ADRIEN She's missing!I was poised to step out of the spacious confines of our luxurious penthouse when the front door swung open with a hurried creak. Mr. Robert, Rochelle's father, stormed in. His expression was a blend of anxiety and urgency, his usually composed demeanor shattered like fragile glass. I halted, my brow furrowing deeply as a knot of apprehension twisted in my stomach."Mr. Robert?" I greeted, masking my surprise with a veneer of cordiality. "What brings you here unannounced?." I didn't remember us booking an appointment with him… except Aries did without informing me."Where’s Aries?" came the terse reply, Mr. Robert’s voice uncharacteristically shaky as his eyes darted around the living room as if he was hiding somewhere around.“He went out to make a supply run for a client. You know the drill,” I replied, noting the way Mr. Robert’s face fell further, drained of its color. “Is everything okay?”“Have you seen Rochelle? Please, Adrien, I need to
ADRIEN The more we look, the less we see!“Adrien? What brings you here?” Ben asked, feigning a smile. But it faded when he noticed the tension etched on my face. “Is everything alright?”“Actually, I’m here to ask about Rochelle. I haven’t been able to reach her. Have you seen her lately?”Ben’s brows knit together as he leaned back in his chair. “No, I haven’t seen her since we had dinner together a couple of days ago. She was fine when she left that day.“Are you sure about it?,” Mr. Robert asked, curious.“Well, to be honest, she seemed more anxious than usual, but we all have our days, right?”Rochelle anxious? The thought filled my heart with dread. “Anxious about what?”“Oh, I don’t know… Something about personal things, but she brushed it off when I asked. She always finds it pretty hard to open up,” Ben remarked with a slight wave of his hand. “I don't know why.”“Does she have any close friends you could connect me with? Someone you think she might have confided in?” I p
ARIES Someone killed her!The sound of Robert’s footsteps echoed through the house, each step radiating anger and determination. Adrien and I sat in the living room, discussing the next course of action in Rochelle’s disappearance. The tension between us was already hard to miss.We knew it was only a matter of time before her father showed up again, demanding answers that we didn't have. And when the door slammed open, his presence felt like a storm brewing over us."Where is she?" Robert’s voice thundered, cutting through the room like a blade.Adrien and I exchanged a glance. There was a flash of unspoken understanding between us, the kind that only came with years of working together, loving together, and surviving together. We knew exactly why Robert was here, but his fury was sharper than we anticipated.“You already know we’re doing everything we can to find her, Robert,” I began cautiously, standing up.Robert’s face contorted with anger. “Everything you can? Don’t
DELIGHT He messed with the wrong assassin!The fresh soil smelled of damp earth and death, and I couldn’t help but smile as I watched the workers shovel it over Rochelle’s decapitated body. Finally, she was out of the way. Rochelle Robert, the perfect, sweet, innocent girl who thought she could steal Aries and Adrien from me was gone.Revenge doesn't get any sweeter, surely!Welcome to Delight's world! Hahaha!I clutched my coat tighter against the cold wind, but inside, I was burning with satisfaction. No more pretending. No more forced smiles when she walked into the room. No more watching the way the brothers looked at her, as if she were the center of their universe.I had endured too much shit for too long!This was my moment.As I stood at the edge of the cemetery, far enough not to be noticed, my phone buzzed in my pocket. The vibration jolted me, but I was too immersed in my thoughts to care until it buzzed again. Sighing, I pulled it out.It was an unsaved number…“I know
ROCHELLE Back from the dead!The sharp smell of disinfectant filled my nostrils, forcing me to stir. My body felt heavy, as though weighed down by an unseen force, and my eyelids fluttered open reluctantly. Bright fluorescent lights above me pierced through the haze in my mind. Slowly, the sterile white walls, faint beeping machines, and the unmistakable scent of antiseptics painted a grim picture.This was a hospital.My mouth felt dry, like sandpaper, as I tried to speak. “Is… anyone there?” My voice barely rose above a whisper, hoarse and weak. For a moment, I wasn't even sure if the sound had left my throat.Muted voices drifted in from outside the room, unintelligible but reassuring in their human familiarity. Someone was out there. I wasn’t alone. But as I lay there, motionless, the panic began to creep in. Why was I here? How did I get here? The questions screamed louder in my mind with every second.I glanced around, desperate for answers. There was a small wind
ROCHELLEI don't understand anything!I don’t know what woke me up first—the soft creak of the door or the heavy presence in the room. My eyes fluttered open, and for a second, I forgot where I was. Then it all came rushing back: the hospital in Mexico, the sterile smell of antiseptics, and the dull ache in my body.But none of that prepared me for the man standing near the door. He was huge—easily over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and muscles that seemed ready to tear through his black shirt. He had the kind of build you’d see on bodyguards or mob enforcers. My heart raced as I tr
