Chapter Sixty one

CHERRY’S POVThe silence of the clearing was a physical blade, hacking away at the remaining walls of my sanity. I was on my knees in the dirt, my fingernails tearing violently into the sodden grass where the wool blanket had sat only seconds before. The green clover was flattened, the yellow tennis ball still rolling lazily down the slope until it hit the mud with a soft, sickening splop. His stuffed lion toy was lying right there, its plush ears damp with morning dew—but the boy was gone."Leo!"The shriek tore from the absolute bottom of my throat, a raw, primal roar of a mother’s agony that shattered the quiet of the state park, echoing off the high stone ridges of the valley."Leo! Where are you? Leo!" My cracked ribs were on fire, the pink scar cutting through my stitched eyebrow throbbing with a violent, white-hot pressure, but I couldn't feel the physical pain. The savage fire that had kept me alive behind the clubs and inside the maximum-security cell block was completely i

Last Updated : 2026-06-08

Chapter Sixty two

CHERRY’S POVThe tires of the armored SUV screamed against the wet asphalt as we tore across the state line, the quiet peace of the Connecticut woods completely vanishing behind a thick wall of freezing, black rain.The storm had returned with a vengeance, lashing against the windshield like handfuls of gravel, but the chaotic roar of the sleet couldn't cover the suffocating, heavy silence inside the car. I sat in the passenger seat, my arms wrapped tightly over my chest to keep the raw, throbbing pressure off my cracked ribs. My fingers were locked around the printout of my father’s dead diary entry until my split knuckles turned a bloodless, sickening white. My mind was a frantic, spinning machine of terror, going over the timeline of the clearing again and again until my brain felt like it was bleeding from the repetition.How could a child just vanish? Thirty seconds. That was all it took. No engine sounds. No heavy tactical footprints in the mud. No rustle in the blackberry bu

Last Updated : 2026-06-10

Chapter Sixty three

CHERRY’S POVThe grand foyer was freezing. The white marble looked clean, but the whole place felt like a funeral home. Sandra Stone was standing at the top of the big stairs, holding her glass of white wine. Her hand was shaking just enough to make the alcohol slosh around.All that smug arrogance she had been wearing like an expensive dress since yesterday was starting to slip. Down in the shadows by the hallway, three of Silas’s personal corporate lawyers were just standing there. They looked like three black crows waiting for a piece of meat, holding their leather briefcases tight. They didn't move, and they didn't speak; they just stared at the wet New Jersey mud we were dripping onto the floorboards. Sandra took a deep breath, trying to force her face back into that plastic, high-society look. She took one slow step down the stairs, her dark blue silk gown rustling against the stone. It was a dry, annoying sound that made the silence in the room feel even worse. She tilted h

Last Updated : 2026-06-10

Chapter Sixty four

CHERRY’S POVMy heart slammed against my throat so hard it made my teeth click. Seeing that little orange bundle of fabric being pulled out of the backseat was like a shot of pure, unadulterated lightning straight to my nervous system. The pain in my ribs completely vanished, and the freezing cold morning rain didn't even register. Before my brain could tell me how stupid it was to take on two people by myself with no weapon, my legs were already moving. I burst right out of the wet weeds like a wild animal, my old sneakers snapping hard against the cracked asphalt of the service road. But as I got closer, the image of what I expected—heavy tactical mercenaries with black masks—completely shattered. Standing by the open door of the sedan was a normal, perfectly ordinary-looking man and woman. They looked exactly like a regular, everyday couple you’d see at a grocery store or a suburban park. The woman was wearing a neat, oversized knitted cardigan, and the man had on a casual fleec

Last Updated : 2026-06-13

Chapter Sixty five

CHERRY’S POV The old truck engine died with a pathetic, metallic rattle in the overgrown weeds behind the Stone-Knight corporate headquarters. I didn't care about the black smoke pouring out from under the dented white hood. I didn't care about the tiny shards of glass still stuck in the sleeve of my grey hoodie from when I smashed the groundskeeper's window. My hands were steady on the steering wheel for the first time in three agonizing hours. The tears had dried into tight, salty streaks across my cheeks, tightening the skin over my bruised jaw and the ugly pink stitches in my eyebrow. They thought they had played me. Silas and Sandra thought they could treat my son like a piece of paper, a chess piece to be moved around to secure a board seat, a trust fund, or a legacy. They thought the waitress from Queens would just sit in the mud on the side of the highway and cry until the court signed the custody papers at dawn. They didn't know who they were dealing with. They had no i

Last Updated : 2026-06-20

Chapter Fifty six

CHERRY’S POVThe silence that followed the heavy thud of Adrian’s hand hitting the floorboards was louder than the gunshot. It was a vast, suffocating vacuum that sucked the remaining air straight out of my lungs. My palms were still pressed hard against his chest, but the terrifying, rhythmic pulse that had been pushing his life through my fingers just… stopped. There was no more warmth spreading. There was no more resistance. The large, invincible man who had filled every corner of my world was suddenly completely still beneath my hands, his broad shoulders sinking into the ruined white carpet like a discarded coat."Adrian?" I whispered, my voice sounding incredibly small, thin, and hollow against the massive mahogany walls of the penthouse. "Adrian, stop it. This isn't funny. Wake up. Please, just wake up." I shook him. I grabbed the front of his blood-soaked white shirt with both hands, my raw, split knuckles digging into the wet fabric, and I pulled him toward me. His head r