After Leon and I shared that quiet moment, the tension in my chest began to ease. What he told me had taken concrete steps to protect me and keep Justin at bay filled me with a sense of hope. I felt like perhaps we could start reclaiming our freedom once again. But as much as I wanted to relax, I knew that the battle wasn’t over yet. There was still the ongoing lawsuit, the looming divorce, and the constant fear that Justin wasn’t going to just disappear. The restraining order was a good start, but I couldn’t help but feel uneasy about how desperate Justin might become.Later that evening, after dinner, Leon and I sat together on the couch in the living room. The soft glow of the fireplace filled the room with warmth, but I could still sense the unspoken tension between us. I leaned against him, my head resting on his shoulder as we watched the flames flicker."Leon," I said softly, breaking the silence.He glanced down at me, brushing a stray lock of hair from my face. "What is i
As I sat on the edge of the bed, my thoughts spiraled back to the call I’d received from Justin earlier that morning. His voice had been neutral and bothered me. Justin had to bother calling me so that he could say that he wanted to meet. Part of me knew it was a terrible idea—a trap, maybe—but another part of me couldn’t shake the feeling that meeting with him might somehow lead to a resolution. It made me wonder if this nightmare could really end with just one conversation.I knew Leon would be furious if he found out. He’d gone to such lengths to protect me, keeping me under watch and making sure I was never alone. His elite security was always one step behind, keeping a close eye on my every move. Escaping their notice wasn’t going to be easy. But the idea of finally confronting Justin gnawed at me. What if I could end this? What if all it took was talking things out?The complexity of getting caught before I even had the chance to meet Justin weighed heavily on me. One wrong m
As Justin disappeared from view, I sat there for a moment, my heart still pounding. The conversation had left me with more questions than answers, and the way he spoke about Leon made me uneasy. Could there really be something Leon was hiding from me? No. Justin was just trying to manipulate me, to plant seeds of doubt.I needed to get out of here.Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my phone and quickly dialed a number. Not Leon—not yet. I needed some time to process everything before I involved him. Instead, I called Aunt Lou, hoping to regroup without any suspicion."Aunt Lou?" I said when she picked up. "I’m... I’m just going to catch a ride back. You go on without me.""Are you okay, Marga?" she asked, her voice tinged with concern. "You sound off.""I’m fine," I lied. "Just needed some air."She paused for a second but finally responded, "All right, dear. Just be careful."I hung up and slipped out of the café, making sure to keep a low profile. I wasn’t far from the grocery stor
The tension between Leon and me hung in the air long after our conversation ended. He had left the room, and I sat alone, staring at the spot where he’d knelt in front of me, asking for my trust. I wanted to give it to him, but Justin’s words kept circling in my mind, taunting me.Was Leon protecting me, or was he protecting himself?Hours passed, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something bigger was at play. The shadows of the house felt heavier than usual, like they were holding secrets I wasn’t meant to uncover. I needed to get some fresh air, clear my head, and think without Leon hovering nearby.I grabbed my jacket and quietly slipped out the back door. The night was cool, the breeze soft against my skin as I stepped into the garden. The moon hung low in the sky, casting long, eerie shadows over the grass. I walked aimlessly for a few minutes, trying to piece together what Leon had said."He’ll only try to manipulate you, Margarette, you can’t trust anything he says."I wra
It had been days since I secretly met up with Justin, and even though it was supposed to be a closed chapter in my mind, I couldn’t shake the nagging thought that perhaps there was another way to end this nightmare—and that could possibly happen if Justin would really take down the lawsuit and give me back my parent’s property.However, every single time I thought about it, guilt gnawed at me. Leon was doing everything he could, and I had gone behind his back. He deserved better.The following day, Prosecutor Iva, had come over earlier to go over the evidence we had submitted to court. As we all sat in the living room, the discussion felt tense yet hopeful. Iva was determined, confident even, as she spoke about the next step—a trap for Justin. “We’ll need to catch him in the act,” Iva said, her sharp eyes moving between Leon and me. “We’ve got enough to build a case, but an entrapment operation would seal the plan.”Leon nodded, his expression grim but trusting. “I’m counting on you
On the next day, the reality of what I had suspected gnawed at me like an itch I couldn’t scratch. Each morning, I would wake up thinking about it, wondering if I should tell Leon, but then I’d push the thought away. There was too much going on. Too many things at stake. Between the mounting pressure with Justin, the entrapment operation, and the weight of everything Leon had taken on, I just couldn’t add to his stress. He was already doing everything he could for me. How could I throw something like this on top of it all?The night at the restaurant kept replaying in my head—those few nauseating bites of caviar, the moment in the bathroom when I realized my period was late. My stomach twisted every time I thought about it. It was so obvious now, but I’d been too wrapped up in the chaos around us to even notice.Still, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him. Not yet.Instead, I did my best to act normal. I pretended everything was fine, even when I was hit with waves of nausea througho
