A few minutes after Samantha had been locked in her room, the sound of metal scraping against the lock broke the stillness. The door swung open, and Jack stepped inside, his broad frame filling the doorway. His eyes burned with a fury that made the air between them feel heavy.Samantha straightened instantly, sensing the storm in his expression.“What did he do to you?” Jack demanded, his voice a sharp bark that cut through the room."You mean father?" Samantha asked, her brow furrowing."Of course not!" Jack barked even more angrily this time around. “Who, then are you talking about, Jack?” Samantha asked, her surprise evident in her looks and in her voice.“That agent—Evans!” Jack’s voice rose, trembling with rage. “He slept with you, didn’t he? He took advantage of you!”Samantha blinked, startled at the accusation. She couldn't help but wonder how Jack had got to know about it. “It’s not his fault, Jack. I was the one who—”“You liar!” Jack snapped, stepping forward. His fists w

It wasn't long after Copper and Whitaker left the facility where Jackson was, that Evans decided to return home too. His body had been craving for rest, and he knew it was time he gave to it what it was demanding from him.The drive back home was somewhat quiet as though the entire city had slept leaving him alone on the cold rainy night.However, as he drove, something gnawed at him that the only car behind him was tailing him. Every bend, every curve he took, the car had done the same. At first, he had thought it was just a mere coincidence. But now, pondering on it even more, the realization hit him that he was being followed, and whoever it was that was following him, was planning something bad against him.His hand brushed the inside of his jacket where his sidearm rested, his pace steady, not betraying the alertness in his eyes.Then, like something automatic, the car's headlights flared and immediately cut in front of him so sharply that he had to step on his brakes to avoid t

Jack froze where he stood, his entire body stiff beneath the weight of Don Lewis’s gaze. His father’s eyes were sharp, unblinking, the kind that could strip flesh from bone with nothing more than suspicion. For a single terrifying second, Jack’s breath caught in his throat, and he swore his heartbeat was loud enough to betray him.“Jack,” Don’s voice came, low and deliberate, like the slow draw of a blade. “How long have you been standing there?”His palms were already clammy, his mind scrambling for an exit, for a cover, for anything that wouldn’t condemn him on the spot. He swallowed hard, forcing his lips to move.“I… just arrived, Father.” The words slipped out smoother than he expected, though his knees felt ready to buckle beneath him.Don didn’t blink. Didn’t nod. He just studied his son with a predator’s silence, letting the tension stretch long enough to make Jack’s skin crawl. Finally, Don leaned back in his chair, fingers drumming against the desk as though testing the rhy

The secure chamber of the CIA’s upper council was shrouded in silence, broken only by the low hum of the recessed lights above and the occasional shuffle of paper. A dozen faces glared down from the table — men and women who held the strings of the renowned Central Intelligence Agency.At the center of it all stood Superintendent Hayes, his hair catching the sterile light, his voice as sharp as the dossiers stacked in front of him.“Council members, I present to you once again the overwhelming evidence,” Hayes said, his hand slamming against a file thick with stamped reports. “Agent Evans has not only withheld information but has been seen in the company of enemies of this nation. The meeting with Samantha Lewis, his team up with Jack Lewis, the concealed communications, the lack of transparency about the Whitelist archives — all of it points to betrayal. He is compromised.”Murmurs rippled through the room. Screens flickered with surveillance photos and grainy images of Evans seated

The world around Jackson was a blur of shadows and fire. Inside the coma, he stood barefoot in a barren wasteland, the ground cracked and glowing as though a volcano slept just beneath the surface. He could feel it — the firestorm, raging just beneath his skin, clawing to be freed. His chest heaved as if every breath might be his last. For a moment, he wanted to give in, to collapse and let the flames swallow him whole.But then came the voices.Jackson don't leave me.It was Bella, faint but piercing through the chaos like a lifeline.Don’t leave us. If you can hear me at all—fight. Fight your way back. Fight like you always do. For me. For James, for Andrew, for Hailey, for everyone who still needs you.”He staggered to his knees, clutching his chest as the Flameborn mark burned so brightly it felt seared into his very bones. Sparks cracked across his arms, licking his skin, testing his resolve.“No…” Jackson’s voice was hoarse but defiant. “Not like this. Not yet.”The firestorm s