Sophia’s POV
The world is a haze of pain and shadow, my body heavy, my thoughts sluggish as I claw my way back to consciousness. My head throbs, the metallic tang of blood on my lips, and my hands instinctively cradle my stomach, a desperate need to protect my baby Julian’s baby anchoring me to reality. The air is thick with the smell of smoke and gasoline, the ground beneath me vibrating with the rumble of an engine. I’m in a vehicle, a van, my body slumped against a hard seat, my wrists bound with zip ties that bite into my skin. My heart lurches as fragments of memory flood back: the tunnel beneath the safehouse, Daniel Gray’s cold eyes, the syringe’s sting, and those familiar eyes behind a tactical mask Emily, my sister, betraying me.
A sudden jolt throws me against the seat, and a deafening explosion rocks the van, the world tilting as screams pierce the air. My eyes snap open, my vision blurry but clearing, and I see Daniel in the front passenger seat, his pistol drawn, his face twisted with fury as he shouts at the driver. Emily’s beside me, her rifle across her lap, her face pale, her eyes wide with panic. “What the hell was that?” she yells, her voice trembling, and I realize she’s not in control not like Daniel. She’s a pawn, just like me, caught in his game.
The van swerves, tires screeching, and I brace myself, my bound hands clumsy but desperate. The drug’s fog lingers, making my movements slow, but fear sharpens my senses. My baby’s safety, Julian’s fight above in the burning cabin, Lucas’s obsession they all collide in my mind, a storm of terror and defiance. Daniel betrayed Julian, his own grandson, using me to manipulate him and Lucas, to protect his empire. Emily, my sister, turned against me, her jealousy a weapon Daniel wielded. But who caused that explosion? Not Julian, not Lucas someone else, someone Daniel fears, a ghost from his past.
“Keep driving!” Daniel barks, his voice a low growl as he scans the darkness outside. The van’s headlights catch flames licking through the trees, the clearing a warzone of smoke and debris. My heart pounds, my breath shallow as I tug at the zip ties, the plastic cutting deeper into my wrists. I need to get out, to find Julian, to protect our child. The van lurches again, and Emily curses, her rifle slipping to the floor. I seize the moment, lunging for it, my bound hands awkward but determined.
“Sophia, don’t!” Emily snaps, grabbing my arm, her nails digging in. Her eyes those familiar eyes that once laughed with me as children are now hard, filled with a jealousy I’ve never fully understood. “You’re making this worse,” she hisses, but there’s a tremor in her voice, a crack in her resolve.
“Worse?” I spit, my voice hoarse but fierce. “You betrayed me, Emily. You’re helping him hurt my baby!” My words hit her like a slap, and for a moment, her grip falters, guilt flickering across her face. But Daniel turns, his pistol aimed at me, his expression cold, unyielding.
“Enough,” he says, his voice a blade. “You’re leverage, Sophia. Nothing more. Sit still, or I’ll make sure that child never sees the light of day.” His words are ice, freezing my blood, but they also ignite a fire in me a mother’s fury, a survivor’s resolve. I’ve spent years fading under Lucas’s control, my dreams of painting buried, my spirit broken. But this baby, this life with Julian, has given me a reason to fight, and I won’t let Daniel win.
Another explosion rocks the van, closer this time, and the driver swerves, cursing as the vehicle skids toward the edge of the road. My body slams against the door, pain shooting through my shoulder, but I use the chaos, kicking at Emily’s shin. She yelps, her grip loosening, and I grab the rifle, my bound hands clumsy but desperate. I don’t know how to use it, but it’s a weapon, a chance. Daniel lunges, his pistol raised, but the van hits something a crater, a fallen tree and we’re airborne for a sickening moment, crashing back down with a bone-rattling thud.
