MasukNathan 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 POVIsabella sat three rows ahead.Nathan beside me, careful not to touch.Four hours until New York."Emily, about the terrace"Not now.""When?""When I'm ready."Fifteen minutes of silence.Then Isabella stood and walked toward us. Stopped at our row."Emily, can we talk?""No.""Please, just five minutes""Don't talk to him. Don't look at him. Don't acknowledge his existence." I didn't raise myvoice. I didn't need to. "You want to avoid prison? Stay away from my husband."Isabella returned to her seat.Nathan exhaled. "That was harsh."That was necessary. Nathan, don't defend her. That's test one and you just failed."His face fell. "I wasn't""Just four hours and you couldn't go four hours without defending her."My phone buzzed.Isabella: “Emily, there's something about Nathan you should know. Something Clara told meabout his past that explains everything. When we land we'd talk privately.I looked at Nathan. "Is there something about your past I don't know?"He went sti
Jason POVMy name is Jason Blackwell, and two years ago, I was sentenced to twenty years in afederal prison for fraud, embezzlement, and tax evasion. The charges stemmed from myuse of Emily's family connections to build Blackwell Industries connections I'd obtainedthrough marriage under false pr
Blake POVMy phone buzzed with an urgent alert. "Richard's transport is moving now. Theydetected our surveillance. We have less than ten minutes to intercept.""Go!" Emily shouted.We raced down the mountain road at breakneck speed. Ahead, the medical van's taillights appeared, our only chance to
Nathan POV Petra monitored their progress via body cameras Blake and Emily wore. "They're movingtoward the medical wing. Two guards in the hallway. They'll need to-”My word cutted short after seeing on screen, Blake efficiently disabled both guards with techniques from hismilitary training. Not
Nathan POVEmily collapsed in the street of Prague when Richard's video ended, her body shaking withrage and grief before collapsing. I held her while she broke into tears after she was revived. "They survived 20 weeks premature," she sobbed. "They fought infections, lung collapses,everything bi







