Chapter 62
The door slammed shut behind her like a final verdict.Tania’s heels clicked with frantic rhythm on the battered laminate floor as she stormed into the apartment, a raging storm of anger bubbling in her very being. She barely registered her environment as arms tightened around Brian, who was starting to squirm, and with a huff of frustration, she dropped him onto the lumpy old couch.He fussed immediately, whimpering, kicking, and rubbing his eyes with tiny balled fists, but she was already pacing, clawed hands dragging through her sweat-damp blonde hair. Her skin prickled. Her teeth ground together. Her ears buzzed with the echo of Andreas’s voice, still rattling around her skull like shrapnel.“Full custody,” she spat, venom thick on her tongue. “He said he wants full custody. He's crazy if he thinks, even for one second that I'll agree to give up my child without a fight!”Brian’s cries grew louder as he heard Tania's aChapter 116The phone call ended with a cruel finality that left Andreas staring blankly at the now-silent screen. Tania's cackling voice still echoed in his ears, the venom behind her words lodging deep in his chest like a knife. He didn’t need to imagine the smirk that must have curled on her lips as she made her threats. He knew it. He’d seen it too many times. But this time, she had crossed a line he couldn’t let stand.His fingers moved on instinct, dialing the hospital. The line connected almost instantly. “This is Andreas Leonardo. Do not let Tania take Brian. I repeat, do not let her take my son.”There was a pause, then a stunned, urgent reply. “Sir?”“She’s coming. She might already be there. Stop her. At all costs.”---Back at the hospital, the nurse had already called to inform the attending doctor about Tania’s sudden arrival and her insistence that Brian was to be discharged today. The doctor, reviewing Brian’s cha
Chapter 115Tania’s heels clicked softly against the smooth pavement as she stood in front of the pristine white hospital building, bathed in golden afternoon light. The air was thick with humidity, but she didn’t feel it. Her eyes were focused, dark, and gleaming with menace beneath long lashes. She had just ended the call with Andreas, her voice still lingering with venom in her own ears. She could still hear herself say it, like an echo from a much colder version of her soul: “One million dollars. For each of them.”She hung up with a wicked smirk curling her lips.Everything was coming together, finally. The plan. The money. Her long-awaited revenge.She exhaled slowly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, then turned her attention to the hospital doors. She softened her expression instantly, letting a sugary smile bloom on her face like a polished performance mask.Her heels clicked louder now as she stepped through the glass doors into the sterile, chilled lobby of the
Chapter 114Andreas's office was a war zone of its own. Papers lay scattered like fallen soldiers on the mahogany floor, chairs pushed out of place, and tension gripped the air like a storm cloud refusing to break. The massive TV screen mounted on the far wall played the news on a loop. Every station carried it—the horrifying footage of Mia and Sofia being dragged by a towering brute and a woman in a hooded coat who looked disturbingly familiar. The video paused on Sofia's terrified face, and Andreas nearly hurled his phone across the room.His jaw clenched as he barked into his headset, pacing the length of the room like a man on the brink."How hard is it to find a woman and a teenager? Huh! I don’t care how much it costs. Double your men. Triple them! Just get me a location!"Across the room, half a dozen private investigators sat like scolded schoolboys, unable to meet his eyes.Andreas ran a trembling hand through his hair. He’d just finished his third emergency briefing with all
Chapter 113Gunfire cracked through the empty house like firecrackers gone rogue. Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder, closer, and urgent. Tania’s pulse pounded as she grabbed Mia by the arm and yanked her to her feet, her voice shrill. “Move it!”Mia’s breath caught in her throat, but she didn’t resist. Not with Sofia still in danger. The brute, Dante, hauled Sofia like a ragdoll, one thick arm wrapped around the girl's shoulders as he shoved her through the side door of the old building. Her cry pierced the air. “Mummy!”“I’m here!” Mia shouted, her voice breaking. “I’m not leaving you!”The four burst out into the open field in the back of the house just as flashlight beams cut across the walls behind them. The sharp pop of another bullet ricocheted off the hood of a rusted-out car nearby. Dante cursed and threw himself into the driver’s seat of the black SUV. “Get in the damn car!” he barked.Mia and Sofia were forced into the backseat. Tania slid in beside Dante, her fa
Chapter 112The barrel of the gun trembled slightly in Tania’s blood-smeared hand as she kept it trained on Luke. Her pupils dilated, her chest rising and falling like crashing waves. She was a woman on the edge, her skin taut with fury, her knuckles white from gripping the weapon too tightly. Across from her, Mia stood, her grip firm on the iron rod, her looks disheveled but unyielding, a mother cloaked in defiance.“Do you have a death wish, Mia?” Tania spat, her voice venom-laced, a twisted smirk tugging at her lips. “Coming here like some avenging angel?”Mia didn’t flinch. Her eyes, glassy from held-back tears, stayed locked on Tania as she glanced around the old building, seeking any trace of her daughter. “I came for my daughter,” she replied, her voice steady, despite the tremor in her limbs. “And I’m not leaving without her.”Tania let out a bitter laugh, her grip tightening. “Then you leave me no choice. There's no way I'm letting her go! You'll have to join her then.”As he
Chapter 111From the second-floor window, Tania stood with her jaw clenched and arms folded, her eyes darting in every direction like a predator sniffing out Luke's betrayal. She hadn't blinked since the call came in. Her nostrils flared. "Find him," she ordered, turning from the window. "I don’t care how. Just don’t let that bastard get away."The two men she had hired moved with practiced aggression. One took off through the front, the other rounded the back, guns tucked inside their waistbands and eyes sharp. Tania's voice lingered in their minds: "I promise I’ll make him pay."Meanwhile, Luke was already running.The adrenaline pounding in his ears nearly drowned the crunch of his boots hitting gravel. His breath came out in harsh, erratic bursts as he sprinted through the back alley of the compound. He stole a glance behind him and cursed. One of the men was hot on his heels.He increased his pace then. He didn’t stop.Sweat drenched the back of his shirt as he reached the chain-