LOGINBenjamin D'Angelo stood beside a black SUV parked across the road from Jude Martinez’s penthouse.He kept his eyes fixed on the stream of expensive vehicles leaving the estate. The auction has just ended, but he had been outside for longer. He was waiting for her. From the penthouse, a figure rushed out and he recognised her even though it had been four years. Mae stepped out without drawing attention to herself, closing the door carefully before making her way toward him. She didn’t greet him immediately, choosing instead to look around first to make sure none of Jude’s guards had followed her.“You came.” She said, not bothering to hide her surprise.Benjamin gave a small shrug. “I already gave your friend the gun. That should be enough proof I’m going to help you get back your godchildren.”Mae studied him for another moment before asking the question that had been bothering her ever since he’d contacted her.“Why are you helping me, Benjamin? What do you want after this?”Benja
Jude remained exactly where he was, his attention fixed on the woman in the dark feathered mask.There was no doubt anymore.He had watched her brush past Brittany with what looked like an ordinary accident.But he knew she had purposefully went there after he sent the instructions to her. His eyes stayed on her as she quietly followed Brittany through the exhibition hall.She seemed to be tracking Brittany. Did she recognise her?“Of course she did.” He muttered.But why? Had she come here tonight with an entirely different objective than the one he had given her?Jude’s feet carried him forward, to demand answers. Guests continued examining the displays around him without noticing the storm quietly building beneath the calm atmosphere. Meanwhile, Jude’s entire understanding of the past few years had shifted within a matter of seconds.A strange laugh almost escaped him.If someone else had told him this story yesterday, he would’ve dismissed it as impossible.Out of all the laun
CECILIA’S POVMy phone vibrated quietly inside my purse.The sound almost disappeared beneath the low conversations surrounding me, yet I recognized that notification instantly. It was Dr. Venom. Finally!My heart skipped as I reached inside without drawing attention to myself.Keeping my movements small, I lowered my gaze and unlocked the screen beneath the cover of my purse.A single message waited.[The target is close to the sword display. She’s wearing a dark pink dress and white mask. Proceed.]Plant the chip.I slipped my phone back into my purse and slowly lifted my head, to search for the person I’d be planting the microchip on. I adjusted my mask before searching through the crowd again. A few seconds later I located the target.Just as Dr. Venom had described, there was a woman near a sword display, wearing a pink gown and white mask. There were still several people between us. Good. That gave me enough cover.I began moving naturally through the crowd, pausing briefly b
Jude’s attention remained fixed on the figure that had slipped behind the crowd.It had only been a brief moment. Just a passing silhouette among dozens of masked guests. Still, something about that person refused to leave his mind.The dark dress. The careful way they had moved. The strange feeling that they had noticed him first before disappearing into the sea of people.It felt familiar.He remained where he stood, his eyes searching between the moving guests. Whoever that person had been, they clearly hadn’t wanted to be seen.His phone vibrated inside his jacket, and pulled it out to see a message from Roman. [She’s here. She arrived arrived alone.]Jude immediately understood Roman was referring to Brittany. He had made her electronic invitation special, to notify all his tech guys, the moment she entered the premises. She had purposefully arrived without her family, and had been in some hideout where she kept the twins.Yet she still had the audacity to come here!He typed b
CECILIA’S POVWhen morning came, adrenaline began coursing through me, because I knew the day had come.Mae forced me to eat breakfast, but I barely ate more than a bite. I skipped lunch entirely, my mind too focused on the countdown.By 8 PM, I was dressed. By 9, I could see cars pulling into the penthouse's grounds, and moving towards the parking lot. I was waiting for Mae to come back to the room, so she could distract the guards stationed on our floor. She came back a few minutes later, with a big box beneath her arm.“What’s that? Where did you go to?”I had watched her argue with the one of the guards to let her downstairs so she could pick up a box of sanitary pads.I knew it wasn’t true, of course.“Benjamin sent something.” I raised an eyebrow at her, and watched her open the box. At the top were sanitary pads, probably for Jude’s guards who would’ve searched the box.Underneath them all, was a slimmer box. She opened it, and brought out.....a gun!Mae gave me a levelled
His text stared back at me.[Benjamin: Any updates?]I decided to scroll upward.The messages stretched back to the night before the twins disappeared. They’d been talking ever since.The bathroom door opened.Mae stepped out while drying her hands with a towel. The moment she noticed the phone in my hand, she stopped walking.Neither of us spoke immediately. Whatever expression was on my face, was enough to tell her what I had just seen.And the suspicion I was having.“Cecilia. It’s not what you think.” She said.“I’m not thinking anything.” I said quickly, setting the phone down.It was obviously a lie. I was on edge and my emotions were on overdrive, shaking to know if my children were okay. Seeing that Mae and Benjamin had began to talk, the day before Brittany took them......Well, my mind was spiralling really fast. “I know you are. But I can explain.” Mae crossed the room slowly before sitting opposite me. “After I unblocked him the day that I showed you, I didn’t have it in
The chandelier came down in pieces.“Down.” He said to the two guards flanking him on the stage, and they moved immediately because they had been trained to move on his voice before their own instincts.The ballroom erupted.Screaming the crowd began to stampede. Jude’s security team tried to contr
I gasp instinctively against the palm.An arm wraps around my waist immediately afterward, dragging me backward violently into darkness.I kick, but the person is too strong to let go, and my screams die against the hand covering my mouth.Panic explodes through me completely.I’m hauled off roughl
She hurriedly says. “I apologise for the interruption.” She walks backwards, and pulls the door closed behind her.She hurriedly says. “I apologise for the interruption.”Then she walks backwards and pulls the door closed behind her.For one full second, neither Jude nor I move.Then reality crash
The vendor coughed rather loudly, making Jude and I pull apart. Jude looked at me, and neither of us said anything for a moment. The charged energy between us wasn’t disrupted by the man’s intrusion. Rather, I felt even more drawn to Jude, and a heady need, fighting my rationality. Without a wor






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