تسجيل الدخولAriannaThe first thing I noticed when they moved me wasn’t the change in pain.It was the change in silence. No more hurried footsteps and endlessly sirens Hospitals had their own kind of quiet—controlled, mechanical, measured in beeps and footsteps and distant announcements.But Aiden’s house… Our house.This silence was different.It felt intentional.Like the walls had been built to swallow sound.Not to comfort.To contain.The car stopped before I fully processed the journey.I hadn’t even realized I’d been staring out the tinted window the entire time until the engine died and the world outside became still enough to feel real again.Liam stepped out first.Then two security men.Then the door beside me opened.Aiden.He didn’t say anything at first.He just looked at me.Like he was checking I was still in one piece.Like the last week hadn’t already answered that question.“You don’t have to carry me like last time,” I said quietly before he could speak.His eyes flicked to
AriannaThe silence after Liam left wasn’t empty.It was filled with beeping sounds from the machines I was hooked on.Like something had been placed into the room and sealed in without anyone telling us how to breathe around it.Aiden hadn’t moved.Neither had I.But something between us had.I couldn’t name it at first.It wasn’t trust.It wasn’t comfort.It was awareness.The kind that came after realizing you could no longer pretend you didn’t see what was in front of you.Aiden stood near the bed, one hand in his pocket, the other relaxed at his side—but nothing about him was truly relaxed.He looked like someone whose mind was already three steps ahead of the room he was standing in.Liam had left again shortly after Elena was taken out, muttering something about “confirming external movement.”That phrase had stayed in my head longer than I wanted it to.External movement.It sounded distant.But I was starting to understand that nothing about this situation was distant anymore
AriannaThe first thing I felt was weight.Not pain.Not fear.Just weight.Like my body had been pulled under something too deep to fight, and the world above it no longer reached me properly.Everything felt far away.Voices. Movement. Light.All of it existed, but none of it fully belonged to me yet.There was a steady sound cutting through the haze.Beep.Pause.Beep.Something rhythmic and mechanical, like the world had replaced my heartbeat with something less personal.My eyelids felt heavy when I tried to open them.Too heavy.But I forced them anyway.White ceiling.Too bright.Too clean.Hospital.My mind reached the conclusion before my body fully caught up.A soft pressure lingered in my side, dull but present. Not sharp anymore. Just… there, like a reminder that something had already happened and I had missed the worst of it.I blinked slowly.Shapes formed.Machines beside me.A monitor tracking something I didn’t have the strength to focus on.A chair near the bed.And
Liam I was late.Not by choice.By design.The kind of delay that doesn’t feel accidental when you’ve spent your entire life learning patterns of danger.The restaurant came into view as I stepped out of the car, its glass front reflecting too much light, too many movements inside. I had chosen it for one reason only—neutral ground. Public enough to discourage stupidity. Quiet enough to talk without interruption.Arianna was already inside.That was the plan.She was supposed to meet me first.Then leave.Then Aiden would take over the rest of her movement schedule like he always did now—tight, controlled, calculated. I didn’t like it, but I understood why it was necessary.What I didn’t expect was the call I received twenty minutes ago.Aiden’s voice had been sharp.Not panicked.Never panicked.Aiden didn’t do panic.“Something is off, why did she show up?” he said.That was all.No explanation at first.Just that.Then he added, “Stay alert around her today.”I had frowned.“Why?”
Arianna’s POV The city felt louder than I remembered. Even inside the mall, where everything was supposed to feel polished and controlled, there was still noise everywhere. Footsteps, conversations, soft music playing from overhead speakers. People moving like they all had somewhere important to be. I didn’t. Not really. I walked slowly beside Chloe’s absence in my mind, fingers brushing lightly against the edge of my bag strap. I wasn’t even sure why I had come out today. Aiden had been busy since morning, locked in calls he didn’t explain in detail. And I had told myself I didn’t want to stay cooped up in the apartment again. Fresh air. Normal life. Something simple. But nothing about my life felt simple anymore. Not after the island. Not after everything that had started unfolding around me like layers I didn’t even know existed. I paused briefly in front of a shop window, not really seeing what was displayed. My reflection stared back at me instead. Same face. Same eyes
Arianna’s POVThe moment she turned away, something inside me refused to move.My body stayed rooted where I stood, even as the crowd around us kept flowing like nothing unusual had happened. People passed between us, laughing, talking, carrying shopping bags, living their normal lives.But mine had stopped.Completely.I tightened my grip on the envelope in my hand without realizing it.It felt too light for something that heavy.Aiden stepped closer beside me, but I still didn’t look at him.Not yet.Because if I did, I knew I would break out of whatever fragile control I was holding onto.“She’s gone,” he said quietly.I swallowed.“I saw that.”His eyes stayed on me for a moment longer than necessary.“You’re shaking.”“I’m not.”I was lying.He didn’t argue.He never did when he could already see the truth.Instead, he shifted slightly, scanning the direction she had walked off in.“Do you know her?” he asked.My throat tightened.“No.”But even as I said it, the word felt wrong.
Chloe’s face kept changing in horror, the shock still rippling through her like cold water running down her spine. She couldn’t believe what had just happened—one moment she had merely stepped through the lobby doors, and the next she had become the center of a hostile spectacle.By now, a small cr
Arianna’s ear kept buzzing, mostly because Chloe had made it a mission to hum endlessly about the gifts she had been receiving—from school all the way home, and even after they settled in her room. After hours of gentle pushing, teasing, and dramatic sighs, Arianna finally opened up about the contr
Third POVArianna warily untied the ribbon on the package, her fingers trembling slightly. Chloe had moved away, leaving her momentarily alone, yet Arianna couldn’t shake the tension that crawled up her spine. Every sense was alert.The situation was suspicious—terrifying, even. A package had arriv
Aiden’s POVMy mood and temperament had taken a brutal blow since I last heard from my men who had been attacked and probably killed whilst trying to defend themselves. The message had been brief, panicked, and abruptly cut off, leaving a storm of unease pressing hard against my chest. This wasn’t