The secret of my pregnancy weighed heavier on me with each passing day. I found myself caught between the desperate urge to tell Leon the truth and the paralyzing fear of adding more to his already overflowing plate. He was dealing with so much—Justin, the lawsuits, the entrapment operation—and I couldn’t bear the thought of burdening him even further.I often rehearsed the conversation in my head, thinking about how I’d tell him. Every time I worked up the courage, something would hold me back. What if he felt trapped? What if the added stress broke him? I couldn’t shake the thought that keeping this secret was my way of protecting him, of giving him one less thing to worry about.It wasn’t until that afternoon, when Leon suggested we go out for lunch, that things began to spiral in a way I couldn’t control.“Want to go get some lunch,” Leon had said, flashing me one of his warm, reassuring smiles. “I figured that perhaps, I need to take you out more often. I understand that being he
LEON’S POVI was staring at the empty hallway, the dim lights flickering in the distance, for like nearly an hour now as I waited for Margarette to return. She had gone to the restroom over an hour ago, and each minute that passed gnawed at me with an increasing sense of unease. Well, maybe because this wasn’t like Marga. Any normal person wouldn’t be at the bathroom for more than an hour just to pee. And knowing Margarette, she wasn’t the type that would stay long in public bathroom either.I checked my watch again, impatience growing into full-blown worry. My gut twisted, sending alarms through my body. Something was wrong. Without wasting another second, I stood up from our table at the restaurant and made my way to the restroom where she said she'd be. I knocked lightly on the door, calling out her name. No response. “Margarette?” My voice was steady, but inside I was unraveling. I knocked again, harder this time. Still nothing.I pushed the door open, but the restroom was empt
The rain was falling again.It always did on days like this—days that felt like endings.I stood on the edge of the cliffs overlooking the stormy waters of Anacortes, my coat pulled tightly around me, the hood shielding my face from the wind that carried the scent of salt and something older—something like goodbye.Leon stood behind me. I didn’t have to turn around to feel him there. His presence was familiar now, carved into my skin like muscle memory. He’d been my gravity, my storm, my salvation, and my ruin—sometimes all at once.“It’s really over, isn’t it?” I whispered, more to the wind than to him.He didn’t answer right away. His silence was as heavy as the stormclouds above us.“I wanted to fix everything for you,” he said finally, his voice hoarse, like it had been dragged across a battlefield. “I wanted to give you a life that didn’t hurt.”I closed my eyes. The ache in my chest pulsed with every beat of my heart. “You did,” I said. “For a while, you did.”I heard the crunch
I took a deep breath, steadying myself. “I’m not the same person I was before,” I said, my voice firm, unwavering. “And I’m not walking away this time.”The man’s eyes flickered with a moment of doubt, just enough for me to catch. And then, before I could even register what had happened, Leon moved.Faster than I could blink, Leon was in front of me, his hand grabbing the gun and twisting it out of the man’s grasp. The force of it sent the man stumbling back, but he didn’t go down easily. His bodyguards rushed in, but Leon was already a step ahead, disarming one of them with a swift, calculated move.I stood frozen for a moment, trying to process what I was witnessing. Leon—always so calm, always so careful—was ruthless. He was like a force of nature, determined to protect me at all costs.But the fight wasn’t over yet. The man recovered, his eyes burning with rage. “You really think you’ve won?” he spat, his voice dripping with venom. “You’re nothing but a pawn in a game you can’t ev
The sound of boots drew closer, pounding the floor with an urgency that echoed through the cavernous halls of the estate. My heart raced as the reality of what I had just heard crashed into me like a tidal wave. The man who had once been a part of my life—my family’s betrayer, the one who had orchestrated their deaths—stood there, calmly, as if this was just another night for him.Leon’s grip on my hand tightened, but I didn’t let him pull me away. I could feel the air thickening with tension, the walls pressing in as everything I thought I knew began to crumble.The intruders were only moments away.The man—he—smirked, watching us. “You think this will end well? You’ve no idea what you’re up against. My people are everywhere.”I took a step forward, ignoring Leon’s silent plea to retreat. “You killed them. And you thought I would be the next one to fall in line?” My voice was a whisper, but it held a power I hadn’t realized I had. “You were wrong.”The man’s face faltered, just for a
