Semua Bab POWERLESS: Bab 21 - Bab 30

Her frail hands trembled in her lap, clutching the hospital blanket as if it were the only thing anchoring her to this moment. I sat there, stunned, trying to process the words she had just dropped on me. Triplets. I was one of three children? The weight of it crushed me, and I felt an unfamiliar pit in my stomach. Everything I thought I knew about my past… about myself… was shattering. “It’s okay, Mom,” I whispered, reaching out to smooth the strands of hair falling over her forehead. But even I knew it wasn’t okay. Not really. Anger simmered beneath my skin… not just because of what she had endured, but because she had kept this from me for so long. If I hadn’t found out on my own, would she have ever told me? “What did you do, Mom?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. “Did you agree to his deal? Did you give him your children?” She met my gaze, eyes full of sorrow, her voice cracking as she spoke. “No, Isla. I didn’t.” She coughed weakly, and I instinctively p

“This has to be a joke, right, Alex?” My voice wavered as I spoke, but Alexander didn’t look at me. Instead, he lowered his gaze to the documents in front of him, flipping a page with calculated indifference before signing. Then, standing, he walked around the desk and handed the signed document to the man claiming to be my father. Alex didn’t even glance in my direction as he returned to his seat. “I don’t understand. What is going on here?” My chest tightened, but I forced my voice to stay firm. “I’m your father,” the man repeated. I shifted my gaze to the woman beside him. My stomach twisted. “So that’s the bitch who tried to kill my mother. And I’m guessing she’s your wife?” My words dripped with venom. At that, the man smiled a knowing, almost amused expression. “No,” he corrected smoothly. “This is my sister, Felicia.” Felicia. The woman’s crimson nails glinted under the soft light as she smiled at me like I was some long-lost treasure. Where was his wife? The

Thank God they weren’t heading back to the Blackwood Estate. That’s the only silver lining. I didn’t need Drew’s smug, annoying face anywhere near my personal hellscape or his mother’s. The last time I saw him was right after Nadia’s funeral and I promised myself then I wouldn’t grace his infuriating presence ever again. I hated that family. All of them. And the fact that he had something going on with Beatrice, my twin, my mirror, my stranger made my skin crawl. Who was she really? Because honestly, if you have a husband like Alex and still find time to roll around with his good-for-nothing stepbrother? You deserve your own Lifetime crime special. And then it hit me. I didn’t even ask the name of my other sibling. The one that doesn’t look like me. What kind of person am I? After hanging out with Candice, I stepped outside into the unholy heat of New York, only to find Orbot already waiting. He was chilling in the car, thank God. Not under the sun, obviously.

“You should stop me,” Alex murmured, his teeth tugging at my nipple, making a strangled hiss escape my dazed mouth. Yes, I should, I thought to myself, but how could I? How could I stop him when there was this strange heat pulling me toward him…. toward the sinful place where his suit-clad thighs now rubbed gently against my body? I was an idiot. A total fucking idiot. My hands instinctively tangled in his thick hair, still damp from the shower he definitely took on his way here, the strands not fully dried. I could feel the wetness against my fingers, and it only made everything more intense. He suddenly moved his mouth away from my nipple with a soft pop, raising his face to mine. His silver eyes were now a deep blue, glazed over as he took me in. His gaze burned into me. What did he see? Did I look dazed with desire like him? I wouldn’t know. The next moment, his warm breath seized my jaw, and his lips crashed down onto mine, kissing me with a heat that made me shiver. The

“Did you kill her because she chose Mr. Drew over you?” The question came with a loud snap of a camera, followed by a chaotic chorus of shutters and shouting. The reporters descended on us like vultures. “We just need one statement, sir!” A ginger-haired female reporter shoved a tiny mic into the partially open car window, her eyes wild with the thrill of a potential headline. When Candice had sent that message, I hadn’t even gotten the chance to show Alex. We were already pulling into the estate’s driveway—and then the swarm hit. Flashbulbs, voices and Chaos. These people should really give it a rest. “You okay back there?” Alex glanced at me from the front seat, his voice way too calm. “Yes, I guess,” I said. No, I wasn’t. The lights were blinding, relentless. Reporters kept closing in, waving mics like weapons. The guards were barely managing to hold them off. “Is it true you killed her to punish Drew for taking your inheritance?” “Were you in a passionate rela