INICIAR SESIÓNRenata"Renata." Edwina was already moving toward me, her eyes narrowing the way they did when she was reading me like a book she'd memorized years ago. "What happened?""Nothing." The word came out too fast, too thin. "I'm fine.""You're not fine. Is it your mom? Did something happen with her?""I said I'm fine, Edwina." I tried to step past her, toward the hallway, toward anywhere that wasn't this conversation, but her hand caught my arm and held it with a gentleness that somehow hurt worse than force would have."Something is wrong. Talk to me."And that was when it cracked open in my chest, all of it, the fear and the exhaustion and the helplessness I'd been carrying since the moment Marcus had smiled at me across that boardroom table. It came out of me in a voice I barely recognized as my own."I don't know!" I nearly screamed it. "I don't know, Edwina, I don't know anything anymore!"Her face fell. I watched the hurt land in her eyes, watched her flinch back like I'd struck her
RenataI hadn't seen my mother in two full days, and the not knowing had become its own kind of torture. I hired one of Drent's private investigators, a man named Jey, to track her down, and he called me the very next afternoon."Hey, I've got a lead," he said. "Call me back by three. Let's talk."I could not stop glancing at my phone after that, watching the clock crawl forward far too slowly, willing the hands to move faster so I could finally call him back. I needed to know if my mother was alright, needed some kind of proof that she was still breathing somewhere out there.I had no real clue who had taken her, no name to attach blame to, only suspicion and dread tangled together. But I had decided I was done waiting. I was done sitting in fear, letting whoever was behind this dictate my next move. This time, I was going to find whoever took her and bring her home myself.Every hour that passed without her felt like a small betrayal of the promise I had made at her bedside, the pro
DaineThe first thing I noticed was the silence.It was too quiet.No hospital machines. No nurses talking in the hallway. No distant footsteps. Just an eerie stillness that wrapped around me until my skin crawled.I blinked slowly, my head pounding as I stared at the unfamiliar ceiling above me. Everything felt heavy, as though I'd slept for days.Where... am I?Panic rose inside me.I pushed myself upright, my muscles trembling from weakness. The room was spacious, far too elegant to be a hospital room, yet something about it felt cold. There was a large bed with crisp white sheets, expensive furniture, thick curtains covering the windows, and a polished wooden floor.It looked more like a luxury bedroom.But it wasn't.It felt like a prison.My breathing became uneven.Reneta.The name exploded into my mind.Had Reneta brought me here?Maybe... maybe she'd finally arranged somewhere for me to recover after everything that had happened. Perhaps she wanted to surprise me."Reneta?" I
RenataI went to the hospital before I had to leave for the date with Finn, needing to see my mother one more time before facing whatever the evening had in store for me. The nurse handed her the next round of medication while I stood watching, relief settling slowly into my chest as I saw the color returning to my mother's face."How is the treatment going?" I asked, keeping my voice low so I wouldn't wake her."She's doing well," the nurse said, adjusting the drip beside the bed. "She should make a full recovery soon. We were lucky, honestly. The poison wasn't nearly as heavy as we first thought."I let out a slow breath, some of the tension I had been carrying for days finally easing from my shoulders. I crossed the room and pressed a soft kiss to my mother's forehead, careful not to disturb her rest."I'm going to end all of this with Finn tonight," I whispered to her, even though I knew she couldn't hear me. "And once I do, I'm going to take you somewhere far away, somewhere Marc
Renata"Finn?" His name stumbled out of me in a broken stutter, disbelief rooting me in place as he stepped fully into the light.I stumbled back a step, my mind scrambling to catch up with what my eyes were telling me. Guilt slammed into me hard, and suddenly everything clicked into place at once, the messages, the threats, the mysterious number that had haunted me for days. After Finn had helped me before, after everything he had done, I had promised him a date, one simple date in return. I had seen the obsession living behind his eyes even then, had recognized it for what it was, and yet I had made the promise anyway. And then I had failed to keep it.I remembered the way he used to look at me back then, too intense for the small favors he did, too eager whenever I so much as glanced his way. I had told myself it was nothing, that I was reading too much into it, that a man could not possibly fixate on a single unfulfilled promise the way he seemed to. I had been wrong. Standing her
RenataI stood there listening as the doctor explained which medications my mother would need next, her voice calm and measured as she assured me my mother's body had been responding well to treatment. Relief loosened something tight in my chest, easing a fear I had been carrying for days."We'll need to get this, along with a few syringes," the nurse said, handing me a short list.I nodded frantically, almost too eager to answer, gripping the paper like it was the only solid thing in the room.I reached into my bag for a mint, my throat dry and raw from stress, and let it dissolve slowly on my tongue as I tried to steady myself. Then I walked out of the hospital, my heart still pounding, praying with every step that they would get her better soon. These past few days had stripped away every ounce of focus I once had for the company, for the promise I had made to defend it. All of it had blurred into the background, replaced entirely by worry for my mother, by the fear that I might st
RenataI waited for Edwina outside the class. I had stared at the flyer for so long that if someone handed me a computer, I could recreate it without looking.The bell rang and the students pushed through, rushing out. My eyes strained as I searched for Edwina. When she finally appeared, I dragged
Renata"You will never be a boxer, Renata." The coach screamed it so loud that it echoed through the hallway. My heart sank. This had been my dream since I was six, to be a professional boxer. But the school system seemed dead set on the fact that it was a male sport, and it had always been."Wait,
RenataA week passed and all my efforts to get into the tournament had failed. A part of me began to regret not taking Drent up on his offer, but another part of me was glad I had not. I did not trust him or his family.They were probably the kind of rich family that believed only money mattered, o
DrentThere was something unsettling about her. I had asked for a spa therapist, but instead they had sent me something I found far more amusing. A tiny, curvy girl who I found surprisingly tempting.Which was strange, because I had not felt that way about anyone in years. But it felt like a good s







