FAZER LOGIN[Olivia pov]The ride home felt longer than usual.Or maybe it was just me.I leaned my head lightly against the window, watching the city blur past in streaks of gray and gold, my thoughts refusing to settle into anything steady. Everything felt too close together—too loud inside my head.Candice being taken.Then found.The conversation with Homer.The truth sitting quietly beneath my ribs like something fragile I didn’t yet know how to hold.And Ronan.I closed my eyes briefly.That was the part I hadn’t been able to shake.The way he had looked at me.Calm.Controlled.But not untouched.“You’re thinking too much,” Homer said from the driver’s seat.I huffed a faint breath. “When am I not?”“Fair point.”Silence followed for a few seconds, broken only by the soft hum of the engine.Then—“What did he say?”I didn’t need to ask who he meant.I shifted slightly, turning my gaze forward instead of out the window.“Nothing,” I said.Homer glanced at me briefly. “Nothing?”I shook my h
[Carter’s pov]The voices didn’t stop after that. I could hear more of their bickering and it just became more crazy. Their tones just changed. They became sharper, colder and stripped of whatever restraint had been holding them back before.I should have walked in. I should have ended it right there—forced the truth out into the open instead of standing in the hallway like a ghost listening to my own life unravel.But I couldn’t move.Not yet.Because something told me—there was more. Now that I was finally hearing it all, this was the time I could hear everything. “There it is,” my father’s voice cut through, low and edged with contempt. “The act drops eventually, doesn’t it?”I stilled again.“You’ve always been good at this,” Sahl Velcro, my father continued. “Playing the victim. Twisting situations to suit you.”A short, humorless laugh answered him.“Is that what you think I’ve been doing all these years?” Camilla shot back.“What else would you call it?” Sahl replied. “You w
[Carter’s pov]The footage flickered once before stabilizing. Grainy. Silent. But clear enough.I stood in the security room, arms braced against the desk, my eyes locked on the screen as the timeline rolled back.Every angle. Every second.“Play that again,” I said.The technician didn’t argue. He rewound the clip, the timestamp jumping back exactly thirty seconds.Candice appeared in the frame. Walking down the corridor with that same careless trust that had always made something in my chest tighten.My jaw clenched. She stopped near the turn. I looked around. Waiting for someone. The frame shifted— And then I saw her.Camilla.Stepping into view like she belonged there. Like she had every right. My pulse slowed. Dangerously.Because rage like this— It didn’t explode.It sharpened.She crouched in front of Candice, speaking to her—soft, calm, controlled. Candice didn’t hesitate.Didn’t resist.She just… went with her. I stared at the screen long after they disappeared.“Send me this
[Olivia’s pov]The ceiling had started to blur.Not because there was anything wrong with it. But because I had been staring at it for too long, my thoughts circled the same place over and over again.Candice.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her face.The way she had smiled when Carter told her she’d see me. The excitement in her voice when she mentioned ice cream. The small, trusting way she had walked away without looking back.My chest tightened.I should have been there.If I had just stayed in my cabin—If I hadn’t—I swallowed hard, my fingers curling slightly against the hospital sheet. What if something had happened to her?What if—The door opened.I turned my head instantly, my heart jumping into my throat.“Homer?”Homer stepped inside, closing the door behind him with a quiet click.One look at his face—And I knew.I pushed myself up slightly, ignoring the way my body protested. “What happened?” I asked quickly. “Did they find her? Is she okay?”He didn’t make me wait.
[Olivia’s pov]The first thing I noticed was the ceiling.White hospital ceiling.For a moment, I just stared at it, blinking slowly as my mind tried to catch up with my body. There was a dull heaviness in my limbs, like I had been pulled under something and only just resurfaced.The faint beeping of a monitor reached my ears. A slow breath left me as I turned my head slightly.The room came into focus piece by piece, the IV stand, the curtain drawn halfway, the quiet hum of machines. And then I saw him.Homer?Homer stood near the foot of the bed, flipping through a medical chart, his expression focused in that familiar, detached way he had when he was working.For a second, I just watched him. Trying to remember. Trying to piece together why I was here.“Homer…” My voice came out softer than I intended. He looked up instantly.The shift in his expression was immediate—relief flashing across his face before he set the chart aside and crossed the room in a few quick steps.“You’re aw
[Carter’s pov]Waiting has never been my strength.In business, waiting means someone else is making a move. In war, it means you’re already a step behind. And in life if there’s one thing I’ve learned it means something is about to go wrong.I stood in Olivia’s cabin, hands braced on the edge of her desk, staring at nothing. She had gone for her regular rounds.The room still carried her presence subtle, familiar. A faint trace of her perfume lingered in the air, grounding and distracting all at once. For a moment, I let myself focus on that instead of everything else. The truth was waiting somewhere down a corridor I couldn’t see.I exhaled slowly, forcing my thoughts into order. Homer had everything under control. He said so himself.Discreet. Contained.No room for mistakes.Still—Something didn’t sit right.I pushed off the desk, pacing once, twice, the quiet ticking of the clock on the wall growing louder with every step.Too quiet.Too still.The door opened.I turned immedi
[Carter’s pov]My phone rang just as I was about to take a turn toward the school. I didn’t hear it at first among my worry and scattered mind. The phone rang once again and when the car stopped at the red traffic light I snapped out of it.Olivia.Her name flashed across the screen. For a second,
[Carter’s pov]The restaurant door closed behind Olivia with a dull thud. But the sound echoed inside my head like a gunshot. I felt it as if my heart had stopped pounding. My soul died at that moment.For several seconds, I didn’t move.I even forgot to breathe. Didn’t even blink.My eyes remaine
[Carter’s pov]A cold wave of dread crawled down my spine. I felt like my head was spinning. The restaurant noises faded into the background. For a moment, all I could hear was my own heartbeat.Six years ago.I stared at her. “You wouldn’t.” My shallow voice warned her. Despite how many times I tr
[Olivia’s pov]I was taken aback by the way they ridiculed me. All of this was Carter’s fault. Nobody knew who his real wife was.For a moment, I couldn’t speak.The cruelty in her words struck deeper than I expected. My fingers curled into fists at my sides as heat rushed to my face.Was this how







