LOGIN“Alex, no!” Isabella screamed as she struggled against Theodare, trying to free herself even though there was a knife pressed to her neck. But I know that the bastard wouldn't kill her. He needed her, but it still took everything in me to stay back. If I stepped in now, I could ruin Sebastian’s plan, and that might really put her in danger then.“Hey,” I said softly, but she still struggled. “Stay still!” Theodare yelled, distracted, and then I nodded at Sebastian, giving him the signal. He nodded back, and then another gunshot echoed in the night. Theodore groaned as the knife was shot away from his hand, and then he screamed when his kneecap was shot. He went down hard, screaming like he was being killed. Unfortunately, the stupid code wouldn't let me, but it didn't say anything about disabling him. “Isabella,” I whispered when she was finally free, and she looked away from Theodore and to me. “I’m so sorry!” she cried as she ran to me. I met her halfway and lifted her off the gr
ALEXANDERRichard pulled through. I admit, when I gave him that card, I didn't believe he could do that in a day, but not only did he find his father, but he did so within two hours. “How?” I asked with the phone pressed to my ear as I moved to my car. I paused when something occurred to me: I need guns. “I called his friend,” Richard answered, sounding smug. “And he dropped his location immediately.”“Hmm,” I said. “Good job, partner.”I ended the call and dialed Sebastian’s number.“Guns,” I said as soon as he picked up. “I need them in ten minutes.”He was silent for a while before he said, “Okay.”“My father must not catch wind of this. Do you understand me?”“Yes, sir.”I ended the call and just stood in place, staring at my blank screen. Why didn't I follow her? I saw that look in her eyes. I saw how frightened she was, so why didn't I follow her? Because I thought she needed space? Because I thought she was running away from what I said, and that moment we had? I let my emoti
“You look just as beautiful as I remembered,” Theodare said with a smile, as if we were here on friendly terms. “Richard is a fool for letting a gem like you go.”“What is he doing here?” I asked my father, ignoring Theodare’s remarks. “You say he framed you, and yet you’re here with him?”“A much-needed lie,” Theodare chuckled. “And I must say, I didn't really think it would work.” I looked away from my father and at this monster who looked so much like Richard; it was disturbing. “Do you really not know your father, Isabella? Do you think there’s anyone alive who can frame this man? This tall wall of hard rocks?”I turned to my father with my eyes hard, my fists clenched. “Fucking say something!”“He’s right,” he finally said, his voice as cold as his face. “We were on it together.”I staggered back as it felt like an arrow went through my heart. I stared at my father with my lips parted. No. No, he wasn't my father. My father died that day with my mother. “You’re a vile monster,”
ISABELLAAN HOUR AGO After I took a shower and ate whatever I saw in the fridge, I decided to sleep. Sleep fixes everything, and I needed things to be fixed before I jumped off this balcony. And so I slept, and imagined how pissed I was when a call disrupted my power nap. I ignored it when it rang the first time, and then the second time. “Fuck!” I yelled at the third ring. I picked up the call without even bothering to check the caller ID, getting ready to scream until my phone would burst, because why interrupt a much-needed nap? “What the fuck do you want?!”“Isabella, it’s me.”I went so still that it felt like even my heart stopped. My eyes were wide as I stared blankly at the wall. My hand shook as I pressed the phone closer to my ear. “Are you there?”“D-dad?” I whispered, my voice shaking even worse than my hand. “Yes, Bella,” my father answered softly. “It’s me.”Have I ever heard him speak with such softness before? Maybe when my mother was alive, but he only spoke like
“You think you’re in the position to negotiate?” Leonardo asked, stepping forward with his teeth bared.“I know I am,” I answered calmly, keeping my back straight. I won’t let this man intimidate me. “You need my father. You’re desperate to find him. I'm not involved in whatever bullshit he is in this time, so I can just turn my back. But both of you need me. So yes, I think I'll negotiate.”“Alright then,” Alexander said, and his father’s head snapped to him. “We’ll hear it.”Shocking. I thought Alexander was the brute and his father was the calm and reasonable one, since Alexander was hot-tempered and all that. Seeing this business side of him makes me see him in a new light. I cleared my throat as I started. “Helping you guys has put me in William's bad book. He’s threatening to withdraw his support from my company. If he does that, I have nothing.”“So you want us to invest in your company,” Alexander said, and I nodded. “Not just that, but I want us to be partners.”Alexander s
RICHARD When I got back to my room, I buried myself in my work, trying to forget what happened in that room with Isabella and how she had turned me away. “All for that bastard,” I muttered as I crumbled a file in my hand, my jaw clenched. What was it about him, anyway? He was handsome, sure. Filthy rich, but I knew Isabella, and those things didn't sway her. So what was it about this bastard? He was going to be a problem, I know.With him in the way, getting redeemed was going to be hell, but I wasn't going to let him be a blockage in my path. I was still going to win Isabella over, with or without him being an obstacle. I reached for the final file, but then paused when my phone rang. I groaned when I saw the caller, but I had to pick up the phone to tell her the decisions I had already made.“Hel–”“Richard, where the fuck have you been?!” she screamed as soon as I picked up the call, and I had to hold the phone away from my ear so my eardrum wouldn't explode. “I–”“What kind of







