LOGINKonstantin kept the gun trained on Arlo, his finger resting calmly against the trigger as though the chaos outside the room had nothing to do with him. Smoke drifted through the open doorway behind us, alarms screamed somewhere above, and yet he stood perfectly still, watching Sofia and Isabelle as if he had been waiting for this exact moment. For years, he had controlled the Ashworths and the Alfies through money, fear, secrets, and silence, but now the two women standing before him represented everything he had failed to control. “Put the gun down,” Arlo said. Konstantin didn't even look at him. “You're hardly in a position to give me instructions.” Isabelle stepped forward. “You've always needed a weapon to feel powerful.” His eyes shifted to her. “And you've always mistaken running away for winning.” Her jaw tightened. “I survived.” “You survived because I allowed you to.” The words hung heavily in the room. I looked at Isabelle. She didn't react, but something change
“Isabelle.” The name left my mouth before I could stop it, and for one strange second, neither of us moved. She stood across the smoke-filled deck, breathing hard, her damp hair clinging to her face as she looked at me with the same disbelief I felt. We had spent our entire lives apart, yet there was something unsettling about seeing the face I had spent months borrowing standing in front of me as a real person. Then another explosion sounded somewhere behind us. Isabelle's expression changed instantly. “Move.” She crossed the distance between us and grabbed my arm just as a section of metal collapsed nearby. I ducked with her, covering my head as debris scattered across the deck, while Arlo, Ava, and Danielle rushed toward us. “You came back,” I said when we got to our feet. “I couldn't leave you here.” Her eyes moved to Arlo, then Ava, and finally Danielle. “You found her.” “Danielle found us,” I corrected. Isabelle gave Danielle a quick look of recognition. “Then we hav
The explosion sent another violent tremor through the yacht, throwing me against the wall before Arlo caught my arm and pulled me upright. Smoke was already creeping through the corridor, mixing with the sharp smell of burning metal, while alarms screamed from somewhere above us. For several seconds, none of us could hear anything except the ringing in our ears and the distant shouts of people running across the decks. “Everyone still here?” Ava shouted. “I’m fine,” Arlo answered. “Danielle?” “Still standing.” Ava turned to me. “Sofia?” “I’m fine.” Another blast sounded in the distance, smaller than the first but close enough to make the ceiling tremble. Danielle grabbed the nearest railing as the yacht tilted again, and Ava immediately moved toward her. “We need to get out of this corridor,” Ava said. “If the damage reaches the lower decks, we're going to be trapped.” “Where do we go?” I asked. “Up.” I almost laughed. “Up? We just got dragged onto this yacht because Kons
The sound of the lock turning made Ava move immediately, crossing the room and pressing one finger to her lips. I barely had time to step back before she pulled a narrow metal panel from the wall, revealing a dark opening behind it. Danielle pushed herself upright, gripping the edge of the table as she tried to steady her weak legs. “This way,” Ava whispered. “We have maybe thirty seconds before they realise I’m not where they left you.” I looked at Danielle, then at the narrow passage behind the panel, wondering how she was supposed to make it through when she could barely stand. Ava seemed to read the question on my face and moved toward Danielle without hesitation. “I can walk,” Danielle said quietly. “You can barely stand,” I replied. “And I’m still walking.” There was something in her voice that made me stop arguing, so Ava helped her into the passage while I followed close behind. The space was cramped, barely wide enough for one person at a time, and the walls were lined
Ava waited until the footsteps outside faded before she turned back to me.“You need to keep your voice down,” she whispered. “If they hear anything unusual, they'll come back.”I nodded, still trying to process what she had just told me.“You've been working for Konstantin?”“Not for him.”“Then for who?”“Myself.”The answer caught me off guard.Ava walked to the table and picked up the communication device she had removed from her collar.“I never truly left this family.”I frowned.“I thought you did.”“That was the point.”She switched off the device and placed it face down.“Everyone was supposed to believe I wanted nothing to do with them anymore. Konstantin included.”“You let him believe that?”“For years.”I stared at her.“Why?”“Because people talk differently around someone they think is no longer a threat.”She crossed the room and pressed her fingers against a section of the wall.A hidden panel clicked open.My eyes widened.Inside were several small storage drives, fo
The guards gave me no time to say goodbye to Danielle.One grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door while the other stood between me and the bed. “Wait,” I demanded, twisting against his grip, but he didn't slow down.Danielle tried to stand, but her legs gave way beneath her.“Danielle!”She caught herself against the bed.“Go,” she whispered.“I’m not leaving you here.”“You have to.”The guard dragged me into the corridor before I could reach her.The door slammed behind us.I immediately fought back.“Let me go!”The guard tightened his grip.“Stop resisting.”“Take your hands off me!”I kicked backward, catching him in the leg.He cursed.The second guard grabbed my other arm.I struggled between them, trying to slow them down, but they were stronger and prepared for every move I made.“Where are you taking me?”Neither answered.“Is it the room Danielle warned me about?”Silence.My stomach twisted.That was answer enough.They were taking me somewhere Danielle had been terr



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