Semua Bab Betrayed, Broken, Back for Revenge: Bab 81 - Bab 90

(Maya)I don’t even know where they drive me. The windows are darkened and I can’t see anything outside.Now they lead me into a room, hands cuffed behind my back like some murderous criminal.A table. Two chairs. Camera in the corner. No window. No clock.They sit me down.A woman comes in last. Plain clothes. Clean posture. Calm face.She takes the chair across from me and sets a folder on the table.“Mrs. Vance,” she says. “May I call you Maya?““I much prefer it if you did. Can I get my hands free?”“Not yet. You contacted a secure channel.”“Cole Vance put me through. I didn’t know what number he called. I asked him to get me someone I could give information to.” I hold her gaze.“You used classified identifiers tied to an active operation,” she replies. “You used a code name and a location marker.”“I repeated what I heard.”“From whom,” she says.“I can’t tell you.”She pauses, “that is the wrong answer. We can keep you detained indefinitely until we get what we need. Or we can

(Maya)They haven’t taken me back to the hospital.I’m still sitting in this room while they do whatever it is they are doing.I hear voices. Sounds like an argument. Suddenly the door opens.Keaton Vale walks in.For a second my lungs almost stop working. Relief hits hard enough to make my eyes sting.He looks at me. A quick scan—wrists, face, posture—then his gaze locks on mine.“Are you hurt?” he asks.“No,” I say. My voice is rough. “They told me I was free. But they haven’t let me go back to Lucy yet.”The woman from earlier stands near the door with a folder. Two men in suits hover behind her, arms folded, faces set.“Is she under arrest?” Keaton asks the woman who questioned me. “No. She is here because she had information we needed to understand,” the woman says.“Then she’s leaving,” Keaton replies.She lifts her folder slightly. “Mr. Vale, your client contacted a secure channel. We needed to close out the interview according to protocol.”Keaton keeps his voice even. “You c

(Cole)The nurse checks the line, checks the dressing, checks the monitor, then writes the time on the chart.“Infusion is complete,” she says. “He’s stable. The next phase is the rough one. His counts will drop. He may look worse before he looks better. Fever protocol is strict. Keep his environment calm at all times.”Her eyes flick between Jade and me, then she softens her voice. “Try to keep conversations… gentle.”Jade nods without looking up. Her hand stays on Owen’s forearm.Owen doesn’t wake. Somehow I was hoping he would. He’s barely been awake since he’s been in here.He’s pale and wiped out, mouth slightly open, breathing shallow but even. He looks so fragile and it makes everything in me go sharp and protective.The nurse finishes, then slips out and shuts the door behind her.Hospital quiet settles back in.Jade leans closer to Owen and smooths the blanket near his shoulder.She presses a kiss to his hairline, then sits back in the chair, eyes locked on his face as if wat

(Jade)From the outside, everything looks settled.Lucy is resting beside Owen. Owen is holding steady.His fingers curled around his sister’s. And his breathing is more steady and deeper when she is beside him.Yesterday he had his first lifesaving infusion. It will work. It has too. It’s his last hope.From the outside, this works.Lucy is settled. Owen is resting. Cole and Maya and I talk like normal parents talking about normal things. Coffee. Food. What Lucy usually eats. What Owen used to like watching before all of this.Anyone walking in would think this is what healing looks like.I lean back in my chair and play along. I nod when I should. I say things that sound supportive. I don’t overdo it.Inside, I’m thinking about how temporary all of this is.Lucy is useful right now. That’s the truth of it.Once that stops being true, everything changes.People don’t like thinking about things that way. They call it heartless. They pretend situations don’t have expiry dates.They do.

(Maya)His fingers jerk first.Not a gentle twitch, but a sharp, uneven movement that knocks lightly against the mattress.His small hand makes a fist and then releases.Cole sees it at the same second I do.“Oh my God—” he says, already moving.He slams the call button hard, once, then again. “Owen. Hey. Hey, buddy. Can you hear me?”Jade’s chair scrapes back violently as she surges to her feet.“Owen?” Her voice cracks on his name. “Owen, baby, can you hear me?”His eyelids flutter.Once.Twice.Then they open.Not fully. Not steady. But open.Jade kisses his forehead and leans over him.Cole lets out a broken sound and spins toward me.He grabs me, lifts me clean off the floor, and turns in a rough, uncoordinated circle, laughing and swearing at the same time.“He’s awake,” he chokes. “He’s awake, Maya—he’s awake!”I cling to him, laughing and crying at once, the shock hitting me before my brain can catch up.He sets me down but doesn’t let go, his forehead pressed to mine like he