t matter. Seraphina didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except one thing;I just needed my son to stand up to me and wrap himself in my arms once agai

Lyra’s POV The tires screeched as I pulled into the hospital entrance, barely waiting for the car to stop before jumping out. A security guard shouted something behind me, but I didn’t care. My legs were already running.The smell of antiseptic hit me as the automatic doors slid open while I rushed in.“Maternity emergency?” a nurse called.“My son!” I shouted. “They brought my son here… Eli… where is he?”. Right now… I was without my mask…. I was just Lyra…. a mother whose only concern was the health of her son.The woman behind the counter tried to calm me. “Ma’am, please…”“No, don’t tell me to calm down. Where is he?” Another nurse rushed past, pushing a stretcher. For a split second, I saw Eli.Small.Still.Oxygen mask over his face. My heart dropped into my stomach.“Eli!” I ran after them.A hand grabbed my arm. “Ma’am, you can’t go beyond this point.”“That’s my son!”Doctors surrounded the stretcher as they rushed him through double doors.Machines. Orders. Quick movements.

LYRA’S POVAva gasped while my eyes widened as we tried to fold ourselves hoping we weren't seen. She looked a little more then shrugged, turned and walked in the opposite direction.Ava exhaled slowly. “She’s losing control.”“No,” I murmured. “I think she’s tightening it.”Later that afternoon, rehearsal was tense.Dorian avoided eye contact. Seraphina overperformed, every note was sharp with too much effort. Cassian watched from the rear with his expression neutral.During a break, Dorian approached Ava instead of me.“Can we talk?” he asked her.She glanced at me.I nodded.They stepped aside.Cassian appeared at my shoulder almost instantly. “Interesting.”“What is?” I asked.“He didn’t come to you.”“Maybe he doesn’t know how to. He's already struggling with alot.”Cassian studied Dorian across the room. “Or maybe he knows exactly who to ask.”I frowned. “What does that mean?”“Publicists shape narratives,” he said. “Confessions start there.”My stomach dropped.“Are you saying

Lyra’s POVThe bathroom light buzzed faintly as I locked the door behind me. I leaned both palms against the sink, staring at my reflection. Steam from the running shower slowly fogged the mirror, but not enough to blur the thoughts crowding my head.“Watch your back, Phoenix.”I turned the tap off sharply.“She’s bluffing,” I muttered to the empty room, like saying it out loud was supposed to make it real. Not like it did though.I stepped into the shower and let the water pour over me, hot enough to sting. Still, Seraphina’s voice still found a way to cut through the rush.“You have no idea what’s coming.”“What do you know?” I whispered.The water carried the words away.By the time I dressed and stepped back into the dressing room, the adrenaline from the performance had completely drained, leaving only exhaustion and even more anxiety behind. I reached for my phone, meaning to text Ava, but before I could unlock it, there was a soft knock.I didn’t answer.The door opened anyway.

Nichole's POVThe videos from Vincent's tablet changed everything.Within hours of Jennifer sending copies to every major news station in the city, Lydia's carefully constructed victim narrative completely fell apart. The footage of her discussing Vincent's psychological conditioning, her plans to manipulate his memories, and her detailed instructions for his revenge campaign was undeniable proof of her true role.I watched from my office as the news reports played over and over again. Lydia's face on every channel, but not as the sympathetic victim she had tried to portray herself as. Now she was being called a mastermind, a manipulator, someone who had weaponized a mentally ill man for her own purposes."Former model Lydia Carson has been arrested on charges of conspiracy, psychological manipulation, and accessory to multiple murders," the news anchor was saying. "Carson allegedly used experimental psychological conditioning techniques to control convicted criminal Vincent Reeves, d

