Chapter 56
“I’m so sorry, baby. I should have protected you back then. I should have stopped him-*
Victor struck her again, harder this time. “I said quiet.”
White–hot fury replaced my fear, my entire body trembling with rage.
“I’m going to make you pay for that.”
The great Sage Winters,” Victor circled me like a predator. “So brave in court, so pathetically weak when family is involved.”
“What does Palmer want from me? The case is over.”
“Over?”
Victor laughed, the sound empty and cold.
“This was never just about a contract dispute. You humiliated the Palmers publicly. Made them vulnerable. They don’t just want revenge–they want to destroy everything you love while you watch.”
A slow clap echoed through the factory.
Rachel emerged from the shadows, elegant in a designer pantsuit that seemed obscenely out of place among the filth and decay.
“Always so self–righteous,‘ she purred, eyes glittering with malice. “The perfect daughter–six years too late.”
I faced my stepsister, truly seeing her for the first time–not as the monster who’d shot Caspian, but as another victim of Robert’s abuse.
“Rachel, our parents damaged both of us. We should be fighting them, not each other.”
Something flickered in Rachel’s eyes–pain, recognition, maybe even longing–before hardening again.
“Too late! You left me behind! You have no idea what I endured after you escaped!”
“I’m sorry,” I said, the words inadequate but sincere. “I didn’t know what he was doing to you too. If I had known-”
*Shut up!‘
Rachel screamed, her carefully constructed facade cracking as she trembled with rage.
“You don’t get to be sorry! Not now!”
I lunged suddenly, driving my taser into Victor’s side with all my strength.
1
He collapsed with a strangled cry, body convulsing from the electric shock.
I threw myself toward my mother, fingers frantically working at her restraints.
Rachel fired a warning shot that shattered a window above us.
‘Stop or the next one goes in her head!”
As my fingers freed the last knot, I pressed my lips to my mother’s ear: ‘When I say run, go. Don’t look back. Caspian is tracking my phone.”
Rachel stalked closer, gun trained on us, something wild and desperate in her eyes.
Talmer wants you alive, but he didn’t specify what condition.
I positioned myself between her and my mother, staring down the barrel of her gun.
“You’re just Palmer’s puppet now? Like you were Kobert’s?
Her face contorted with fury, hand shaking violently.
122
Chapter 56
“I am no one’s puppet!”
“NOW!”
I screamed, shoving a rusty equipment rack toward Rachel while simultaneously pushing my mother toward the exit.
The rack crashed down, forcing Rachel to dive sideways.
My mother stumbled toward freedom as I followed close behind, heart pounding in my ears.
We’d almost reached the door when blinding flashlights surrounded us from every direction.
“Ms. Winters,” Victor’s voice came from behind, remarkably composed for someone who’d just been tased. “Did you really think we’d come unprepared?”
Men in tactical gear–not FBI, but private security–blocked every exit path.
“RUN!” I screamed to my mother, pushing her forward with the last of my strength.
Something hard struck the back of my head.
Pain exploded behind my eyes as I crumpled to the concrete floor.
Through rapidly dimming vision, I saw my mother being dragged away, her screams for me growing fainter.
Rachel knelt beside me, stroking my hair with mock tenderness.
“Don’t worry, sister dear. We have all night to catch up. Family reunions are so special, aren’t they?”
As darkness claimed me, I felt my phone vibrate against my hip.
My last conscious thought was of Caspian, following my signal through the night.
Find me.
Please find me before it’s too late.
