ALEXANDER'S POV For a moment, the room was silent, so still that I could hear Katherine’s breath hitch and Victor’s words echo in my mind like a broken record.“I had to do it. I had no choice.”There’s always a choice. Always. And when it came to pointing a gun at my son, he had one too.No matter how broken he was. No matter how tragic his past.I let go of Katherine’s hand slowly, not because I didn’t want to be there for her, but because I needed to distance myself from the storm rising inside me. The rage. The disgust. The disbelief. “Victor,” I said calmly, but every syllable I uttered was wrapped in steel, “you keep saying you were a puppet. That she had all the control. And maybe that’s true to an extent. Maybe. But you chose to aim that gun. You chose to obey her. You could have said something, you could have secretly met with Katherine, or me, but you chose not to.“I didn’t know, I wasn't thinking. All I could think about was my wife and...”“Don’t interrupt me,” I snappe
ALEXANDER'S POV I could feel the tension in Katherine's body as she froze at the sound of the name that haunts her.Elizabeth.I never once thought that she would be the one behind this but then again, I didn't know much about her to be able to judge.Her hatred for Katherine seemed more farfetched than I thought it was and the idea that someone like this, someone who was comfortable with threatening her life, was her family, stepmom, but still family either way, made me feel really annoyed."Elizabeth...?" Katherine asked in a half whisper.Victor nodded his head."Yes. She painted me that way. No, she did more than that. She made me her slave."I frowned.He could have gone to the police and reported her to them, he could have reported her to Katherine's father, he kept silent.There's something he's not saying."Her slave? Or a willing servant?" I asked angrily.It was Impossible for me to feel pity or even try to understand him, not when every single look I take at him, I see the
KATHERINE'S POV The ride was so slow and I felt uneasy.The closer we got to the cabin, the more my heart skipped faster."Are you okay? You should have stayed behind, you know?" Alex said, interrupting the thoughts that swirled around my head.I shook my head.There was no way in hell I'll let him handle Victor by himself. The man dared to mess with me and my son, I have to show him that he messed with the wrong person."I'm fine. How close are we?" I asked staring at Henry through the rearview mirror.He glanced at me and then at Alex as if waiting for permission.Alex nodded."Almost there. We'll be there within two minutes.""Won't he leave before then?"Henry smirked."No. I have eyes on him. The minute he steps out of that cabin, he'll be arrested. Did you think we came here without a plan?"I turned to glance at Alex. He didn't tell me anything about having backups."No... I, I thought we were going to handle it alone. What if the cops do something to him, what if they're not
KATHERINE'S POVThe sunlight was the first thing to touch my face, at least, that was what I thought. I could feel something warm around my cheeks and the streaks of light dancing around my eyes.It took me some seconds before I finally opened my eyes and I almost screamed, startled by the sight before me.A dog!!?What the...?I blinked and wiped the wet saliva away from my face before turning to stare at it again.What on earth..?We didn't see any dogs in this building last night. How on earth did it suddenly appear and from where?A soft sound called my attention to the door and I turned my head, immediately struck with shock as I saw Franklin standing at the door with blood on his shirt."Franklin!!" I yelled , my heartbeat racing as fast as a motorcycle as I ran towards him."What's going on, baby? What happened? Where...? No, who brought you here?"He smiled and hugged me.I closed my eyes, taking in the sweet smell of vanilla and cedar wood but my nose caught something else.T
ALEXANDER’S POVThe room was quiet now. The tea between us had gone cold, but neither of us moved to touch it. The air still carried her scent—lavender and something uniquely her, and it stirred something inside me I thought I’d buried.She didn’t look away from me. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t try to hide.And that… that meant more than I could say.I saw the flicker of resolve in her eyes. She was tired. Haunted. But she was still standing. Still fighting. Katherine was always like that, fierce, even when the world did its damnedest to break her.And for the first time in a long while, I realized how small my own pain was compared to hers.She had carried the weight of everything, alone, for so long.And I let her, I stupidly misunderstood her.I leaned back slightly, letting my gaze fall on the mug in front of me. The porcelain was chipped along the rim. A small detail, but somehow fitting. We were both chipped in our own ways, rough around the edges, but still holding together.“I should
KATHERINE'S POVA movement behind me made me turn.He stood in the doorway, shirt wrinkled, hair a mess. His eyes landed on mine like he’d been expecting me.“I didn’t mean to wake you,” I said almost immediately, in a whisper.“You didn’t.” His voice was rough from sleep. “I couldn’t sleep either.”Of course he couldn’t.He stepped inside and leaned on the other side of the counter, not reaching for me, just watching. Giving space. And I appreciated that more than I could say.“What if we don’t find the cabin? What if it wasn't Victor?” I asked suddenly.“We will find the cabin, Katherine, and when we do, we'll get the answers to all our questions."“But what if we don’t?” My voice cracked. “What if we lose this trail too and we’re back at the beginning, with no answers, no closure, just shadows and threats?”He walked around the counter slowly, cautiously. “Then we keep looking. We don’t stop.”I laughed bitterly. “You make it sound so simple.”“It’s not,” he admitted. “But neither