ROCHELLE Another dead body!I could tell something was wrong the moment Dos Santos stepped into the room. His calm and confident demeanor was replaced by a stiffness in his posture and a tension in his eyes. Dr. Alvarez, who was checking my vitals, noticed too.“I'll be right back,” he said to me.I watched as he moved toward Dos Santos, and they began speaking in low tones near the door.They were speaking in Spanish, fast and hushed, and while I couldn’t catch much, I knew it had to be about me. Their occasional glances toward me as they spoke only confirmed it. I tried to focus, to make out a word or two, but my Spanish wasn’t good enough. All I could do was watch, anxiety knotting in my stomach.When Dr. Alvarez finally returned, his face carried a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll send Nurse Isabella to attend to you later,” he said, his tone overly cheerful. “I'll see you later,” he added.“Is something wrong?” I asked, my voice laced with suspicion.“No, not a
DELIGHT Covering my tracks!The world stood still when I heard the news. My chest tightened, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. The autopsy showed that Rochelle was not the woman buried.What? How?My nails dug into the soft leather of the armchair as the information sank in. It couldn’t be. I had made sure of it. Rochelle was supposed to be dead, lying six feet under, with no way of ever coming back to haunt me. But now, the news confirmed what I feared the most. I clenched my fists so tightly that my knuckles turned white.“Are you okay, Delight?” Adrien’s voice cut through my racing thoughts.I quickly schooled my expression, offering him a weak smile. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”But they weren’t looking at me. Aries and Adrien were completely engrossed in the news report on the TV. For the first time in several weeks, I saw the fire in their eyes, the spark that Rochelle’s supposed death had dimmed. And it made my blood boil.“Did you hear that?” Aries said,
ROCHELLENo better way than this!Being back in Aries' and Adrien’s arms felt surreal. I had dreamed of this moment for so long, yet now that it was real, I didn’t know how to process it. My heart felt full, but my body was still weak from everything I had endured. The constant care and attention they gave me were overwhelming in the best way possible. It was as though they were trying to make up for every second of the time we had lost, every ounce of pain they had caused me in the past.Adrien sat beside me on the massive couch in their living room, fluffing pillows and tucking blankets
ARIES We fucking did it!The cold night air bit at my skin as Adrien and I crouched behind the black SUVs parked in the shadows outside the warehouse. The place was surrounded by her guards, all heavily armed, their faces masked with the determination of people who had pledged loyalty to someone as dangerous as Delight. My fingers tightened around the grip of my pistol as I looked at Adrien. His jaw was set, his eyes darker than I had ever seen them. He nodded at me, his silent signal. We were ready.The police had insisted on being part of this raid, but I didn’t trust anyone else to bring Rochelle home. Not after everything that had happened. Delight had taken too much from us already—her betrayal, her lies, her madness. This was personal.“Move in!” one of the officers barked out instructions to his colleagues, and the police stormed the front.“I'm coming with you,” Prince Herold said.“No way!,” I said.“Why?,” he asked.“We can't risk you going in there with
ADRIEN A tip off!The chaos that surrounded Prince Herold’s palace was suffocating. Broken furniture, shattered glass, and bloodstains painted a gruesome picture of the attack from the night before. The air reeked of smoke and sweat, and the sound of paramedics treating the wounded guards mingled with the murmurs of the police officers conducting their investigation.Everything was messed up, really!Aries stood to my left, his arms crossed, his expression a mask of fury barely contained. Herold paced back and forth, his usually regal demeanor now replaced with restless energy. He was mumbling under his breath, blaming himself for what had happened.“I should have saved her! I have let her down,” he kept on saying.I couldn’t argue with him. If we were being honest, we all felt responsible…guilty… almost like we had committed the crime.“Damn it, Adrien,” Aries muttered, his voice low but tight with anger. “How the hell did we let this happen? We had her, bu
DELIGHT I'm always steps ahead!The glass of wine in my hand trembled as rage coursed through me. They had done it again—Aries and Adrien. The brothers thought they were untouchable, didn’t they? Thought they could storm into my world, take Robert, and walk away like they owned the place. The audacity!I slammed the glass onto the table, the crimson liquid sloshing over the rim. My men flinched but said nothing. They knew better than to speak when I was like this. I paced the room, my heels clicking against the marble floor, my mind racing with possibilities.“They think they’ve won,” I said, my voice low and venomous. “But they underestimated me the last time.”One of my men, Marcus, stepped forward cautiously. “What’s the plan, boss?”I smirked, my anger shifting into something darker. “We’re going to hit them where it hurts. Rochelle must pay with her life.”The name tasted bitter on my tongue. Aries and Adrien might be brilliant strategists, but their Achilles’ heel was
