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-
Chapter 109Rain streaked the windshield of the black SUV as it moved steadily through the quiet city streets. Thunder rumbled in the distance, but it was the storm raging inside Mia that threatened to split her apart. Her hands gripped the steering wheel with such force her knuckles turned pale, but still she didn’t slow. Time was her enemy. Sofia was out there. Alone. Maybe afraid. And Mia was nearing the edge of unraveling.They had split up hours ago. Andreas had taken one route; she had taken another. It was their best chance at covering more ground. Every possible location. Every contact. Every alleyway. Susan rode beside her, fingers tapping furiously on her phone, refreshing tracker maps and sending out queries to the handful of investigators they’d hired in desperation. Mia's mother, Mrs. Angela, sat silently in the backseat, her rosary wound tightly around her fingers, whispering prayers with fervent urgency.Mia had barely slept. She'd barely eaten. There was only Sofia now
Chapter 108The door groaned as Tania pulled it shut behind her, her stilettos clicking against the dusty concrete floor as she left the derelict building. Luke stood silently, arms crossed, watching her silhouette fade into the thick fog that curled like ghosts around the entrance. She didn’t even glance back. Typical."Two days," she'd said. "They'll pick her up in two days. Just keep her alive till then."Alive.That was all Sofia had become in Tania's eyes. aA commodity, something to be preserved until sold.Luke exhaled through his nostrils, his jaw clenching. The other two men, stationed at different points in the building, barely looked his way. They were paid muscle, emotionless and indifferent. But Luke, Luke had once taken an oath to save lives, not cage them.He sighed again and turned, climbing the creaky steps toward the locked room where Sofia lay. He didn't know what to do. But he knew he couldn't stand and watch Tania sell her off.---The room smelled of damp wood, r