Chapter 4 — Barriers and Threats

Silverwood, Illinois

Angel Montgomery

My recovery has been fast, and I've done everything to keep my sanity intact so I could play my part among the traitors.

I managed to stall Eleonor and keep her from discovering my escape plan.

With Brandon's invaluable help, my emergency transfer to The Capitol Gazette's Washington, D.C. bureau was finalized in absolute secrecy.

The official version I gave my father was flawless: a golden, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cover national politics in the nation's capital.

I had less than three days before leaving, and I was counting down every second.

I made the firm decision to leave town without ever touching the open wound of that vile betrayal, solely to protect my father.

"I'm heading to the grocery store. Do you want me to grab anything specific for you?"

"Thanks, Mom. I don't need anything," I reply, without looking up from the book I'm reading.

"You can't keep ignoring me, Angel. I am your mother..."

"Oh, so you remembered that now? You haven't really been acting like my mother lately, have you?" I lock eyes with the woman in front of me, no longer recognizing the bond we once shared.

"It's over, Angel! It was a lapse, a moment of weakness I gave in to, and it shouldn't ruin our relationship or your father's life."

"Leave my father out of this!"

"If you keep icing me out, he's going to notice eventually."

"I'm not made of stone. Looking at you makes my stomach turn..."

"Your wedding is in a few days, and everything needs to stay as it was. Jason loves you, and your father can never find out about what you saw."

"So you're just going to keep sleeping with the man who's about to marry your daughter? Is that what you mean by staying as it was...?"

"Nothing will ever be like it was again. Now leave me alone and go back to your superficial life."

She snaps, storming out of my room in a fury. What did she expect? That I'd still look at her like a devoted mother?

Taking advantage of her absence, I pack the rest of my bags. I wasn't taking much. I set aside only the essential personal items I'd need right away.

I was going to miss my father fiercely, but I was going to find a way to tear him away from the clutches of these treacherous snakes.

My colleagues at The Capitol Gazette threw a farewell dinner for me at one of Silverwood's most prestigious restaurants.

Jason had been circling me like a predator scenting blood, clearly suspecting that I had no intention of marrying him and was plotting something, especially since I'd been avoiding him ever since leaving the hospital.

Now that I knew the monster behind the badge, I knew he wouldn't take the humiliation lying down, and I had to keep my escape strictly under wraps.

While chatting with my friends, my journalist's eyes discreetly scanned the dining room until I noticed an elegant table tucked into a secluded corner.

A group of men in sharp suits and two sophisticated women were dining there, but one man in particular immediately caught my attention.

It was Gabriel Vincent.

The Senate candidate radiated a overwhelming, imposing presence, dressed in a tailored suit that framed broad shoulders, a sharp jawline, and cold, gray eyes.

Despite his brutal, magnetic good looks, his expression was harsh and unreadable, exactly as the media always described him: an unshakeable titan.

When dinner ended, I said my goodbyes to everyone and walked out into the restaurant's parking lot to get my car.

The crisp night air hit my face, but the relief was short-lived.

Steping abruptly out from the shadows near the parked cars, Jason cornered me, his eyes overflowing with an unhinged rage.

"Did you really think you could make a fool out of me any longer, Angel?!" he snarls, slamming me brutally against the cold frame of a car and dragging me by my hair so hard my scalp burns.

A wave of pure terror surges through my whole body.

"Let me go, Jason! Have you lost your mind?! There are people right inside the restaurant!"

I try to shove him off, but panic paralyzes my strength when I see the sick, twisted glint in his eyes and his hand sliding down toward the gun holstered at his waist.

"I know you're planning something, but don't you dare think you can run from me, Angel. We are getting married one way or another."

He digs his fingers into my skin, dragging me forward by my neck with brutal violence.

"I am never marrying you after what I saw! Now let go of me, you're hurting me. Wasn't what you already did enough? Let me go, Jason!"

"I'm not letting go of anything. You're coming with me right now and we are going to talk. You don't get to ignore me for the rest of your life."

He forces me toward his truck parked a few yards away while I dig my heels into the pavement, praying that someone will walk out and help me.

"Stop throwing a tantrum and walk... get in the damn car, Angel!" I see him draw his weapon from his waist and jam the barrel hard into my stomach.

There was so much hatred in his eyes that the certainty he would kill me right then and there sent my heart racing in suffocating despair.

"Remember, you belong to me. If you think you can just walk away from me, you're dead wrong."

"Y-you wouldn't dare kill me, you bastard!" I stammer, terrified.

"Don't push me, Angel," he warns, a disgusting smirk playing on his lips.

"You are my fiancée. And you are not going to humiliate me in front of this entire town. What you saw between me and your mother was just a mistake, and it won't happen again."

I feel the cold steel of the gun pressing deeper into my stomach.

"I will never forget what you two did. Just leave me alone... Let me go, Jason!" I scream in sheer desperation.

"Let the woman go. Now!" A deep, menacing male voice echoes through the lot.