CHAPTER 0066 NO TURNING BACK ELENA The streets were eerily silent at this hour, a kind of quiet that made everything feel sharper, more dangerous. The distant hum of the city remained—a far-off murmur of cars and late-night voices—but here, in this part of town, the silence wrapped around us like a second skin. Evelyn’s grip on my wrist was unyielding, her pace relentless. She moved with purpose, dragging me along without explanation, her fingers digging into my skin as if letting go would mean losing everything. She didn’t glance back, didn’t slow down, didn’t speak a word. Whatever was chasing her—chasing us—was something she wasn’t willing to face head-on. Or maybe it was something she didn’t want me to see. I didn’t ask where we were going. I didn’t press her for answers. I just kept moving, forcing my feet to keep up with her despite the exhaustion weighing down my limbs. The cold air burned my lungs, each breath sharp and uneven, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. Then,
Chapter 0067 LIFE ON THE LINE.. ELENA, The door burst open. Evelyn moved first. A single shot rang out, echoing through the empty warehouse, but the man in the doorway twisted at the last second, the bullet ricocheting off the rusted metal frame. He barely flinched, his movements quick and practiced, and before I could even process what had happened, two more figures slipped inside behind him. Three men, dressed in dark clothing, their posture coiled, movements efficient. They had done this before. Evelyn reacted instantly. She grabbed my arm and shoved me backward, her voice a sharp command. "Go. Now." "I’m not leaving you!" I snapped back, but my words were drowned by another gunshot. She didn’t argue. She knew we were outnumbered, but surrender wasn’t in her vocabulary. She reloaded smoothly, her hands steady despite the chaos unfolding around us. The first man stepped forward, a smirk curling at the edges of his mouth. He lifted his hands slightly, palms out, as i
Chapter 0068THE PRETENCE..EVAN,I arrived home later than usual, stepping into the quiet house with an odd sense of unease settling in my chest. It wasn’t unusual for Elena to stay up waiting for me, yet the living room was dark. No TV playing softly in the background, no book left open on the couch, no lights flickering from her phone screen. Just silence.I frowned. Something wasn’t right.Then, a faint clatter came from the kitchen.I followed the sound, my footsteps barely making a noise against the polished floor. The moment I stepped inside, I saw her standing by the stove, stirring something in a pot. The soft glow of the overhead light illuminated her face—calm and unbothered. Maybe too calm.She looked up when I entered, offering a small smile. “Hey. You’re home late.”I studied her carefully, searching for something beneath the surface. A tell. A hesitation. Anything.“Yeah,” I said smoothly, stepping farther inside. “Had a long day.” My gaze flicked around the kitchen bef
Chapter 0069SURVIVAL..ELENA,I forced myself to breathe evenly as I cleared the table, rinsing the plates under the steady stream of warm water. The silence behind me was thick, charged with an unspoken weight. I didn’t have to turn around to know that Evan was watching me. I could feel it—the quiet intensity of his gaze pressing against my back, filled with suspicion, waiting for me to make a mistake.But I wouldn’t. Even though I was scared to my bones, I was going to mask my fear.I had spent too many years perfecting the art of deception, learning to keep my face neutral, my words measured, my movements calculated. It was second nature now, a skill that had once been a means of keeping the peace. But tonight, it wasn’t just a performance.It was survival.I reached for another plate, scrubbing harder than necessary, focusing on the rhythmic motion of my hands instead of the way my pulse hammered in my throat. The weight of his scrutiny made my skin prickle, but I refused to reac
Chapter 0070THE MEETING AT THE ABANDONED LOTELENAFifteen minutes later, we pulled into the abandoned lot on the outskirts of town. The place reeked of decay—like something left too long in the dark, rotting where no one cared to look. Broken glass crunched beneath the tires, weeds twisted through the cracks in the pavement, their roots thick with neglect. The skeletal remains of rusted-out cars loomed in the dim glow of a flickering streetlamp, hollow-eyed and forgotten.The air was thick with dampness, laced with something foul—something old and spoiled, like rain-soaked garbage left to ferment. I rolled down the window just enough to keep the car from suffocating me, but the cold air did little to settle my nerves.Jonah was already there, leaning against his black sedan. The hood gleamed under the weak light, slick with an oily sheen that reflected the dull shimmer of the moon. A cigarette burned between his fingers, the ember pulsing red with every slow inhale. Smoke curled aro
Chapter 0071The Drive BackELENASilence stretched between us like a thin wire, drawn tight, ready to snap. The hum of the car’s engine was the only sound, a low, steady vibration that seemed quieter than usual, swallowed by the weight of everything left unsaid. The highway stretched ahead, dark and endless, the streetlights casting fleeting pools of yellow light across Evelyn’s face, illuminating the sharp angles of her jaw and the cool, unreadable expression she wore like armor.She had always been this way—calm, methodical, impossible to read when it mattered most. Her hands remained steady on the wheel, her grip firm but not tense. Every movement was controlled, deliberate, as though she had already considered every possible outcome, as though she had mapped out a hundred different versions of this night and knew exactly how each one would play out. Evelyn never acted without strategy. She thought three steps ahead, always, because in this world, hesitation meant death.I sat rig