Next Morning at the Estate Archives. The basement was cold and damp, and the air smelled of mildew and secrets. Old boxes lined the walls, labeled in my father’s tidy script. Financial records. Land deeds. Correspondence.Leon sifted through a crate of documents while I dug through another.Then something caught my eye.A faded folder labeled: Project Thornfield.I opened it slowly.Inside were blueprints—plans for development across coastal land that was supposed to be protected forest. There were signatures from multiple board members, including names I recognized.And then, one I didn’t.N. Vallis.Leon leaned over. “You know that name?”I shook my head. “No. But look here—he signed off on the project two weeks before my parents died.”Leon pulled out his phone. “I’ll run a background check.”I kept flipping through the documents—and found something that made my blood run cold.An aerial photo.Of the cliffside. Our property.With a giant red X drawn over the coordinates where my p
THREE WEEKS LATER...The investigation moved faster than I’d expected. With the board fully on our side now, the paper trail unraveled like a thread pulled from an old sweater—each piece of evidence exposing the next. Shell companies. Forged contracts. Witnesses who had remained silent out of fear but were finally coming forward.Still, no one had seen him since the day of the summit. He had vanished without a trace. No flights. No offshore activity. No messages. It was like he’d disappeared into smoke.But Dorian didn’t believe in ghosts. “He’s hiding,” he said as he handed me a thick folder. “And this—this will force him out.”I flipped through the documents. Bank records. A property registered under an alias. Hidden deep in the woods outside of Anacortes. I felt my stomach twist.Leon stepped up behind me, his hand grazing my shoulder. “Let’s pay him a visit.”The cabin was barely more than a shadow tucked between trees. No lights. No car. Just silence and the thrum of insects in t
Sunlight crept cautiously through the cracks in the blinds, casting golden slivers across the hardwood floor of the safe house bedroom. I sat curled up on the edge of the bed, a blanket draped around my shoulders and the journal heavy in my lap. The cover was cracked, worn with age and secrets. My fingers hovered over the first page for what felt like an eternity.Leon was nearby—he hadn’t slept much, either. He stood at the window with a mug of black coffee, watching the world outside with quiet alertness. When I finally opened the journal, he turned slightly but didn’t speak. He knew I needed silence for this.The first entry was dated nearly two decades ago.July 14th. We signed the contract today. Two families, one future. The woman from Delmar Holdings is more cunning than I expected. She knows we’re desperate—and she used it. I told Mariana to trust me. That this was the only way. God help me, I hope I’m right.My breath hitched. Mariana—that was my mother’s name.I flipped thro
MARGARETTE'S POVBefore we could react, the door behind us burst open.Three armed men rushed in, dressed in black, their movements precise and rehearsed. Leon shoved me behind him, drawing his gun up in an instant. Dorian, who had been lingering near the entrance, took cover behind a cabinet, gun already out.“Elise’s father wasn’t bluffing,” I breathed, my heart hammering. “He had backup ready.”Leon fired the first shot, catching one of the intruders in the shoulder and sending him crashing to the floor. Chaos erupted. Dorian ducked low and returned fire, narrowly missing another attacker who retaliated with a spray of bullets that shattered the windows.I crouched behind an overturned table, the sound of gunfire drowning out my thoughts. The locket in my palm dug into my skin, its edges sharp—a painful reminder that I couldn’t afford to lose control now.“Elise’s father!” I shouted to Leon. “He’s escaping!”Through the haze of smoke and broken glass, I saw the man slinking toward
The sound of footsteps pounding in the hallway was the last thing I heard before the door slammed open.I barely had time to react before a rush of armed men poured into the room, their eyes scanning every corner, landing finally on me. There was no mistaking the intent behind their cold stares.“Get down!” Leon’s voice crackled through the earpiece again, but there was no time to obey. I couldn’t allow myself to hesitate—not now, not when the truth was within reach.I raised my gun, my hands steady despite the chaos unfolding around me. I wasn’t going down without a fight, not after everything I had lost. Not after everything Elise’s father had taken from me.Before the first man could react, I fired. The sound of the shot echoed in the confined space, the bullet finding its mark in the man’s chest. His body crumpled to the ground with a sickening thud, but the others didn’t hesitate. They moved in faster, their guns drawn, but I was ready.I ducked behind the desk, using it as cover
Dawn came in silver slivers through the cracks in the window. I hadn’t slept—not really. My mind was too loud, looping the footage over and over like a broken reel.Leon sat across from me at the table, sipping his coffee like it was the only thing keeping him grounded. Neither of us had said much since the footage. We didn’t need to. The truth had cut so deep, it didn’t leave room for small talk.But I had questions.And I needed answers.“How long do you think he’s known I survived?” I finally asked, voice hoarse.Leon didn’t look away from his mug. “Long enough to start covering his tracks. But he didn’t expect the locket to resurface.”My hand instinctively reached for it. The locket was warm now, like it had absorbed my grief and fury. Inside was a picture of my mother and me—her arm around my tiny shoulders, her smile soft but tired. A photo I hadn’t even remembered until last night.“He killed her,” I whispered. “He killed my father. For what? A project?”“Not just a project,”