ANMELDEN~ Ivy ~The man in the black mask threw a piece of paper right onto my knees. It landed with a dry flap. My hands were pulled tight behind the cold metal chair, thick plastic zip-ties biting hard into my wrists. My ankles were bound just as tightly against the metal legs below. "Read it," the man said. His voice sounded flat, muffled by the cloth over his mouth. "I cannot hold it," I answered, keeping my voice as steady as I could. My throat felt raw and burned from the sweet-smelling chemical rag they had used on me in the alley. The man stepped forward in his heavy combat boots, bent down, and held the paper right in front of my face. I looked at the typed lines.I, Ivy Monroe, hereby confess that my entire marriage to Julian Vance was a calculated scheme. I purposely brought about the termination of my own pregnancy out of pure spite, seeking to extort millions from Vance Global. Julian is entirely innocent, and Miss Chloe Bennett was maliciously framed by me and my co-conspira
~ Ethan ~The monitor in my study threw cold blue light across the desk.Six computer screens hummed against the dark wood walls. Two private intelligence tech experts from Knight Medical sat over keyboards, tapping keys with sharp, dry clicks. My father stood behind me with his arms crossed over his chest, his jaw clamped shut like an iron lock. A red digital wave pulsed on the central screen. My personal cell phone buzzed flat against the mahogany wood. It was an encrypted, private number."Signal coming in," the technician on the left said, his fingers flying across the board. "Ethan, it's bouncing off foreign servers. Put it on speaker. We are running the audio filters now."I slammed my palm down on the speaker button. "Speak," I commanded. A metallic, computer-scrambled voice cut through the room: "Dr. Knight. You have sixty minutes.""Where is Ivy?" I demanded, leaning over the desk, my knuckles turning white against the polished wood. "Say what you want, or I hang up.""One h
~ Ivy ~A sharp, sour chemical burned the back of my throat. My skull throbbed with heavy, jagged pulses of pain. Cold air bit into my bare neck, carrying the thick stench of rotting sea moss, wet iron, and river mud.I strained to lift my hands, but thick plastic bands bit into my skin. The sharp edges of heavy zip-ties locked my wrists to the cold steel armrests of a chair. Below, more plastic straps pinned my ankles flat against the chair legs. The seat beneath me remained anchored, bolted straight into the rough concrete floor.Darkness pressed against my face. My lungs squeezed tight. My ribs locked up, shivering as memories of the cold road and the hospital floor clawed at my mind."In for four seconds," I whispered into the black room, my voice dry and raspy. "Hold for four. Out for four."Air rushed past my lips. My ribs expanded. I pushed the panic down into my boots, keeping my breath steady. Dr. Patricia Wells had made me practice this in her quiet office. My body obeyed th
~ Ethan ~Tires shrieked against the wet asphalt as I whipped my car around the corner into Riverside Arts Quarter. Rain hammered the windshield in blinding sheets. Behind me, two dark security SUVs skidded to a halt on the slick pavement.The clock on the dashboard glowed red: 7:14 p.m. Exactly ten minutes since Ivy's call had cut out. I threw the door open, stepped straight into the freezing deluge, and ran."Frank, cover the north perimeter!" I barked into my radio. "Miller, watch the avenue! Nobody enters or leaves this block!" "Understood, Doctor!" Frank yelled through the downpour, his heavy boots splashing through the gutters.I sprinted down the narrow sidewalk, took the brick stairs two at a time, and slammed both hands against the front double doors of Ivy's studio. The heavy brass handles rattled violently in my grip.Locked. I pressed my face against the glass pane. The vast room was pitch black. No easel lights. No floor lamps. Nothing moved inside."Ivy!" I roared, pound
~ Ivy ~The sliding metal doors of the van shrieked open. A man jumped down onto the damp cobblestones. He wore a dark jacket, but his face was the exact same face from this morning. He had the same flat, cold stare. He was the utility worker who had leaned against the wire box near my trash cans. He was not holding tools now. He stood completely still, his boots planted wide, looking at my height and measuring my body just like he did at dawn. I had forty seconds. My neck prickled with heat. I turned my head toward the mouth of the alley. The black sedan Ethan always kept parked near the corner was completely gone. The street was empty. Thick gray river fog swallowed the streetlights and choked out the sound of the traffic. Nobody was watching. Nobody was walking by. The people in this van had timed every single second. "Get back inside!" I yelled, stepping toward my heavy wooden studio door. "What do you want? You're trespassing."Two more men jumped out from the dark vehicle. T
~ Chloe Bennette ~"Is the driver in position yet?" I asked, pacing the edge of the frayed Turkish rug.Kessler adjusted the strap of his shoulder holster, his eyes dull and dead as slate. "He has been at the curb for twenty minutes. The route is clear. The camera is charged." "Good." My voice rasped, dry and raw in my throat. "Take her clean. No marks on her face. The lens needs every single detail. I want the world to see her mouth moving when she reads it."I reached out, my fingers trembling as I picked up the single printed sheet of paper resting on the mahogany table. The text was black and sharp, written with every drop of bile I had swallowed since the county police kicked open my dressing room door. I, Ivy Monroe, fabricated the entire incident at the Ashbourne Grand Ballroom...Every single word on that page felt like a weapon."She has an escort from the Knight family," Kessler said, checking his watch with mechanical precision. "The tall one with the gray sedan." "He is







