Chapter 61

VICTORIAI didn’t tell anyone where I was going.Not Clark, Isabella, or my security. I needed to do this myself, and it had to be kept quiet. The building was one of mine, though no one associated it with me. It was a private holding space used for fittings, and things I didn’t want traced back to Hale Couture. It had white walls, soft lights, and no windows. It smelled like fabric spray and nothing else.The duplicate sat in the middle of the room.She was dressed simply. No makeup. Hair pulled back tightly. No silver dress. No cameras. No audience. Just her and me.For the first time since I met her, she looked so small.Her hands rested on her lap. She kept twisting her fingers together nervously. She watched the door like she expected someone else to come in with me.The sound echoed as I closed it behind me. She flinched.I walked forward and stopped a few feet away. I didn’t sit. I didn’t offer her anything. I just looked at her. We had the same height. Same bone structure. S

Last Updated : 2025-12-29

Chapter 62

VICTORIAI felt it before anyone told me.That shift. That wrongness in the air. Like when a room went quiet too fast and you knew something bad just happened, even if no one had spoken yet.I had just gotten back into my car when my phone started buzzing. Message after message piled up before I could even unlock the screen.Isabella first. Then Clark. Then three numbers I didn’t recognize.I didn’t answer any of them. I started the engine instead and pulled out onto the road. My hands were steady, which told me everything I needed to know about how far gone I already was.By the time I checked the messages at the next red light, the damage was already spreading.I saw a leaked clip that was thirty seconds long. It was shot on a phone, it was shaky, and it had bad sound. Perfect chaos.It was the duplicate.She wasn’t dressed like me this time. She wasn’t copying my posture or my voice. She was in black, her hair was loose, her eyes sharp and alive in a way I had never seen before.Sh

Last Updated : 2025-12-30

Chapter 63

ISABELLA I should have listened to my gut.It had been whispering all morning. Not wildly. Just that quiet feeling that something was off. The kind I ignored because I had work to do, therefore, there was no time to be dramatic.That was my first mistake. The second was leaving the building alone.I told myself it was fine. I had done this a hundred times. In and out. Head down. Phone in hand. It was a normal day. There was no need to alert anyone. Victoria had enough on her plate already.The street outside looked quiet. Too quiet, maybe, but I brushed that thought away. Cars passed. People walked. Nothing looked strange. There were no dark vans or men in coats.I'd taken three steps toward my car when I noticed the ominous silence.It wasn’t total silence. Just the wrong kind, as if the sound had dipped, and the city was holding its breath.My phone buzzed in my hand, and I glanced at it to see a message from Clark.Clark: Still tracking. Stay alert.I typed back one word. Me: Alw

Last Updated : 2026-01-01

Chapter 64

VICTORIAThe moment Isabella said the word gun, something in me went very still.I didn’t panic or let fear cloud my thoughts. I was focused.I didn’t raise my voice. I didn’t ask useless questions. I didn’t tell her to fight or stall or be brave. Isabella didn’t need that. She needed me to be sharp.“Put it on speaker,” I said calmly.There was a pause. Then I heard a small shuffle in the background.“It’s on,” a man said. It wasn’t Daniel. This was a different voice, and it sounded confident and annoying at the same time.“Good,” I replied. “Now tell me where you are.”The man laughed. “Straight to business. I like that.”“I don’t,” I said. “Talk faster.”There was another pause. I could hear Isabella breathing. She was brave, holding it together like this.“For now, all you need to know is that she’s alive,” the man said.“That’s not enough,” I replied.“It should be.”I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs. Clark stood across the room, already moving, while trying to read m

Last Updated : 2026-01-01

Chapter 65

CLARKI didn’t find out what Victoria traded until hours later.That was the problem. With her, the danger was never loud. It moved quietly. Isabella was safe. That part mattered. I watched her walk into the secure house with shaky hands and stubborn pride, alive and angry and breathing hard. She didn’t cry. She never did when it counted. She just nodded at me and said, “She paid for this.”I didn’t like how she said it. I didn’t like how calm Victoria was when she arrived afterward.She walked in like she had just closed a normal meeting. Her hair was neat. Her face was blank. Her eyes were sharp. Too sharp, in fact.“What did you give him?” I asked.She took off her coat slowly and handed it to a guard. “Good evening to you too.”“I’m serious,” I said. “Daniel doesn’t let people walk away just like that.”She looked at me then. Really looked. Her mouth curved into a little smile that didn’t look soft or kind.“You’re worried,” she said.“I’m supposed to be,” I replied.“That’s not

Last Updated : 2026-01-02

Chapter 66

VICTORIAI didn’t say it back.The words hung between us heavily, like something fragile. Clark stood there, waiting. He didn’t push or move closer. He just watched me with those steady eyes of his that always made me feel seen in a way I didn’t fully enjoy.Love was messy. Love made people stupid. I had already been stupid once.“I know,” I said instead.His brow creased. “That’s all?”“Yes.”Silence stretched awkwardly. “You’re not surprised,” he said.“No,” I replied. “I saw it coming.”“When?” he asked.“The night you chose to stay even after you realized I wouldn’t soften for you.”He let out a slow breath. “That wasn’t a different condition.”“I know.”He stepped closer anyway. Close enough that I could smell him. He smelled clean, warm, and dangerous in a way that made my body react even when my mind stayed calm.“You don’t feel it?” he asked.I met his gaze. “I didn’t say that.”“But you won’t say it.”“No.”“Why?”Because love was a weakness people liked to dress up as stren

Last Updated : 2026-01-04