CHAPTER 72THE ARRIVAL.ELENA,The car rolled to a stop two blocks away from the house, just outside the range of the security cameras Evan had installed. The ones meant to keep intruders out. The ones that really kept me in.I clenched my hands in my lap, my fingers cold despite the warmth inside the car. Outside, the street was quiet—too quiet. Not the peaceful kind of silence, but the eerie, suffocating kind that filled the air before something terrible happened.Even in the dim glow of the streetlamps, I could still make out the cracks in the pavement, the familiar bends in the sidewalk, the warped wooden fences lining the yards of houses I once thought of as ordinary. But tonight, everything felt different. Foreign. Like I was walking into a place I no longer belonged. Maybe I never truly had.I swallowed hard and reached for the door handle, but hesitation kept me frozen.Evelyn exhaled beside me, her fingers drumming against the steering wheel in a slow, deliberate rhythm. “You
CHAPTER 0073THE GAME BEGINSEVAN,I heard her leave the house.I had been waiting for this moment. Sitting at the dining table, fingers tapping the polished wood in slow, rhythmic motions, I maintained the illusion of stillness. If anyone had been watching, they would have thought I was lost in thought, perhaps brooding over something entirely unrelated to her. But every breath I took, every fiber of my being, was tuned to her movements.I had known she would try again. It wasn’t a question of if—only when. Elena was many things: stubborn, reckless, restless. But above all, she was predictable when cornered. She hated being caged. She might have convinced herself she needed the walls I had built around her, might have played along for a while, but deep down, she would always test the limits.I had been waiting for the unraveling to begin.It had started in subtle ways, the way all things did with Elena. The way her pacing grew tighter, more erratic. The way her fingers twitched when
Chapter 96 FAMILY COURTELENAI never thought I’d set foot in a courtroom again—not after everything I’d been through. But there I was, seated beside Ryan in a cold, echoing chamber that reeked of perfume, arrogance, and rehearsed lies. The polished wood, the artificial light, the judge’s impassive gaze—it all felt like a twisted theater where the truth was only allowed to speak if it wore the right suit.Sasha sat across from me, her strawberry-blonde hair curled to perfection, lips painted in the shade of deception. And Jason—God, Jason—looked smug in his tailored suit, his arm draped behind Sasha as if they were some power couple instead of the pair of vipers they truly were.They weren’t here for justice. They were here to humiliate me.To ruin me.To steal something that never even existed.The judge called the session to order, and I swallowed the dry lump in my throat. My palms were sweaty, but Ryan reached over and held my hand beneath the table, grounding me. His thumb brush
Chapter 95THE MASK FALLSELENAThe house looked different in the daylight. Smaller. Less imposing. But it still held ghosts.My heels clicked against the marble as I stepped into my childhood home. It had been years since I’d last stood inside these walls, and yet the scent of roses and old secrets hadn’t changed. The antique grandfather clock ticked steadily in the hallway, echoing like a countdown.Ryan lingered in the foyer, silent but close. I hadn’t asked him to come. He came anyway. And I needed that—needed him near in case I shattered.“My lady,” the butler said as he approached, eyes wide in surprise. “You’re… you’re here to see Mrs. Sinclair?”“She’s not a Sinclair,” I said, coldly. “She never was.”He swallowed hard and led us to the sunroom.There she was.Lounging in a cream sweater, pale as porcelain, her hair swept back into a tight chignon, sipping Earl Grey like it was any other Wednesday. My stepmother—Caroline.“Elena,” she said warmly, standing as if she’d been wai
Chapter 94UNCLE'S OFFERELENAThe press conference was televised live. Every major network covered it—New York Post, Sinclair Daily, even Morning Sunrise. It wasn’t just a statement. It was a performance.Jonathan Sinclair stood at the podium, flanked by two security guards and a wall of glistening flags behind him. The backdrop of the Sinclair Tower added to the spectacle. His silver hair was impeccably combed back, his bespoke charcoal suit flawless, and his voice—steady, calculated—commanded the room.“To the public, to our shareholders, and most importantly, to my beloved niece, Elena…” His voice dipped lower. “I offer not just an apology, but a promise.”I watched from the living room couch, fists clenched so tightly my knuckles turned white. Ryan stood behind me, pacing like a caged wolf.“I have made grave mistakes,” Jonathan continued. “The death hoax, the manipulation—it ends now. I was a desperate man trying to protect this empire, but in doing so, I forgot what truly matte
