LOGINChapter 309 Ethan's POV Consciousness came rushing back before my body hit the ground. One moment I was falling, darkness closing in, Pascal's fist still burning against my jaw. The next, something inside me roared to life. A surge of strength — primal, desperate, fueled by six months of frustration and fear and the devastating realization of everything I'd just remembered. My hands shot out, catching myself before I hit the pavement, and I launched myself at Pascal with a fury I didn't know I was capable of. We collided hard, both of us crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs and rage. Pascal was strong—stronger than I expected, fueled by his own desperation and whatever circumstances had led him to be hiding in these bushes. But I was stronger. My fist connected with Pascal's face—once, twice, feeling bone crunch under my knuckles. He got in his own hits, his knee driving into my ribs where he'd beaten me months ago in that warehouse, pain exploding through my chest.
Chapter 308 Ethan's POV The countryside gradually gave way to more populated areas as we drove closer to Missford. Small farms became clusters of houses. Dirt roads became paved streets. The isolation I'd been living in for six months slowly dissolved with every mile. I sat in the back seat of Carmen and Miguel's car, my hands pressed against my knees to keep them from shaking, my heart racing with anticipation and anxiety and desperate hope. Miguel was driving carefully, conscientiously following every traffic law, his weathered hands steady on the wheel. Carmen kept turning around to check on me, offering encouraging smiles and occasional reassurances in broken English. "Is okay," she'd say. "Soon you see your wife. Soon everything is better." I wanted to believe her. Desperately wanted to believe that once I reached Missford, once I found Cynthia, everything would somehow fall into place. But anxiety kept creeping in around the edges of my hope. I forced the thoughts awa
Chapter 307 Cynthia's POV The drive to the police station felt like it took forever, even though Nikolai drove faster than he probably should have, weaving through midday traffic with the kind of focused intensity that suggested he understood exactly how important this was. Kevin sat in the passenger seat, constantly checking his phone for updates from Nathaniel, his leg bouncing with nervous energy. I sat in the back, my hands clenched so tightly in my lap that my knuckles had gone white, staring out the window without really seeing anything. Grace has been caught. After five months of nothing, they finally have her. And she's going to tell us where Ethan is. The thought played on repeat in my mind like a mantra, like if I believed it hard enough I could make it true. When we finally pulled into the parking lot of the central police station, I was out of the car before Nikolai had even fully stopped, practically running toward the entrance. Kevin and Nikolai hurried after m
Chapter 306 Ethan's POV My hands were shaking as I picked up the pencil for what felt like the hundredth time in two days. This time, Carmen and Miguel were watching with an intensity that suggested they actually knew something—that this wasn't just another dead end, another crushing disappointment. I took a deep breath and forced myself to focus. To pull up that memory again—the flash of Cynthia's face that had been so vivid, so impossibly clear. Her eyes. Her smile. The exact curve of her jaw. After about fifteen minutes, I set down the pencil. The drawing wasn't perfect, but it was the best I drew. I turned the paper around so Carmen and Miguel could see, my heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat. For a moment, they both just stared at the drawing in silence. Then Carmen let out a choked sob. Her hands flew to her mouth, tears spilling down her weathered cheeks, her entire body starting to shake. "Dios mío," she whispered. "Dios mío." She looked up at me,
Chapter 305 Bryan's POV That bitch! That fucking bitch! My fist connected with the wall of my office—expensive imported drywall that probably cost more per square foot than most people made in a month—and pain exploded through my knuckles. I didn't care. Didn't even register the pain properly because the rage and fear consuming me were so much more overwhelming than any physical hurt. Grace had been caught. The word kept echoing in my mind, bouncing around my skull like a bullet ricocheting. My phone was still in my other hand, the screen lit up with the call I'd just received from the private investigator I'd hired to tail Grace after she picked up the money. The ten million dollars in cash I'd arranged to have waiting for her at the amusement center. The money that was supposed to help her disappear forever, to ensure she'd never be found, never lead the police to Ethan, never compromise my carefully constructed plan. Except I hadn't trusted her. Of course I hadn't trus
Chapter 304 Cynthia's POV "Nikolai," I said, and the word came out strangled and awkward, like I'd just been caught doing something I shouldn't. My face burned with embarrassment, my heart still racing from how close Bryan had been, from what had almost happened. Nikolai stood in the doorway with that carefully neutral expression, like he hadn't just walked in on Bryan about to kiss me. Like he hadn't noticed the charged atmosphere or the way my hands were shaking slightly. And I was grateful for it. Grateful that he was giving me the grace of pretending this wasn't as mortifying as it felt. My mind was spinning. Would Bryan actually have kissed me if Nikolai hadn't shown up? What the hell was he thinking? Bryan had been Ethan's best friend for years and he'd just tried to— I couldn't even finish the thought. "I'm going to make breakfast," I said abruptly, needing to do something with my hands, needing to focus on something other than the uncomfortable tension filling the
Chapter 218Ethan's POV I sat in the car outside the Walker mansion, my hands gripping the steering wheel, my mind at war with itself.Grace was awake.Finally awake.After days of lying unconscious in that hospital bed, after the DNA test that had shattered everything I thought I knew about my li
Chapter 220 Ethan's POV "How did you get out of prison?" I demanded, my voice low and dangerous.Anna's smile widened, but there was something unhinged about it now. Something that made my skin crawl. She looked like a woman who had spent time behind bars and come out of it not broken, but sharpe
Chapter 210Kevin's POVJulian wasn't supposed to be back.He'd left for his "vacation" earlier today—or what everyone else thought was a vacation but I now knew was time with Tony. He should have been halfway across the city by now, settled into whatever hotel or apartment they'd chosen for their
Chapter 207Bryan's POVDamn.Damn.I'd been so close.My hands tightened on the steering wheel as I drove, my jaw clenched so hard my teeth ached. The memory of that moment on the beach replayed over and over in my mind like a film reel I couldn't shut off.Cynthia's face, inches from mine. Her ey







