Daphne's POVThe steady hum of the hospital machines was the first thing I noticed. That and the soft, rhythmic beeping of my heart monitor. I opened my eyes to a ceiling painted in muted pastels, unfamiliar and sterile. The lights were dim, the scent of disinfectant lingering in the air like a whisper. I blinked slowly, my lashes heavy as if weighted with sand.Then came the ache—my head, throbbing like a drum; my ribs, sore with every breath; my throat, raw from crying or screaming—I couldn’t even tell. I turned my head slightly and saw the silhouette of a man by the window, arms folded across his chest, gazing out.Oliver.My chest tightened. Everything came rushing back in fragments. The cold, dark room. The ropes that chafed my wrists. Evelyn's mocking smile. The sound of the river. The weightlessness before the plunge.And those photos.Evelyn...I remembered her voice, dripping with venom. Her perfectly painted lips twisting around every hateful word. Her laughter, cruel and tr
Jade's POV The car roared to life beneath my hands, the engine purring steadily as I shifted it into gear and pulled out of the woods. Oliver sat in the passenger seat, soaked and clutching Daphne tightly in his arms. Her wet hair clung to her pale cheeks, and her body shivered uncontrollably despite the coat he'd wrapped around her.My heart was still hammering from the moment I’d seen her leap from that cliff. And the way Oliver—without a second’s hesitation—had gone after her, diving headlong into danger, barefoot and desperate, like nothing else in the world mattered. I stole a glance at them through the rearview mirror.He was pressing his lips to hers again, giving her mouth-to-mouth, gently whispering her name between breaths. "Come on, Daphne. Come back to me. Please, come back."Then, like a miracle, I saw her cough. Water sputtered from her lips and she choked back air, her eyes flying open in terror. She gasped, disoriented, her hands clutching at his coat as if to make su
Jade's POV The car roared to life beneath my hands, the engine purring steadily as I shifted it into gear and pulled out of the woods. Oliver sat in the passenger seat, soaked and clutching Daphne tightly in his arms. Her wet hair clung to her pale cheeks, and her body shivered uncontrollably despite the coat he'd wrapped around her.My heart was still hammering from the moment I’d seen her leap from that cliff. And the way Oliver—without a second’s hesitation—had gone after her, diving headlong into danger, barefoot and desperate, like nothing else in the world mattered. I stole a glance at them through the rearview mirror.He was pressing his lips to hers again, giving her mouth-to-mouth, gently whispering her name between breaths. "Come on, Daphne. Come back to me. Please, come back."Then, like a miracle, I saw her cough. Water sputtered from her lips and she choked back air, her eyes flying open in terror. She gasped, disoriented, her hands clutching at his coat as if to make su
Oliver's POV The storm in my chest wasn’t letting up. My hands trembled slightly as I gripped my phone, walking the length of the living room floor for the hundredth time. Jade was pacing too, her lips tight with worry, while Brittany sat silently on the edge of the couch, wringing her fingers.“She’s not answering,” Jade muttered, glancing up at me. “Her phone’s been off for hours now, Oliver.”“I know,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. But inside, I was screaming.“Jade, can you at least stop pacing? You're making things worse here.” I voiced out in irritation.I pulled out my phone again and dialed my head tech specialist. “I need you to track one of my cars,” I said, my voice sharp with urgency. “Registration number: XVD-943-HG. It’s the black Mercedes S-Class. It left the office around noon. Track it. Now.”The guy responded quickly, “Give me five minutes, sir.”Those five minutes stretched like five hours.I could hear Brittany’s breath hitching, Jade whispering reassura
Daphne's POV I stopped counting the hours.The silence around me was thick, swallowing every sound but the occasional drip of water from a pipe above me. Coldness curled into my bones. I’d long since given up screaming. The rough ropes around my wrists had turned my skin raw. Every movement burned.But the thought of giving up never crossed my mind. I had to survive, by any means. My life can't end this way, not in the hands of this seductress.It was night now. The shadows had grown deeper and the air heavier. I curled into the corner of the room, shivering, aching, starved. My stomach growled, but I didn’t touch the food the guard left hours ago. I couldn’t. Not after the way he looked at me, like I was already a corpse.It could be poisoned. Perhaps, Evelyn couldn't come up with creative ways to end my life.The time was fast ticking. With Evelyn away and the guards were busy doing God-knows-what, I had to get out.I shifted forcefully again and felt the edge of the tray brush aga
Daphne's POV The silence after Evelyn left was deafening.It filled every crack in the concrete room, pressing down on my chest like a weight. My ears rang with the echo of her voice, mocking, poisonous, victorious."Oliver is mine.""You're nothing but a stand-in."Those words kept stabbing me like cold daggers, over and over, each one dragging my heart deeper into the pit of despair.She showed me pictures. I saw them.Her body tangled against his in dimly lit hotel rooms, Oliver’s face relaxed and familiar—kissing her, holding her. There was one of her straddling him in bed, his hand brushing her cheek like she meant something to him. She was in lingerie. In some, she was half-naked. And the look in his eyes… wasn’t distant. It was focused. Like she was everything.I couldn’t stop the sob that broke from my chest.He said he was done with her. He said he cared. That what we had—what we shared—was real. But the man in those photos didn’t look like someone who had let go. He looked.