Glass shatters, and I’m thrown forward, the rifle slipping from my grasp. Smoke fills the van, choking me, and I hear Daniel shouting, his voice drowned by the screech of metal. My hands fumble for the door handle, the zip ties cutting deeper, blood slicking my wrists. The door gives way, and I tumble out, hitting the ground hard, my vision swimming. The clearing is a chaos of flames and shadows, the van half-off the road, its front crumpled against a tree. Emily’s slumped inside, unconscious, blood trickling from her temple. Daniel’s climbing out, his pistol still in hand, his eyes locking on me with a predator’s focus.
I scramble to my feet, my bare feet stinging on the rocky ground, my body screaming from the drug’s effects. The forest looms around me, dark and impenetrable, but I run, my heart pounding, my hands clutching my stomach. Julian’s out there, fighting for me, and I have to believe he’ll find me. But Daniel’s footsteps crunch behind me, relentless, and I know I can’t outrun him, not like this. My mind races Lucas, still alive, still hunting me; Emily, betraying me for her own gain; and now Daniel, the puppet master, orchestrating this nightmare. But who caused the explosions? Who’s the ghost Daniel fears?
I duck behind a tree, my breath ragged, my vision blurring again. The drug’s pulling me under, but I fight it, my nails digging into my palms to stay awake. A figure moves through the smoke, not Daniel, but someone else tall, cloaked, holding a detonator. My heart stops. It’s the figure from Daniel’s memory, the one who spoke of games, of ending his empire. Their face is obscured, but their movements are precise, deadly, and I realize they’re not just after Daniel they’re after me, too.
“Sophia,” a voice calls, low and chilling, echoing through the trees. It’s not Daniel, not Lucas, not Julian. It’s her the figure, their voice familiar, a ghost from my past I can’t place. My blood runs cold as they step closer, the detonator glinting in their hand, their eyes gleaming with a purpose I don’t understand.
The figure raises the detonator, and the ground trembles as another explosion tears through the forest, flames erupting behind me, cutting off my escape. Daniel’s shout echoes, but it’s drowned by the figure’s cold laughter as they step into the light, their face finally visible a face I trusted, a face I loved, now twisted with vengeance. “You were always the key, Sophia,” they say, pressing a button on the detonator, and the world explodes in a deafening roar, the ground collapsing beneath me as I’m sucked into a void, my scream lost in the chaos. Who is this ghost, and what do they want with my unborn child?
Sophia’s POVThe hospital room feels like a cage, the air heavy with the acrid scent of smoke from the earlier explosion, my heart pounding as Julian slumps against the bed, blood seeping through his shirt where Nadya’s bullet grazed his shoulder. His blue eyes, fierce with pain but steady, lock on mine, grounding me as my fractured memories swirl in a fog of fear and longing. Lucas stands frozen at the door, his stolen scalpel glinting in his trembling hand, his gray eyes wild with an obsession that’s haunted me for years. Nadya’s smirk lingers, her gun lowered but her file on me dirt to ruin my life clutched tight, a weapon as deadly as any bullet. Daniel’s voice, cold and commanding, crackles through a hidden speaker: “Finish it.” The camera’s red light blinks in the corner, broadcasting our pain to an unknown watcher, and I clutch my stomach, my unborn child—Julian’s child a fragile hope anchoring me to this nightmare.My memories are splintered, Lucas’s lies painting him as my sa
Sophia’s POVThe world is a haze of pain and noise, my body heavy, my mind a fractured mosaic as the hospital room shakes around me. My heart lurches, monitors screaming, their shrill beeps drowning out the gunshot that echoes in my ears. Blood sprays, hot and wet, across my face, and I gasp, my hands clutching my stomach, shielding my baby—Julian’s baby, the fragile hope anchoring me to this nightmare. My vision blurs, the drugs in my system pulling me under, but I see Julian, his piercing blue eyes wild with fear, his body shielding mine as Emily’s gun trembles in her hands, her face twisted with jealousy. Daniel, his knife glinting, lunges, and I scream, my voice raw, as the monitors flatline, darkness clawing at me. A hidden camera blinks in the corner, its red light a silent witness to this chaos, and I wonder who’s watching, what they’ll do with our secrets.My memories are a fog, fragments slipping through my grasp Lucas’s cruelty, Julian’s gentle touch, the night at the gala t
