LOGINThe man dropped instantly.Evelyn covered her head as bullets struck the damaged body of her car.Another vehicle screeched to a stop across the road. Men in dark suits poured out, taking cover behind the doors.“Get down!” someone shouted.Evelyn slid from the seat and crouched beneath the dashboard, arms wrapped over her head.More shots tore through the air.She could hear tyres screeching, men shouting and glass shattering. Something struck the side of her car hard enough to make the entire vehicle shake.She did not know which men belonged to Sean, she did not know whether Sean had sent anyone at all, for all she knew, this was Silas making certain no witness survived.A hand reached through the broken window.Evelyn shrieked and clawed at it.“Ms. Lewis, stop!”She froze.“We’re with Mr. Vale. Stay down!”The man withdrew his arm and fired towards the vehicle behind them.Evelyn pressed herself lower.Across the road, Darius crouched behind the rear of his car. Blood spread acro
Evelyn glanced in the mirror again. A dark vehicle had turned onto the road behind her but it remained several cars back.Evelyn told herself it meant nothing. Hundreds of people drove black cars. She was frightened and imagining danger everywhere because Darius had invaded her home.She took the next turn towards the road leading out of the city.The dark vehicle turned too.Darius listened to the recording for a second time.Evelyn’s frightened voice filled the car. He said it would end the pregnancy. He said she might die too.Then Sean’s answer. Drive towards the Miles estate. I’ll arrange somewhere safe and meet you before you get there.Darius ended the recording and called Silas.The line connected immediately. “She contacted Sean Vale,” Darius said.“Did she tell him about the bottle?” Silas asked.“Yes.”“The contract?”“Yes.”“And me?”“She didn't use your name.”Silas’s breathing remained steady, but Darius knew him well enough to recognize the fury beneath it.“I warned y
“I won’t lie.”Sean did not trust her. She could hear it in his silence.“I know what I did,” she whispered. “I know none of you have any reason to help me. But I don’t want to die.”“And Shannon does?”Evelyn closed her eyes. “No.”“Then prove it.”“What do I do?”“Drive towards the Miles estate. I’ll arrange somewhere safe and meet you before you get there.”“Kennedy won’t let me near his family.”“You won’t go near Shannon. I only want you inside security Kennedy controls until I can move you somewhere else.”Evelyn glanced towards the window again. “What if they’re watching?”Sean’s jaw tightened. “Leave normally. Don’t speed. Don’t make it obvious you’re running.”“I’m taking a suitcase.”“That will make it obvious.”“I can’t leave everything here.”“You’re choosing between your clothes and your life.”The bluntness silenced her.“Take one bag,” Sean continued. “Nothing you can’t carry yourself. Call me the moment you leave.”“You swear you’ll come?”“Yes.”“And afterwards, you’l
Evelyn's breath caught.Darius reached past her and picked up the framed photograph sitting on the console. It was a photograph of Evelyn at a charity dinner, smiling beside several executives who no longer returned her calls.He studied it before placing it down again.“You seem to have spent your entire life believing your name could protect you,” he said. “It can’t. Your company is already struggling. The police did not pursue the case against you because my employer made certain they looked elsewhere.”Evelyn’s mouth went dry.Darius glanced around her expensive home. “Everything you believe belongs to you can disappear before the end of the day.”“This is insane.”“No. This is your final opportunity to remain useful.”She looked at the bottle again.Her hands had begun to tremble.Darius returned to the table and slipped the contract into a dark envelope. He placed the bottle beside it. “You will contact the Miles family today.”“What if they refuse to see me?”“Convince them.”“
Shannon’s fingers trembled around his. “I’m not asking you to forget what I did.”“I couldn’t.”“I’m asking you not to decide this is over before I have the chance to make it right.”Sean’s eyes returned to hers. “Shannon...”The baby moved.A sudden pressure rolled across her stomach, strong enough to interrupt her. She inhaled sharply and placed her free hand over the movement.Sean reacted immediately. “What happened?”“Nothing. The baby kicked.”His gaze dropped.Shannon saw the longing he failed to hide.Before she could lose her courage, she lifted his hand and placed it against the curve of her stomach.Sean froze.For one second, nothing happened. Then the baby moved beneath his palm.Every wall Sean had built since leaving the estate cracked at once.His fingers spread carefully over her dress, as though he feared pressing too hard. Wonder crossed his face, followed by something so painful Shannon nearly looked away.The baby kicked again.Sean’s eyes shone. “Hi,” he whispere
Kennedy took the tablet. The dates were years apart, but the connection remained.Eastborough handled the transport in which Silas supposedly died. Later, one of its former managers moved into hospital work and became the coordinator involved in Amelia’s crash.Caldridge also made payments to people connected to both events, Meridian preserved the records, and Darius had entered the archive and deleted them.Mr. Voss looked towards Kennedy. “This began before Edward betrayed you.”Kennedy’s face changed.Edward remained guilty. Nothing could erase the contracts he stole, the officials he bribed or the fortune he built from Kennedy’s destruction. But the machinery surrounding Shannon’s disappearance belonged to something older, something connected to Kennedy’s family before Edward ever entered it.“Darius is removing evidence of Silas’s death,” Sean said. “He also followed Evelyn after someone ordered her to harm Shannon’s child.”Shannon felt the room grow colder.Kennedy shook his he
Rowan sat on the bed, his arm wrapped loosely around Evelyn.Evelyn stood close, too close, and Rowan leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek like it was the most natural thing in the world.Like he had done it a hundred times.Like it belonged there.“Stop!”The word tore out of Shannon befor
The first thing Shannon felt was the weight, like her entire body had been dragged beneath something heavy and invisible, pressing her down into a darkness that refused to let her rise.Then came the sound, a slow, steady beep... beep... beep...It echoed from far away at first, distant and unreal,
The guest room was at the end of the hall.Shannon paused at the doorway, her fingers resting lightly against the frame before she stepped in.It used to be a storage room now it was neat, cleaned and prepared.A bed, fresh sheets and a wardrobe that looked barely used.Shannon exhaled slowly and s
The hospital discharged them the next day.Shannon didn’t know whether that was fate or cruelty.She stood just outside the building, her fingers gripping the thin discharge papers in her hand as the sunlight hit her face. Too bright. Like the world hadn’t just ended for her.A few steps ahead Rowa







