Chapter 103The car jerked forward as Andreas leaned toward the front seat, barking, "Faster. Step on it."The driver didn’t question him. He knew better. Andreas had a clenched jaw and clenched fists, eyes darting between his phone and the road. The call with Mia had left him cold inside. Something was wrong. She sounded panicked, broken. And that alone had drained every ounce of calm from him.Sofia.That name ricocheted in his skull, over and over. She might be in danger. He'd heard it all from Mia. He knew Mia wouldn't wait for him. She was probably already at Lucas’s. Maybe confronting him. Maybe in danger. God. He wished he had wings. Anything to be there now.As their car turned the final corner, his stomach dropped. At least three police cruisers were parked outside Lucas's apartment building, red and blue lights slicing the late afternoon air. People had started to gather.Andreas flung open the door before the car had even come to a full stop. "What the hell is going on?" h
Chapter 102 “Sofia? Sofia… oh my God!” Mia screamed into the phone as she stepped hard on the car accelerator. Tears already steaming down her eyes she wondered what was happening to Sofia. Terrified of what the answer might be she said a soft prayer. The car roared beneath her, tires screeching against the asphalt as Mia Martinez hurtled down the road, her hands trembling against the steering wheel. Her chest rose and fell with rapid, shallow breaths, and her heart slammed against her ribs like it was trying to claw its way out. “Please be safe, Sofia. I'm coming, baby,” she whispered, voice cracking as tears streamed down her cheeks. The dashboard lit up with an incoming call. She was going to ignore it until she saw his name. It was Andreas. She didn’t hesitate anymore. With a shaky hand, she pressed the answer button. “Andreas, something is wrong!” she cried. “I think Sofia's in danger.” There was a pause on the other end before Andreas responded, his voice low and stea
Chapter 101The door creaked open with a tension-soaked slowness. Tania's pulse thundered in her ears. Her bloodied hand gripped the knife tightly, heart hammering, ready for anything, except this."What have you gotten yourself into this time?"Luke stood in the doorway, a brow arched, disdain and concern tugging equally at his features. Dressed in a worn black jacket and jeans, his presence was sharp, grounding. Tania nearly dropped the knife in relief.Without a word, she stepped aside. Luke entered, gaze sweeping the room, instantly catching the anxious energy radiating off her."You gonna start talking or what?"Tania sighed, bone-tired. Her voice was a rasp. "Alright... come see for yourself." She pointed toward the bathroom.Luke hesitated, then stepped over. One glance inside and he staggered back slightly, eyes wide."No way. Isn't that... isn't that Mia's daughter?"Tania nodded.Luke turned to her, panic laced in his voice. "Why do you have her? What the hell are you going
Chapter 100The shrill ring of a phone sliced through the tense air like a blade.Tania froze, one hand gripping the bloodied knife, the other clamped around Sofia's trembling arm. Her eyes darted about the room like a cornered animal. “Where did that come from?” she hissed, voice sharp with alarm.Sofia's mouth trembled as she shielded her face with both hands. Her tears fell soundlessly, tracing lines down her pale cheeks. “I-I don't know,” she whimpered.The phone continued to ring, persistent and jarring. Tania's eyes locked onto Lucas's crumpled body, sprawled across the blood-smeared tiles like a discarded doll. She shoved Sofia forward. “Move!” she barked. “Go check him. Now.”Sofia shook her head violently, her knees knocking together. “No… no, I can't. Please, I can't.” Her voice cracked under the weight of dread.Tania, eyes wild, pressed the knife closer to Sofia's throat. “Do you want to end up like your dead daddy?”A strangled whisper, barely audible. “No.”“Then do it.”
Chapter 99The first ring of her phone startled Mia more than it should have. Her eyes flickered to the screen. Andreas. Finally.A shaky breath escaped her lips as she snatched the phone from the table, pressing it to her ear with relief. "Andreas? Thank God. I was beginning to worry."But what came next shattered whatever calm she'd tried to maintain."Mia, we... we're losing Brian."Her stomach twisted. For a moment, she couldn’t speak. “Oh, My God. What happened?” The silence that followed his words was heavy, painful. But Andreas wasn’t done."He's relapsed. But that’s not all. Tania’s gone. She left the hospital, took one of the cars, and vanished. No one knows where she went. Not the staff. Not her friends. She left in a state of rage. And from everything I've gathered, she blames me, she blames us for what happened to Brian."Mia's heart dropped. Her fingers gripped the edge of the desk so hard her knuckles went white. "Wait... what? Why would she think that?""Yes. And I don
Chapter 98That night, the sky outside the airport was the color of cold steel, and the wind howled like it had lost something. Tania gripped the steering wheel of Andreas's black sports car so tightly her knuckles turned white. Her foot was still on the brake, the engine idling beneath her like a beast begging to be unleashed. Her lips trembled. Not from the chill, but from the storm inside her.Brian was gone. Her boy. Her only good reason for waking up each day. The soft voice that used to whisper, "I love you, Mama," before bedtime was now just a memory, a searing one that cut deeper with each breath.She didn't cry. Not anymore. She couldn't afford to. Crying meant she had accepted it. And she hadn't. Not yet. Not until she made the woman responsible pay.Her phone buzzed from the passenger seat. She didn't look. It wasn't who she needed to hear from. Mia was the one she wanted. Mia Martinez. The perfect, untouchable star with a fairy-tale romance and a polished life. And now, sh