Se connecterNathan POV "Oh my God."Yes. Your father is a monster, Nathan. You're just the person who had the misfortune of being his son."My phone buzzed. Text from Emily.Rachel says you didn't know about your father. I don't know if I'd believe that but I'm not fillingcustody papers tonight. The twins deserve to hear your side. Come tomorrow to my house at 10am.Come alone. Let's talk and decide if you ever see them again.I showed Rachel."That's good. She's giving you a chance.""To say what? That I'm an idiot who let my father manipulate me for twelve years? That Iaccidentally committed attempted murder? Or I've been in love with my half-sister without knowing it?""You tell the truth, all of it without holding anything back. Then you let Emily decide if the truth is enough.""It won't be.""Maybe not. But Nathan, you owe her honesty. Even if honesty costs you everything."A detective knocked on the door. "Mr. Zhou, you're free to go. The DA declined to press chargestonight but stay av
Nathan POVThey separated us immediately.Emily left with Marcus through a back exit while Blake coordinated with police. Isabella gave herstatement to detectives and I sat alone in an interrogation room.Detective Morris entered. Late forties. Hard eyes. No sympathy."Nathan Zhou. You've had an interesting night.""I want a lawyer.""You'll get one. But first, let's talk about what James Blackwood just told us."He dropped a folder on the table. Photos spilled out.My father. Victor Zhou. Shaking hands with James Blackwood fifteen years ago."What is this?""Your father and James were business partners. Did you know that?""That's impossible. James blackmailed my father""No. Your father hired James to fake a blackmail scheme to justify embezzling from hisshared company. Victor blamed everything on James, then had him arrested. James losteverything, his career, reputation and his wife committed suicide during the investigation."My blood went cold."My father wouldn't"Your father
Emily POVThe gunshot exploded through the chambers.Blake slammed into the fake Jason just as the trigger went off, sending both men crashing into Judge Morrison’s desk. Papers flew everywhere. The judge shouted and ducked behind his chair while Marcus grabbed me and yanked me toward the wall.Another shot cracked through the room.Glass shattered.Someone screamed.“Nathan!” I cried.Nathan tackled one of the wounded guards, grabbing for the fallen officer’s weapon even with handcuffs still locked around his wrists. The fake Jason shoved Blake off him violently and swung the gun toward me again.“Emily, get down!” Marcus shouted.The third shot hit the ceiling instead.Nathan crashed into him before he could aim properly.The two men slammed against the wall. The gun skidded across the floor.Everything became chaos.Judge Morrison crawled toward the emergency alarm beneath his desk. Isabella grabbed the gun first, but the fake Jason kicked her hard in the stomach and sent her spraw
Emily POV I pulled into the driveway. News cameras everywhere, FBI vehicles and everywhere in chaos."What the hell?"Marcus was already there. "Emily, Nathan's been arrested.""What?""The FBI took him twenty minutes ago. Jason gave them evidence and they've been building a case for weeks."I ran inside. The house was empty. Blake stood in the living room looking devastated."Where is he?""At the Police station downtown. Emily, I didn't know the room was wired. Someone's beenfeeding FBI information""Who?""They won't say."My phone rang. Jason.I answered. "What did you do?""I protected my children. Nathan Zhou is a criminal. He belongs in prison.""You manipulated this entire situation"I exposed the truth, there's a difference. Emily, Nathan's arraignment is tomorrowmorning. The evidence is overwhelming and he'll be convicted twenty-five years minimum if he's found guilty .""Twenty-five years?""Sarah Martinez lost another baby this morning. Premature birth caused by stress,
Nathan POVEmily walked past me in Fury."Come to the living room.” Emily calls Marcus and Blake. Everyone must hear this one."Twenty minutes later, we sat. Emily on one couch, I on the other. Marcus and Blake on the long couch."Talk," Emily said. "Everything."I took a breath. "Rachel and I were engaged for three years. She cheated with my business partner David Osborne and I couldn't handle it well.""Skip to the crime part," Emily said coldly."I embezzled two million from our company over six months. It was a small amount buried in expense reports. Then I went to Vegas and gambled it all away.Marcus stood. "You stole two million dollars?""Yes."Emily became furious. "You gambled away two million?""It was twelve years ago. Before we met and yes."Blake leaned forward. "The company collapsed and everyone blamed on market forces""I destroyed it and I did it as a revenge against David and Rachel."Twist two"Jesus Christ," Marcus muttered."There's more," I said. "After I lost e
Emily POV"Tell me what Nathan did."Isabella stepped aside. "Come in. Sit down."I entered the hotel room.The door closed behind me.Isabella poured two glasses of wine. "You'll want this.""I don't want wine. I want answers.""You'll want the wine." She handed me a glass. "Emily, before I tell you about Nathan's past,you should know something. Clara didn't discover this by accident.""What does that mean?""It means I hired her months before Singapore partnership meetings. Before everything I hired Clara to dig into Nathan's history specifically."My blood went cold. "What?""I've been planning this for eight months. The seduction and manipulation. The faketherapy sessions, all of it but Emily it wasn't Linda who planned it. Linda was just a convenient cover when things got complicated."I stood slowly. "You're lying.'"Am I? Think about it. How did Clara know exactly what to say to Nathan? How did she know his every vulnerability, every insecurity, every weakness? Because I've b
Emily's POVSeventy-two hours to prove the twins were mine. Despite facing bioweapons andassassination attempts, this felt more impossible. How do you prove genetic parentage of fetuses someone else is carrying without invasive testing?At 3 AM, I paced our living room while Nathan, Blake, and Ma
Blake POVThe note found at Emily's door kept me awake for days. While the Lothan family had beenfighting for the twins, someone had been executing a larger operation. I needed to find outwhat.I started by reviewing security footage from the past six months-every location connectedto the Lothan
Emily POVThe call from FBI came at 2 AM, waking me from the first decent sleep I'd had sinceAndrew's capture. I answered, sleep fading off my face as I listened.“We'll be there in an hour," I said, disconnecting with trembling hands."What's wrong?" I asked myself , already knowing it was a bad
Blake POVThe diplomatic fallout from Russia's assault on the federal facility was immediate andcatastrophic. By dawn, h embassy had filed formal protest claiming Americanauthorities were holding their citizen Margaret Volkov illegally and endangering childrenwith Russian heritage."Russian heri







