Chapter 3

The agonizing pain of shattered bones I braced for never came.

An old restaurant awning in the back alley broke my fall. I slid off it, hit a wet trash can lid, and rolled to the ground.

My ribs screamed in protest, but I wasn't dead.

Gabriel was the first one down.

He grabbed me by the collar and slapped me hard across the face.

"Hazel, haven't you made enough of a scene!"

Theodore came down right after, his face ashen. He was shaking as he kicked me hard in the stomach.

"What the hell are you trying to do?"

The kick sent me to the ground.

After the defibrillator, the antidotes, and now this kick, it felt as though my insides were being churned by a rusty meat grinder.

The metallic tang of blood filled my mouth.

I spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed at their feet.

"Don Theodore, Doctor Gabriel, I'm begging you, don't save me again. Just let me die, please?"

The two men froze.

Theodore's brow furrowed. "Is this some new ploy? Using your life to threaten me?"

"No." I lifted my head, my eyes bloodshot.

"I really heard my mother's System. It said that once I'm dead, I can go to her. Please, stop interfering. Let me go."

"Let me go to my mom."

"That way, Zoe will never have to worry about me, and you won't have to watch me like a hawk."

After Zoe was "attacked," Dad Zane had dealt with me.

He'd locked me in a windowless room for five days and five nights.

Spotlights were aimed at my eyes twenty-four hours a day. I wasn't allowed to close them.

If I dozed off, his doctors would shoot me up with adrenaline, making my heart pound until my ears rang.

When I came out on the fifth day, the first thing I did was beg them to let me go.

Somewhere they couldn't see me.

At the time, Zane had leaned against the study doorway, lit a cigarette, and laughed.

"You dared to hire people to hurt her from inside the estate. If we let you out, who knows what you'll do to Zoe next."

Theodore spoke up too. "Besides, we swore to Elena we'd raise you. Don't even think about escaping the Family's control."

Maybe it was the mention of my mother, but the hostility on Theodore and Gabriel's faces eased, revealing something I hadn't seen in a long time.

A flicker of the concern they used to show when I was a child with a fever.

"Hazel, did you really hear the System's voice? When did this happen?" Theodore bent down, pulled me to my feet, and stared into my eyes, pressing for an answer.

I answered honestly. "This morning, when I thought I was going to starve to death in the dungeon."

They exchanged a look.

Gabriel crouched down, his voice softening.

"Hazel, you might not know this, but before your mother left, she told us her System would disappear after the mission ended. What you're hearing is most likely a hallucination."

I shook my head desperately. "Impossible. That was its voice! Doctor Gabriel, just pretend you never saw me. Let me die, please?"

The moment the word "die" left my lips, Gabriel's face darkened.

He fought his temper, then finally reached out, ruffling my hair just like he used to.

"Actually, we've come to an agreement. As long as you swear to stay away from Zoe, we'll call off your punishment."

He never finished his sentence.

Tires screeched as two cars slammed to a halt at the end of the alley.

Harrison and Zane blocked the alleyway with a small army of bodyguards.

Harrison got out first.

He still had traces of makeup on from today's movie set, a clear sign he'd rushed straight from shooting. Zane was right behind him.

All four of them stood before me.

"Theo, Gabe, have you seen Zoe?" Harrison asked, his voice low.

Theodore and Gabriel froze.

"Wasn't she just with you?"

Harrison's jaw tightened.

"She took a call and disappeared. Said a classmate was giving her a birthday gift. Could it be..."

The color drained from their faces.

Their minds flashed back three years.

It was her birthday then, too. It was also "a classmate calling her out."

Right after that, she was cornered in an alley by street scum.

The next second, four pairs of sharp, knife-like eyes pinned me in place.

I shuddered under their glare.

I hadn't said a word, but I knew I was done for.

"It wasn't me," I whispered. "This time, it really wasn't me."

"Not you?" Theodore lunged, grabbing me by the collar and lifting me off the ground. "Hazel, no wonder you've been trying to kill yourself all day. You were just putting on a show to stall for time! Where is Zoe?"

I shook my head in despair. "You locked me in the dungeon. How could I have hired anyone?"