ARIES A step ahead…The room was dark except for the faint glow of Adrien’s laptop screen. He was hunched over it, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he brought up satellite images of the city. The tension in the air was thick, heavier than I had ever felt before. We had dealt with a lot of dangerous situations over the years, but this one was personal. Delight had crossed the line by kidnapping Robert.I leaned against the wall, arms crossed, trying to keep my thoughts in order. “You sure you’ve got the right location?” I asked, breaking the silence.Adrien glanced up at me, his eyes cold and calculating. “Positive. The signal from his watch showed up at this abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. She’s using it as her base.”I nodded, pacing the room. “She’s getting bolder. She must know we’d come for him.”“That’s what she’s counting on,” Adrien said. “But we’re not walking into this blind. I’ve already mapped out the weak points in their security. We’
ROCHELLE She threatened to kill him!I stood frozen, my phone trembling in my hand. The moment Delight’s voice cut through the silence, everything around me blurred.“I have your father,” she had said, her tone dripping with malice. “If you ever want to see him alive, you’ll do exactly as I say.”Her words echoed in my mind long after the call ended. My heart pounded in my chest, and my breath came in short, panicked gasps. How had it come to this? My father, an innocent man with no connection to my tangled past, was now a pawn in Delight’s twisted game.I turned to Herold, my mind racing. “She has my father,” I said, my voice cracking. “We need to do something.”Herold’s calm exterior faltered for a moment, his brows knitting together. “What does she want?” he asked, his voice steady but laced with concern.“She didn’t say,” I replied, pacing the room. “She just… she just wanted me to know that she has him. Oh God, Herold, what if she hurts him?”“Calm down,” he said firmly
DELIGHT Playing the death game my way!The party had become a nightmare I barely escaped.I had seen her. Rochelle. The corner of her lips curled in a triumphant smirk as she leaned toward one of the guards obviously attached to her. My heart raced as I watched her whisper something into his ear.The guard’s expression darkened, and I saw him gesture subtly to a group of men stationed near the exit. My breath hitched. They were coming for me, I knew it.I knew I needed to do something, else I'd be the one begging to have her life spared.I couldn’t afford to panic. Not here, not now. Years of being on edge had taught me to think fast. As the guards started moving in my direction, I casually slipped behind a group of chatting guests. I smiled politely, pretending to laugh at a joke I didn’t hear, before slipping through a side door that led to the kitchen.Inside, I found the catering staff busy with trays of different delicacies.“You need something, ma'am?,” one of them asked
ARIES The devil was our housemate!The air in the study felt suffocating, even though the windows were cracked open to let in the cool evening breeze. Adrien paced the room, his polished shoes clicking against the hardwood floor. I sat on the edge of my desk, my arms crossed, trying to keep my temper in check.The party was over. Everyone had left, but Rochelle’s face, her voice, her very presence, was still vivid in my mind. She wasn’t just a memory anymore. She was here, alive, but hunted.We couldn’t let whoever tried to kill her succeed a second time.She had refused to tell us who it was… Or maybe she didn't have a clue who. That made our task even more complicated than it already was.Adrien stopped pacing and looked at me. “We need to start somewhere, Aries. But this isn’t just about finding the truth—it’s about protecting Rochelle. She’s already been through enough.”I nodded, my jaw tight. “Agreed. But finding the truth is the only way we can protect her. Whoever did th
ROCHELLE Finally, the truth!The more I looked at her, the more convinced I was that she was the one. It wasn’t just a resemblance. It was her. Rochelle. The woman we’d loved and lost, the woman we had mourned, the woman we’d failed to save. Yet here she was, standing next to Prince Herold as if the last three years had been nothing but a cruel dream.Beside me, Aries went rigid. His glass of whiskey trembled in his hand before he set it down on the bar with a sharp clink. “Adrien,” he whispered, his voice taut with disbelief, “tell me I’m not seeing things.”“You’re not,” I muttered, my eyes glued to her. Rochelle. Alive. Breathing. Laughing softly at something Herold said. The sight of her felt like a punch to the gut and a balm to my soul, all at once.Delight’s honeyed voice interrupted my thoughts. “Gentlemen,” she purred, sidling up to us. “You’re staring. Quite rude, don’t you think?” Her tone was light, but her eyes glinted with suspicion.Aries barely spared h