Emma did not cry after the woman left. She did not pace around or bang on the door or demand answers from guards who would never give them.Instead, she sat down, deep in thoughts. At first, her thoughts came in waves of fear, confusion and anger , but slowly, something steadier began to take their place. She replayed every word the woman had said. They had not threatened her, hurt her or tried to break her. They had talked to her and that was not how kidnappers behaved. That was how people behaved when they needed something.Emma leaned back against the headboard, her hand resting lightly on her stomach. Her breathing slowed, steady and controlled.If they needed something, then she had value and if she had value, then she had leverage. That realization changed everything. Fear made people react and leverage made people think.She decided she would think. The next time the door opened, she was ready.It was not the same woman who entered this time. It was one of the men who had esco

Emma stopped measuring time by hours. Hours implied freedom, movement, choice, things captivity had stripped away from her. Time had become something strange in captivity. It lived in the way light shifted across the floor, stretching and shrinking like it was alive, in the quiet routines of the guards, in the rhythm of boots passing her door, in the predictable moments when food arrived and the door opened just long enough to remind her that she was still contained.At first, she had reacted like someone taken against her will. She had been afraid, confused and angry. Those emotions had crashed over her in violent waves, leaving her breathless and raw. She had asked questions that came from instinct rather than intention, questions thrown at walls that refused to answer back, but that version of her did not last long.Fear was useful only when it sharpened the mind. After that, it became a liability. It clouded judgment, slowed reaction time, and made mistakes inevitable. So she let

Liam’s POVAt the same hour Emma turned a handle that was never meant to turn, Liam sat at the head of a table in a quiet room.The warehouse that housed it belonged to a chain of shell corporations that had not been active in years, dust coated the outer floor. The office inside was spotless.Five people sat around the table with him. They were former Veridia operatives.Some of them had stayed with the Emperor, some had not.The ones in this room had walked away because they had chosen him.Liam stood, his hands resting lightly on the table, his posture straight but controlled. There was no rage in him.“They took her,” he said.No one asked who, they already knew. Veridia did not make personal moves without intention.One of the men across from him, a former logistics architect named Karim, spoke first. “It was a retrieval, not an attack.”Liam nodded once. “Yes.”Another woman, Sofia, who had once overseen internal containment protocols, leaned back slightly. “They want you to com

The silence that followed Liam’s refusal did not break the room.The Emperor studied him for several seconds, and if anything, there was a faint acknowledgment in his expression, as though he had expected resistance and respected it.“You have always been consistent,” the Emperor said at last.“I try to be,” Liam replied.The screens along the walls dimmed slightly, the data fading into muted backgrounds. The conversation had reached its conclusion.“You want her to come back,” the Emperor said.“Yes.” He said, not bothering to elaborate. There was no need for that.The Emperor rose from his chair slowly. “Very well.”Liam watched him carefully. It felt less like defeat and more like the next calculated move in a larger design.The Emperor tapped a command into a panel on the table. “Bring her,” he instructed calmly. “Immediately.”The message was transmitted without urgency, and Liam remained still.This was the moment he had walked into the building for. For his wife, Emma.Two oper

“There’s been an incident,” The person that Liam contacted, said. “Local emergency services responded to a collision less than three kilometers from the side gate.”Liam’s attention sharpened instantly.“A woman was transported to St. Catherine’s Medical Center and she matches Emma’s description.”For a fraction of a second, the world narrowed to a single point.“What is the condition of the woman?” Liam asked, his worry building.“She’s alive but currently unconscious at transport.”The Emperor, who had been observing without interruption, turned toward them. He did not need to ask who they were discussing.“This was not our doing,” he said evenly.“I know,” Liam replied. “But you better pray she’s fine.”There was no accusation in his tone.The Emperor studied him carefully. “You understand that once she is in a public institution, this situation leaves our control.”“It was never yours to control. If you hadn’t taken her, this wouldn’t have happened,” Liam said quietly.He did not