But the Don, blinded by rage, couldn't hear a word of my defense.

"After all these years, I finally see you for what you are. You want to die, don't you? Fine. I'll grant your wish."

He raised his fist.

At the critical moment, Zane grabbed his wrist.

"Don, not here. It's too public."

Theodore paused, then slammed me to the ground.

"Drag her to the warehouse."

The ride was silent, all four of them on their phones, trying to find Zoe.

I curled up in the corner of the leather seat, trembling.

I knew what was waiting for me.

The car slammed to a halt in front of an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. Bodyguards dragged me out onto the dirt.

When I looked up and saw the iron-paneled building bearing the Family crest, my sanity snapped.

There was a rule: no blood was to be spilled on the estate. This was the place for dealing with traitors.

When I saw the iron doors, my legs gave out.

I had been beaten here before.

Last time it was for lying about three street thugs, and they beat me for three months.

This time, I didn't know how many there would be.

I fell to my knees in the mud, wailing, "I swear I don't know where Zoe is! Please don't throw me in there!"

Gabriel grabbed my hair, forcing my face up.

"Didn't you want to die? We were your fathers for sixteen years. We'll send you on your way."

My whole body was shaking.

I did want to die, but I was terrified of the pain.

The iron doors closed behind me. Inside stood a dozen of Zane's Soldatos, the men who did his dirty work.

When they saw me, no one spoke. They were just waiting for the order.

Zane walked in, took off his jacket, and draped it over the back of a steel chair. He rolled up his sleeves, inch by inch.

"Teach her the Family's rules."

Rough, large hands pressed down on me.

I was pinned to the execution chair. Someone brought out rusty pliers and water-soaked towels.

When the first fingernail was ripped from its bed, the scream that tore from my throat was unrecognizable.

Tearing pain and suffocation exploded through my nerves.

A wet towel was clamped over my face. My vision went black as buckets of ice water were poured over me, again and again.

The sensation of being held down, unable to breathe, was more terrifying than the pain.

I thrashed my head, crying out for Dad, screaming it over and over.

Listening, Gabriel's shoulders slumped slightly.

He walked over, crouched, and used a towel to wipe the water from my face.

"Hazel," his voice softened. "Tell us where Zoe is. For your mother's sake, we'll stop."

I cried, "I don't know, I really don't know, it wasn't me."

Gabriel started to say something.

But Zane pulled him away, his tone ruthless. "Gabe. Don't you know her? If we don't use real force, she'll never confess. In all the years she's bullied Zoe, has she ever admitted it?"

Gabriel's eyes darkened.

Finally, he turned and waved his hand. "Continue."

The moment the word left his lips, I knew I wouldn't survive the night.

The pain crashed over me in waves.

Strangely, I stopped crying. I stopped screaming.

The agony began to scatter my consciousness. For a moment, I thought I saw my mother at the far end of the warehouse, waving at me.

Beat me. Go ahead.

Soon, I would be free to embrace my mother.

The four men were still on their phones when a specific caller ID lit up Theodore's screen.

"Zoe! Where are you?"

Zoe's sweet, innocent voice echoed from the speakerphone, filling the bloody warehouse.

"Dad Theo, I'm having dinner with friends at a French restaurant. Why are you all calling me so much?"

All four men went rigid.

"You weren't kidnapped?"

Zoe laughed softly. "Are you joking? Who would dare touch someone from the Family? I have to go. I'm getting ready to head back to the estate."

Zane's phone rang.

It was his men, confirming Zoe was safe at the restaurant.

These men, who lived and breathed violence, let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Thank God, baby's safe." Gabriel sighed, a massive burden lifted. Then his eyes widened. "Hazel!"

Only then did they remember me, tortured in the corner until I hardly looked human.

Zane signaled his Soldatos to back away.

The four of them rushed to the execution chair, calling my name, but I gave no response.

"Hazel, she's safe. You can drop the victim act."

"Consider this... a mistake."

Theodore sneered, impatiently nudging my leg with his foot.

He suddenly realized that I had long since stopped twitching, stopped whimpering.

Gabriel's face changed. His fingers trembled as he traced my jaw, then hovered beneath my nose.

After a moment, his hand froze.

I was already gone.