Nichole's POVJennifer had her laptop open on the small table beside Marcus's hospital bed, downloading the audio files from his tiny recording device. We all waited anxiously as the files transferred, hoping we finally had the evidence we needed to expose Blake and Lydia's lies."Okay, let me play the first recording," Jennifer said, clicking on one of the files.Vincent's voice came through the laptop speakers, clear and confident as he bragged to Marcus about his elaborate plan. We listened to him describe the fake police station, his surveillance network, his partnership with Blake and Lydia."This is perfect," I said, feeling hopeful for the first time since seeing Lydia on television. "Vincent is admitting everything."But as we listened to more of the recordings, my hope started to fade. Vincent talked about using Blake and Lydia, about manipulating them, but he also mentioned their fear and reluctance to help him."He's making it sound like they were scared victims," Adrian sa

Nichole's POVThe hospital waiting room smelled like disinfectant and anxiety. I had been sitting in those uncomfortable plastic chairs for two hours, staring at the doors that led to the emergency department, waiting for someone to tell us we could see Marcus.Adrian sat next to me, holding my hand and occasionally squeezing it when he noticed me getting too tense. Jennifer was across from us, her laptop balanced on her knees as she continued monitoring what was left of Vincent's surveillance network."Any update from the nurses?" I asked Adrian for probably the twentieth time."They said the doctor would come talk to us as soon as Marcus was stable," Adrian replied patiently. "He lost a lot of blood, so they need to make sure he's okay before they allow visitors."I knew Adrian was just repeating what we had already been told, but I couldn't help asking the same questions over and over. I felt helpless sitting here while Marcus was somewhere behind those doors, fighting for his life

Nichole's POVI had been pacing back and forth in my living room for what felt like hours. Every few minutes, I would stop and look at my phone, hoping for some kind of update from Adrian or the tactical team. But the silence was driving me crazy.Jennifer was still at her laptop, monitoring what she could of Vincent's surveillance network while keeping his cameras locked on false footage at the warehouse site. She had told me the disruption would last about an hour, but I had no idea how much of that time had already passed."Any word from them?" I asked for probably the tenth time."Not yet," Jennifer replied without looking up from her screen. "But that's probably good news. If something had gone wrong, we would have heard about it by now."I walked over to the window and looked out at the street. Everything looked so normal out there. People walking their dogs, kids riding bikes, neighbors chatting over fences. It was hard to believe that somewhere across the city, my friends were

Adrian's POVWe had been searching through the industrial complex for almost fifty minutes, and we still hadn't found Vincent or Marcus. Agent Rodriguez, Agent Thompson, and I had checked every building that Jennifer had identified as a possible location, but they were all empty."Ten more minutes," Agent Rodriguez said, checking her watch. "Then Vincent's surveillance comes back online and he'll be able to see us."I wiped sweat from my forehead and looked around at the maze of abandoned buildings that made up the old steel mill complex. There had to be dozens of structures here, ranging from small maintenance sheds to massive factory buildings."We're running out of time," Agent Thompson said. "Maybe we should call for backup.""No," I said firmly. "If we bring more people, Vincent will definitely spot us. Our only advantage right now is that he doesn't know we're here.""But we can't search this entire complex with just three people."I pulled out my phone and called Jennifer."Any

Adrian's POVI was sitting on a piece of concrete rubble, trying to clean the blood from cuts on my face with what was left of my torn shirt, when my phone started ringing. The screen was cracked from the explosion, but I could still see it was Nichole calling.My heart jumped. After that massive explosion, after being thrown across the parking lot by the blast, I hadn't been able to contact her to let her know I was alive. She was probably terrified, thinking that Vincent had killed all of us."Nichole," I said as soon as I answered."Adrian! Thank God!" Her voice came through clearly, filled with relief and tears. "Are you okay? We heard that explosion and then all our communications went dead. I thought... I thought you were all killed.""I'm alive. Hurt, but alive. Most of the tactical team made it out too.""What happened? Was it a trap like we thought?"I looked around at the destroyed warehouse, at Commander Stevens lying nearby with his broken leg, at the other team members nu