Evelyn’s POV“We found his location.”The words barely left the officer’s lips before I was on my feet. My chair scraped loudly against the hospital floor, startling even the nurse passing by."Yes. You found his location," I repeated, breath catching. My heart thudded like a war drum. I grabbed the officer's sleeve. “Please… just make sure you find him. Please.” My voice trembled, but the urgency in it was steel.He gave me a tight nod. “We will.”But that wasn’t enough. It would never be enough until he was gone. Until the monster who burned through everything I loved was erased from this world. He doesn’t get to live while Dave lies cold in a morgue.I stepped back, then turned and moved quickly, almost blindly, through the hospital corridors. The smell of antiseptic clung to everything. My shoes hit the tile harder than I intended. I wasn’t just walking. I was marching. Hunting. Rage guided my feet, and grief lit the path.I had one more stop to make before the end began.I pushed
Evelyn’s POVThe rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound grounding me. Each beat was a fragile tether, keeping him alive… keeping me sane. I hadn’t moved from his side. My hand had never left his. And even though his fingers hadn’t twitched again, I held on to hope like a lifeline.The nightmare was almost over. His parents were in custody. The people who had laughed while he suffered were behind bars. I should’ve felt triumphant, like justice was finally tipping in our favor. And yet, my heart wouldn’t rest. Not until the last piece, the darkest one, was caught.Him.The one who orchestrated it all. The one who destroyed everything I loved. The man who killed my mother… the root of all this pain.He was still out there.I reached for my phone with one hand, still gripping my husband’s cold fingers with the other. I called the officer I’d spoken to earlier.“Detective Hale,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. “Any updates?”“We need you at the station,” he said urg
Evelyn's POV I stared at the mask in my trembling hands, the artificial face staring blankly back at me. Its stillness was disturbing, but the craftsmanship was terrifyingly perfect. Every pore, every lash… it looked real. Too real.My voice barely rose above a whisper. “I wear this… and become someone else?”Dave’s eyes were steady on me, but there was a storm beneath them. He nodded once, jaw clenched. “Not someone else. Someone they trust. Someone who can walk through their front door without raising suspicion.”I looked up at him, my breath shaky. “And what if I fail? What if they know?”His brow furrowed. “You won’t fail. Not this time. You’ve been through hell and came out alive. You’re ready.”The room felt colder somehow. I took a deep breath, nodded slowly, and stood, gripping the mask tighter. “Let’s do it.”~~~The hotel room was quiet. We’d switched locations just an hour before, and I knew exactly why. I’d told Dave the truth: someone had followed us to the last place. I
Evelyn's POVThe door slammed shut behind me with a clang that echoed in my bones. The room was pitch black, the kind of darkness that swallowed everything, even hope. The guards didn’t care. They didn’t say a word. They just shoved me in like a sack of trash, the door locking with a brutal finality.I stumbled forward and crashed against the cold, unforgiving wall. My hands stretched out, searching, trembling. There was nothing but stone, shadows, and silence. My breath came out in harsh gasps. My heart was in a frenzy, hammering so loud it filled the room."Help me! Please! Somebody! Get me out of here!" I screamed, banging my fists against the wall. My voice bounced off the walls, wild and desperate. "I can’t stay here, please!"But no one came.I kept hitting, harder and harder, my knuckles beginning to sting and swell. Tears blurred my vision. I sank to the floor, shaking, curling into myself like a child. The room was ice, and my body felt brittle, like it could snap.Then I hea
Evelyn’s POVI was shaking. Not the subtle kind you could hide with stillness, but the kind that made your bones rattle. My knees buckled beneath the weight of dread, my fingers trembling so badly I could barely keep them curled into fists at my sides. My breathing was shallow, desperate, each inhale burning through my chest like fire.She had evidence. Proof. There was no way out of this.My mind screamed, a thousand thoughts colliding all at once. I wanted to run, to disappear into the walls, to vanish before she could open her mouth and seal my fate.Please, God. Please. I don't care what it takes, just get me out of this. Anything.Her lips parted, rage written across every taut line of her face. She was just about to speak, to unleash her wrath when..CRASH.A loud shatter tore through the air like a gunshot.Everyone's heads whipped toward the sound.A maid had rushed in, young, panicked, and in her haste, she'd collided with Louis’s mother. The tray she carried slipped from her
Evelyn’s POVHer eyes were cold, hard as stone. I could see it clearly now, even through the soft lighting of the room. This wasn’t just supervision. She didn’t want to make sure the injection went in, she wanted to see it, feel the victory. She wanted control. Her whole body hummed with it.She didn’t trust me. Not for a second.“Ma'am, I said you can’t go in with me,” I said again, trying to keep my voice level despite the tremor that cracked through it.She halted in her steps and turned slowly. Her face twitched—jaw flexing, one brow lifted like she couldn’t believe what she just heard. Her lips curled with disdain, and then—SLAP!Her hand struck my cheek so hard, I stumbled. My legs gave out under the shock, and I hit the cold floor with a muted thud, my face stinging. My vision blurred for a second. The pain wasn’t just physical, it was humiliation, fear, helplessness all rolled into one blow.I crouched there, dazed, hands gripping the floor, body shivering.“What the hell is