All Chapters of A Twist of Fate with the Callous Billionaire : Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

—Sophia's POV The night felt… wrong.Not just quiet, wrong.Like something had been stolen from the air, and the space it left behind made your skin itch.I couldn’t sleep. I’d been staring at the ceiling for… I don’t know… maybe hours. Maybe minutes. My sense of time had been shredded tonight.Ethan was beside me.Still.Too still.One of those moments when you can hear the rhythm of someone’s breathing and tell exactly what kind of sleep they’re in.This wasn’t deep. Wasn’t peaceful. It was the kind of sleep where the body’s resting but the mind… the mind’s somewhere dangerous.I thought about waking him.But then, A sound.Not from inside the room.From downstairs.I froze. Not the movie kind of freeze where you’re brave and calculating… No. The ugly, real kind where your chest feels trapped and your brain is screaming what was that? what was that?Footsteps.Slow.Dragging.For a second, I wondered if it was Irene. He’d been restless lately. Sleepwalking once, maybe twice. Eth

— Sophia’s POVI didn't want night to fall immediately. I hoped perhaps if I just moved, acted, did the dishes, laundry, folding the same goddamn sweater over and over again, perhaps the sun would stretch out, linger a little.But It didn’t.It only slipped away quickly, as if it knew something I didn’t. Or perhaps… as if it didn’t want to see what would be next.By the time the sky had become that deep bruised-blue, my chest had already tightened up.Ethan was so unique to me. He wasn't loud, he wasn't pacing. He was just. snappier. And like every step was a calculation.He double-checked the locks. Then the windows. Then the back gate. His hand remained on the bolt as if he were considering adding another.He didn’t look at me much.I think he didn’t want me to see whatever was in his eyes.Irene was quiet too. Too quiet for a kid who usually made up stories about dragons at dinner. He pushed his peas around, barely ate.When I asked him if he would like dessert, he simply shook

— Sophia’s POVThe sound was worse than the sight.That tearing. The fibers ripping apart like wet cloth.The sack stretching in wrong places before it gave. A long seam yawning open.Irene didn’t flinch.He just stared. His small hand clenched so tight in mine I could feel the bones.The smell hit next. Sharp, metallic, rotted sweetness underneath. Like rust and spoiled fruit left out too long.Ethan stepped forward. Too fast. “Stay back.”But the shorter man didn’t move. Neither did the taller one. They just stood there. Watching. Like this was exactly what they were waiting for.The sack bulged, lifted, collapsed again. Something inside was shifting, heavy. Too heavy.My throat burned. I wanted to scream, but it caught in my chest, came out broken. “What—what is it?!”Nobody answered.Then a hand slipped free.Not like Irene’s. Not a child’s. Not even like ours. Too long. Skin stretched thin over sharp bones. Fingers curling in the dirt like roots trying to dig down.I staggered ba

— Sophia’s POV Ethan’s voice cut through me like a knife. Not the voice-that-wasn’t-his earlier. Not the imitation.I knew the voice, I knew that was him. He was hurt. Ragged. And my goodness, I wanted to believe it.Irene froze at the slab, his tiny shoulders trembling. His hand hovered, fingers curling like he didn’t want to touch it but couldn’t stop himself either. Like something had tied invisible strings from his veins straight into the stone.“No—no, no, Irene, don’t,” I begged, my feet dragging through the grass as if the ground itself didn’t want me to move forward. Every step heavier than the last.The shadows bent closer, tall and wrong. Their edges blurred in the clearing’s pale light, like smoke trying to become solid. All of them… were waiting. They were watching him.Not me.Him.Always him.Ethan stumbled toward us, blood soaking through his shirt, dripping down his arm. His left hand shook as he pressed it against his side, failing to stop the leaking. He was h

— Sophia’s POVThe glow didn’t fade.That’s the first thing I noticed, how it clung to us like sickness. Ethan clutching Irene, both of them breathing too hard, the grass burning blue beneath their feet.I crawled closer on my knees, nails full of dirt, throat raw. I reached for my boy but froze when I saw his face.His eyes.Wide open. Staring up at nothing. The lashes wet with tears that weren’t falling anymore. His lips parted like he wanted to say something, but no sound came.And Ethan… Ethan held him like he was already gone. His arms wrapped too tight, shaking, his mouth pressed into Irene’s hair, whispering nonsense, broken little prayers that didn’t sound like Ethan at all.“Stay, stay, stay, please don’t leave me, don’t you dare, not now, not you.”The clearing listened. That’s what it felt like. Every shadow leaned, every head tilted, the slab humming deeper, almost… satisfied.And then, Irene blinked.So slow. Like waking from somewhere else. His chest hitched against