Chapter 5

BANG!

In that instant, the world spun.

The acrid smell of burning rubber filled my nostrils as the car swerved out of control, slamming into the guardrail.

The screech of metal on metal pierced my eardrums. The moment the airbag deployed, the world tilted, then plunged into a silent, blinding white.

A few seconds later.

The pain returned.

I kicked open the car door and stumbled out.

On the lawn not far away, Axel stood frozen in his shooting stance, the gun clattering from his hand to the ground.

All the arrogant cruelty from before was gone.

Now, he was just an eight-year-old boy, terrified by the massive recoil and the violent crash he had just caused.

"Vera," His lips trembled, his face ashen. "I didn't mean to..."

I wiped the blood from my forehead.

The nearby guards were in shock, completely unprepared for me to get back on my feet as if nothing had happened.

With a sudden burst of strength, I yanked the tactical combat knife from a guard's belt.

The cold blade glinted under the lamplight.

The guards instinctively raised their guns but didn't dare pull the triggers.

Clutching the knife, I walked step by step toward Axel.

"No... don't..."

My blood-streaked face terrified him. The cruel little lion was gone, replaced by a helpless child who had made a terrible mistake.

He tripped over the curb and fell backward, scrambling away from me on his hands and feet.

I stood over him and raised my arm.

I plunged the sharp combat knife into the asphalt right beside him. The hilt quivered violently.

I hope that one day, he will remember this and understand.

Axel screamed, squeezing his eyes shut.

I bent down, my bloodstained hand reaching out, and snatched the silver amulet from his neck.

I had gotten it for him on his first birthday, when he was gravely ill, by kneeling outside a church in a blizzard.

For eight years, he had never taken it off.

"You're not worthy of wearing this anymore."

I yanked hard.

The cord snapped, and the silver charm fell into my palm.

Axel's eyes shot open in terror, his face a mess of tears and snot as he gasped for air.

Lucian and Vivian arrived with a large group of men.

Seeing the scene, Lucian's perpetually unflappable face finally showed a crack.

"Vera! What are you doing!" he roared, his eyes fixed on my still-bleeding arm.

Vivian covered her mouth with her hand, trembling behind Lucian.

I ignored Lucian's command.

In front of them all, I raised my hand and threw the amulet into a nearby storm drain.

It was the sound of my affection sinking into the gutter.

I took out the dried sprig of lavender from Tuscany, my mother's homeland, that I had always kept close to my heart.

It was the last memento I carried with me.

I gently placed the dried flower on the ground.

It was an offering, a final, complete farewell to my past.

From this moment on, I had no one left to hold me back.

I turned to face this group of well-dressed thieves.

"Lucian. Axel."

My voice was soft, but it carried with startling clarity in the quiet night.

"You win. I was an unworthy guardian after all."

"I couldn't even teach this child the sanctity of life."

Axel stared blankly, his hand clutching his empty neck, having forgotten to cry.

Lucian took a step forward, trying to grab my wrist, his voice grim. "Have you had enough? Come back with me. I'll get the best doctors..."

"Don't touch me."

I looked at him coldly, my eyes a desolate wasteland. "Vivian can have the Mercer family's golden cage."

"It's his turn now."

With that, I turned away without a shred of regret.

"Vera! You dare leave!"

Lucian's roar exploded behind me. "You'll regret this! You won't make it out of New York without my permission!"

But I couldn't hear anything anymore.

The wind howled, rushing into the collar of my shirt.

It was cold, but more exhilarating than anything I had ever felt.

I walked into the vast darkness of the night.

Faintly, I heard Lucian's furious command from behind me:

"Find her! Tear this city apart if you have to, but you bring her back to me!"

But I wasn't afraid.

My heart pounded in my chest, blood rushing through my veins.

That long-lost, wild sense of being alive was reawakening inside me.

I ran past the street corner, past the neon lights, toward the unknown darkness.

I remembered the girl I was at eighteen, running wild and free on a beach out west.

The girl who had not been sold, who had not learned to bow her head, the Vera with an unbreakable soul.

She was back.