ログインI took another step. My hands stayed open at my sides so she could see I had no weapon.“Stop,” the sister said. Her voice stayed calm but her finger looked tight on the trigger. “One more move and he dies right here.”Damien looked up at me. Blood kept running down his arm onto the dirty floor. His face showed pain but his eyes stayed cold.“Go back to the car Lila,” he said. “Do not make this worse.”I shook my head. Tears burned my cheeks.“I will not leave you,” I said. “Not like this.”The sister smiled a little.“You still think he loves you? Look at him. He would have let me shoot you back at the house if it saved the kids. He only came here for the drive. Not for you.”Her words hurt but I kept my eyes on Damien.“Tell me what to do,” I whispered to him.Before he could answer one of the side doors opened fast. Two men rushed in. They were not hers. They wore dark clothes and carried guns. Damien’s men I think.Shots filled the room. Loud and sharp. The sister turned quick and
We drove through the night. The kids slept in the back again. Their breathing was the only sound besides the road under the tires. Damien kept his eyes straight ahead. His jaw stayed tight. He did not look at me once.I wanted to say something. Anything. But the words felt stuck in my throat. Every time I tried to speak my mind went back to the gun he pointed at me. The way he said he was sorry before he pulled the trigger. The way he told me to stay with her.After a long time he pulled the car off the road near some trees. He turned off the engine. The quiet felt heavy.“We stop here for now,” he said. “The kids need rest. I need to think.”He got out and opened the back door. He lifted Liam first then Rose. They barely woke up. He carried them to a small clearing and laid them on blankets from the trunk. I followed and helped cover them.When they were settled Damien walked a few steps away. He lit a cigarette. I had not seen him smoke in years.I stood near him. The air was cold.
The gun clicked empty. Damien lowered it slowly, like he’d never meant to pull the trigger in the first place. My mother stared at him, actually surprised for once in her life. Then he swung the barrel toward her and fired. One shot, right in the chest. She stumbled back, eyes wide, and crumpled. Blood bloomed across her shirt fast, too fast. She looked at me…just once…then went still.Damien let the gun fall from his hand. It clattered on the floor. When he turned to me, his face was like stone.“You should’ve stayed with her when she gave you the chance,” he said quietly. “Maybe the kids would still be safe.”The words landed like a punch. I didn’t say anything. Liam and Rose were still tied to those chairs, terrified. He cut them loose and they ran straight into my arms. I held them tight, but my eyes never left him.He walked over to my sister.“Where’s the rest of the drive?” he asked.She glanced at our mother’s body on the floor. “Already gone. She sent it before you got here.
We drove away from the docks with the kids in the back. Liam and Rose were quiet. They had fallen asleep against each other. Damien kept his eyes on the road. He had not looked at me once since we left.I tried to speak.“We need to find her fast,” I said. “The real sister. Before she does anything with the drive.”Damien’s hands tightened on the wheel.“You should have stopped this years ago,” he said. His voice was cold. “You let her control everything. You let her take the kids. You let all of this happen.”I looked at him.“I tried to fight her,” I said. “You know that.”He shook his head.“You chose wrong too many times. You should have walked away from me when you had the chance. Maybe then none of this would have touched the children.”His words hit hard. I stayed quiet after that.We drove for a while without talking. The road was empty. I kept checking on the kids in the mirror. They looked peaceful for once.Damien finally spoke again.“My father told me something before he
We drove fast through the dark roads. Liam and Rose stayed quiet in the back. I kept checking the mirrors. No one followed us yet.Damien was still gone. My mother was still alive. Everything felt wrong.My sister suddenly appeared on the side of the road. She waved her arms. I stopped the car.She jumped in the front seat.“They took him to the old factory,” she said fast. “The one by the river. Your mother is there too. She wants to finish this tonight.”I turned the car around and drove toward the river. No one spoke much. The engine was loud.We reached the factory after twenty minutes. It was dark and falling apart. One light was on inside.We left the kids in the car with the doors locked and went in.The place smelled like rust and old oil. We moved quiet.In the middle of the big room Damien was tied to a chair. My mother stood in front of him. Two men with guns stood near the walls.She saw us and smiled.“You came quicker than I thought,” she said.Damien looked at me. His f
The darkness closed in around us. I held Liam and Rose tight while the men moved nearby. I could hear their heavy boots on the ground but I could not see anything. Damien stayed right next to me with his hand on my back.Someone grabbed my arm and yanked me hard. I tried to pull away but they were too strong. Liam cried out. Rose stayed quiet but her little hands gripped my shirt.A voice whispered close to my ear. It was my mother.“Stop fighting,” she said. “You are only making it worse.”A light came on and the darkness lifted a little. We were still in the same clearing but now I could see the men clearly. They had us surrounded again.My mother stood in front of us looking calm.“You should have listened,” she said. “Now everything is harder.”Damien stepped forward. “Where are you taking us?”She smiled. “Somewhere safe. Somewhere we can start fresh.”She looked at the kids.“They will be okay. They will grow up knowing the real truth not the lies you told them.”Anger burned in