Julian’s POVThe hospital room trembles, the ceiling cracking as Daniel’s detonator triggers a deafening explosion, debris raining down like a storm of betrayal. I shield Sophia, my body pressed over hers on the hospital bed, her faint pulse a lifeline beneath the chaos. Glass shards from the shattered window litter the floor, Nadya’s silhouette frozen in the flickering light, her gun still aimed at Sophia, her eyes burning with a jealousy I should’ve crushed years ago. My grandfather Daniel stands at the room’s edge, his detonator smoking, his face a mask of cold calculation, the man who raised me now a traitor to everything I love. A new shadow lingers behind him, their whispered words“The truth dies with her”echoing in my mind, a chilling promise I can’t unravel. Sophia’s hand grips mine, her hazel eyes flickering with a spark of recognition, but her amnesia holds her prisoner, Lucas’s lies painting me as the enemy.“Stay down!” I shout, my voice raw, my switchblade drawn as I scan
Julian’s POVThe gunshot’s echo ricochets through the hospital corridor, a piercing sound that drowns out Sophia’s scream and the blaring monitors in her room. My heart seizes, my blade already in hand as I spin toward Nadya, her gun smoking, her dark eyes gleaming with a vengeance I should’ve anticipated. Lucas stands frozen, his bandaged chest heaving, his gray eyes wild with shock but no blood Nadya’s shot missed him. My gaze snaps to Sophia, slumped on the hospital bed, her hands clutching her stomach, blood seeping through her gown. The sight rips through me, a primal fear for her and our unborn child, but the blood’s from her wrist a reopened wound from the zip ties, not a bullet. She’s alive, but terrified, her hazel eyes wide with confusion, locked on me as if I’m the enemy.“Julian, get her out!” Asher shouts, limping into the corridor, his gun raised at Nadya. Security guards swarm, their shouts a chaotic blur, but Nadya’s already moving, slipping through a side door like a
Julian’s POVThe tunnel’s collapse fades into a deafening silence, the ticking device’s final explosion a dull roar in my ears as I cradle Sophia’s unconscious body, her pulse faint beneath my fingers. The glowing green syringe Emily thrust toward her lies shattered, its contents hissing on the stone floor, but the needle mark on Sophia’s neck—Daniel’s earlier injection haunts me, a reminder of my failure to protect her. Blood stains the rocks—Emily’s, from Victor’s shot, or Daniel’s, I can’t tell. Lucas is slumped nearby, his chest wound bleeding out, his obsession with Sophia dying with him. Victor, my father’s old partner, vanished in the chaos, his cryptic words about the truth of my parents’ accident burning in my mind. But Sophia my Sophia, carrying our child is all that matters now, her breathing shallow, her face pale in the flickering light of the tunnel’s emergency bulbs.Asher limps toward me, his arm bleeding, his gun still clutched tight. “We need to move, Julian,” he say
Julian’s POVThe tunnel’s darkness engulfs us, the echo of the gunshot ringing in my ears as I clutch Sophia’s limp body, her breathing shallow, her skin cold against mine. The rock walls tremble, debris raining down from the explosion triggered by the scarred man my father’s old partner, Victor Kane, a ghost I thought was buried with my parents’ accident. My heart pounds, a mix of rage and fear, as Daniel, my grandfather, stands before the hidden tunnel panel, his pistol raised, blood spraying from somewhere ,him, Victor, or someone else, I can’t tell. The flames from the forest above cast flickering shadows, and Asher’s shouts fade, drowned by the collapsing stone and the helicopter’s relentless thump. Sophia’s my only focus her and our unborn child, the future I swore to protect.“Daniel!” I roar, my voice raw, my switchblade slick with blood as I shield Sophia, her head lolling against my chest. The needle mark on her neck burns in my vision, another drug stealing her strength, an