LOGINPOV: ElenaThe freezing impact of the river hit my skin like thousands of needles.Darkness swallowed me instantly, the roaring sound of the gas explosion muffled by tons of rushing water above. The current was an absolute monster, pulling my body down into the black void. My lungs burned, my instincts screaming for air, but my only thought was the double pulse in my womb.Suddenly, a massive, powerful hand grabbed my upper arm.Alexander.Even in the pitch-black current, he found me. He pulled me violently against his chest, his strong legs kicking against the heavy undertow. He didn't let go, his grip bruising my skin as he fought the river to drag us toward the surface.Our heads broke the water together. I gasped, coughing up bitter river water, my hands instantly clawing at his wet shoulders."Alex!" I choked out, blinking through the smoke hanging over the river. "Leo! Where is Leo?""Look at the shipping ramp!" Alexander yelled, his voice raspy as he swam backward, keeping my h
POV: AlexanderThe blue blast threw a wall of heat straight into my face.I didn't watch the pieces of the helicopter fly into the gray sky. I spun around, my boots sliding in the wet gravel, and threw my entire body weight forward. Elena was running down the pier, her eyes wide with terror, her hands reaching out for me."Get down!" I roared.I tackled her into the mud just as the shockwave rolled over us. The sound was a metallic tear, a violent roar of burning lithium and chemical fuel that sucked the oxygen right out of our lungs. Pieces of metal clattered against the rusted shipping containers around us.I kept my arms locked over her head, pressing her face down into my chest. My back felt like it was on fire, the heat radiating through my shirt, but I didn't move an inch until the rain started to hiss against the burning wreckage.Elena was gasping for air against my ribs, her small fingers clutching the wet fabric at my waist. "Alex... Leo... where is Leo?""He's with Logan,"
POV: Alexander"Run!"I didn't think about my brother. I didn't think about the stolen billions or the federal agents scattering into the gray sky. I grabbed Elena by the waist, threw her toward the heavy metal chassis of Logan's armored truck, and shielded her body with my own just as the rocket struck the bridge support.The world went white. A deafening roar tore through the concrete structure, sending chunks of jagged rebar and burning asphalt raining down into the canal. The shockwave lifted my feet off the ground, slamming my spine hard against the armored door.Elena gasped under me, her fingers digging desperately into my shoulders. "Alex! The truck is sliding!"The bridge was tilting. The central span was cracking in half, yawning open over the black river water below. Julian was screaming somewhere in the smoke, his pristine black trench coat caught in a tangle of fallen steel cables."Julian!" I yelled, trying to reach out through the haze, but Logan's door suddenly flew op
POV: ElenaThe cold wind coming off the river whipped my wet hair across my face. I kept my hands steady on the rifle, my eyes locked on the driver's window."Step out of the van!" I yelled into the megaphone, my voice tearing through the sound of the rain. "Do it now or I will fire into your engine!""Dr. Lin, you are committing a federal crime," Logan muttered from the driver's seat of the armored truck beneath me, his eyes darting to the side mirrors. "If they call for backup, we have about three minutes before reinforcements swarm this bridge.""I don't care," I said. "They are going to execute him, Logan. I am not letting them take another step."The driver's door of the transport van slowly opened. The director of the security bureau stepped down into the mud, holding his hands up, though his face was twisted in a smirk."You really think you can play hero, Dr. Lin?" the director called out, his voice loud over the engine hum. "You're a scientist. You don't have the stomach for
POV: Alexander"You survived a car crash, Mark," I said. My voice was very quiet, very dry, despite the freezing rain starting to wash the helicopter soot off my face. "I dragged you out of a burning dock. And this is the check you wanted to cash?"Mark wouldn't look me in the eye. He stared at his expensive leather shoes, the ones he bought with my money last Christmas. "It is just business, Chairman. You became a liability the second you let her back into the country. Vivian offered me ten percent of the logistics division. You were going to let the whole thing burn for a bastard kid who isn't even yours.""He is mine," I growled, stepping forward. The federal agents immediately shoved their submachine guns into my chest, the steel cold against my ribs. "And you are a dead man, Mark. You just don't know it yet.""Save it for the federal judge, Vance," the director of the security bureau barked, jerking my handcuffed wrists upward. "Get him in the car.""Wait!" Elena screamed, throwi
POV: Elena"Get away from her, Diana."Alexander's voice was a low, terrifying growl as he pulled me tighter against his bare, bruised chest. His heartbeat was hammering wildly against my cheek. Even in the mud, with his entire empire stolen, he stood like a king ready to tear down anyone who approached us.Diana Sterling laughed, a dry, aristocratic sound, and leaned heavily on her silver cane. "Look at yourself, Alexander. You are bleeding, you are bankrupt, and your security chief is dying in the front seat of a garbage truck. You have no cards left to play. I am the only one with a helicopter and a private medical team that can save your twins. Unless you want to deliver them in a mud puddle.""We don't need your charity," I said, my voice cracking as I held Leo closer to my hip. "You kept this a secret for twenty-five years? You let me grow up thinking I was an orphan while you sat on billions?""Nathaniel Vance paid for your erasure, Elena," Diana said, her sharp gray eyes narro