Chapter 93THE SILENCE BETWEEN USELENA,The hospital wing was too quiet. Not peaceful—never that—but sterile in a way that felt false. The kind of silence that clung to your skin, made your heartbeat echo like a warning, made every step feel too loud. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, humming a nervous tune, casting sharp shadows on the linoleum floor as I moved slowly down the corridor, my boots clicking like accusations.Everyone had told me not to come.“She’s dangerous, Elena.”“You don’t know if she’s still under Jonathan’s control.”“Let Adrian handle it.”But they didn’t understand.I had to see her.Not for revenge. Not for answers.For closure.Evelyn had once been my closest friend. My confidante. My shadow. The one who brushed my hair back after surgeries, who whispered comfort into the void when I forgot who I was. When I’d lost everything—my sight, my freedom, my sense of self—Evelyn had stayed.Until she didn’t.Until she betrayed me.She had lied to me. Lied so beaut
Chapter 92SAFE ISN’T SAFEELENA, The silence in the safehouse was deceptive. Too perfect. Too still.Even the wind, which howled outside like some long-forgotten spirit, couldn’t penetrate the oppressive quiet that pressed against the walls. I sat upright in bed, every sense on edge. The floor beneath me vibrated with the faintest creaks, the kind old houses made as they settled into themselves—but this wasn’t just an old house. This was supposed to be a fortress. Hidden. Secure. Untouchable.Yet my pulse said otherwise.I pressed a hand against my stomach. The baby—just a whisper of life—rested within me, and already, my instincts were sharper. Louder. Every inch of me screamed that something was wrong. I couldn’t explain it, but I felt watched. Hunted. Like prey in a cage disguised as safety.I slipped on a hoodie, not bothering with shoes, and crept out of the room. The hallway yawned before me, long and dimly lit by a single emergency bulb hanging above. Shadows danced along the
Chapter 91Womb & WarELENA,The weight of the test in my hand was like the weight of the world. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. The moment the two pink lines appeared, my vision blurred. I stared at the small strip, numb to the tremor in my fingers, unable to process what it meant.Pregnant.A child.My first instinct was to panic. A baby meant vulnerability—something I couldn’t afford. It meant ties to this world, to Ryan, to the monstrous family that still lurked in the shadows. It meant another complication I didn’t need. But then, amidst the panic, something else stirred—something deeper, something softer. A flutter of hope, or was it dread disguised as it?I pressed the back of my hand to my lips, feeling the burn of unshed tears in my eyes. How could this happen now? How could I possibly bring a child into this chaos, this war?I sank back onto the edge of the bathroom sink, my breath coming in shallow bursts. The darkness outside the window seemed to press in closer, the c
Chapter 90Blood Oaths & BusinessRYAN'SThe boardroom smelled like power—aged mahogany, expensive cologne, and the unspoken stench of betrayal. Ryan stood at the head of the long glass table, every eye on him, most of them cold and calculating. His hands gripped the back of the chair in front of him, knuckles pale against the leather. The Sinclair name was stitched into every corner of this room, from the monogrammed coasters to the gold-embossed folders. But so was the rot his uncle left behind.“I know Jonathan is still pulling strings,” Ryan said, voice calm, controlled. “And I’m done pretending otherwise.”Silence. A single cough from the far end. Then Mr. Caldwell, the CFO, adjusted his tie and narrowed his eyes. “That’s a serious accusation, Mr. Sinclair.”“It’s not an accusation. It’s a statement of fact.”He slid a thin folder across the table. Inside were photos—grainy but clear enough—of Jonathan Sinclair walking into a private residence just weeks ago. Beneath that, survei
Chapter 89The Ghost in Her EyesELENA,The silence after the video ended was louder than any scream. It settled over the room like dust in a tomb—heavy, stale, suffocating. Not even the steady hum of the old cabin's heater could cut through it. All I could hear was the phantom echo of Jonathan's voice: "My perfect heir." The words played on loop, like a dirge inside my skull.Ryan didn’t let go of my hand. His grip was firm, tethering me to the present, but my mind was already unraveling, pulling threads I didn’t know were loose. That girl—the one with eyes like mine and Jonathan’s sharp, predatory posture—she couldn’t be mine. That wasn’t possible. I would have remembered. I would have felt something. Wouldn’t I?But I didn’t. I didn’t remember a pregnancy. I didn’t remember holding a baby. I didn’t remember her.I wasn’t even sure I remembered me.“She looks like him,” I whispered, my voice hollow. “But… there’s something in her eyes. Something I know.”Ryan didn’t respond immediat
Chapter 88Fractures & FlashbacksELENA,The safehouse was too quiet.Nestled deep in the Catskill Mountains, this secluded cabin had been chosen for its obscurity, but all I felt was the suffocating silence that wrapped around me like a shroud. I stood by the frosted window, staring out at the moonlit outline of pine trees. Somewhere, far in the woods, an owl hooted, but I didn’t flinch. I was beyond flinching now.Behind me, the crackling fire in the hearth offered warmth, but it was a false comfort, unable to reach the cold, stillness that had settled deep in my bones. My hands rested on my stomach—flat, still secret. I hadn’t told Ryan yet. I wasn’t even sure if I could.Ryan.He was pacing in the living room, sharp, calculated steps echoing in the stillness. He hadn’t slept in two days, not since we fled the burning hideout. His appearance was a far cry from the immaculate man I had once known. His shirt was half-buttoned, sleeves rolled up in haste, and his hair was a wild mess