All Chapters of HIS TO DESTROY: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

LUCIEN'S POVThe room wasn't white anymore.That was different, or maybe it had always been this color and he'd forgotten. Gray, dark gray like ash.Lucien sat in a chair. He wasn't strapped down nor restrained. He was just sitting because they'd told him to sit, and his body obeyed before his mind could question it.When had that started? The automatic obedience?He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember a lot of things lately.A screen flickered to life in front of him. He blinked at it and tried to focus. His eyes hurt. Everything hurt, but in a distant way. Like the pain was happening to someone else and he was just watching."Subject is responsive," a voice said from somewhere behind him. "Vitals stable. Proceeding with Phase Three."Phase Three. He didn't know what that meant. He didn't remember Phase One or Two. He just knew that something was being done to him. Something that made his thoughts feel like water slipping through his fingers.The screen showed images now. A house

INÉS POVThe woman sitting across from her didn't look like someone who'd faked her own death.Elena Torres was elegant and poised. She wore a simple black dress and pearls, her hair pulled back in a way that made her look ageless. But her eyes were hard. The eyes of someone who'd survived things that should have killed her.They met in a small café on the edge of the city. Neutral ground. A place where no one from the Torres world would think to look.Elena had ordered tea but hadn't touched it. She just watched Inés with those calculating eyes."Camila says you want to help," Elena said finally."I want to save them," Inés corrected. "Lucien. The girl. The others.""Why?""Because it's the right thing to do.""That's not a good enough reason to die." Elena leaned forward slightly. "And make no mistake. If you go into that compound, you might not come out."Inés's hands shook, but she kept them steady in her lap. "I know.""Do you?" Elena's voice was sharp. "Have you ever killed anyo

MATEO'S POV11:15.Mateo stood in the corridor outside the computer room, trying to look like he belonged there, like he wasn't about to commit treason.His hand rested casually on his weapon. His face was blank, bored even. Just another guard on patrol.But inside, his heart hammered against his ribs.Fifteen minutes until Dr. Chen took her cigarette break. Fifteen minutes until he had to move.He'd been watching Chen's routine for the past week. Ever since Reyes had started making comments about Mateo's loyalty. Ever since he'd realized his time was running out.Chen was precise and obsessive. She did everything on a schedule down to the minute.11:30 every night, she left the computer room for exactly five minutes. Walked to the east courtyard, smoked one cigarette and came back.Five minutes. That's all Mateo had to get Isa out.The door to the computer room was reinforced steel. Keypad lock and camera above it. Through the small window, he could see Isa sitting at her workstation

CATALINA'S POVThe world seemed to stop as Catalina stared at Inés Arámbula, her mind was struggling to make sense of what she was seeing.This woman, this traitor, standing here in a stolen guard uniform, covered in blood and claiming to be their rescuer was Ines."What are you doing here?" Catalina's voice came out flat and cold.Inés opened her mouth to respond, but Isa cut her off."Wait." Isa stepped forward, with her eyes narrowing. "I know you."Inés's jaw tightened but she didn't speak.Isa's face went from confusion to recognition to fury in the span of seconds. "You're the one who leaked our extraction plan when we were trying to rescue Miguel from the black site. You sabotaged us."Catalina's stomach dropped. The memory came flooding back. The security lockdown, the scrambled codes, Miguel being moved at the last second, and Isa's voice on the phone. *It was Inés.*"You." Catalina's hands curled into fists. She was ready to fight then and there. "You're the reason we couldn

CATALINA'S POVThey ran and ran as the corridor seemed endless. Emergency lights flickered overhead, casting everything in stuttering red, smoke drifted through the air, making it hard to breathe and the alarms were so loud now that Catalina could barely hear anything else.Except the footsteps behind them. That never hurried but never stopping.He was following them, tracking them and getting closer.Gabriel's weight pressed against Catalina's chest. Her arms burned from carrying him, but she didn't dare put him down. His small hands gripped her shirt as his face was buried in her shoulder.She could feel him trembling, or maybe that was her."Left here," Isa gasped, checking her device as they ran. "Then straight for two corridors….""The doors are sealing," Mateo interrupted. "We need to move faster.""We're trying," Inés said.Miguel stumbled and Mateo caught him before he hit the floor, but the old man's legs weren't working properly anymore. His eyes were glassy. His skin was bu