The man beside her grabbed her wrist. “Stay calm.”“Help!” Her scream was cut short when the person behind her tightened the covering around her head.Clara kicked violently, desperately trying to break free, but the vehicle had already begun accelerating. She reached for her phone. Her fingers slipped. The device fell onto the floor.For one brief second, its screen illuminated the darkness inside the vehicle.Alexander — Calling.Clara's eyes widened. She saw his name. She tried to reach for the phone. Before she could, someone kicked it beneath the seat. The screen disappeared into darkness.Clara continued struggling, but the strength of the men around her overwhelmed her. The SUV accelerated into the night. Within moments, it had disappeared from the road.Back on the highway, Alexander's fingers remained tightly wrapped around his phone.The Crime Boss glanced at him through the rearview mirror. “Young Master.”“What?” Alexander's response felt off.“What should we do? Do you th

Alexander had barely stepped out of the hotel when the uneasy feeling in his chest became impossible to ignore, a premonition that something vital had irrevocably shifted.He had foolishly believed the situation was finally under control, a fragile peace shattered by Butler's devastating message: Clara had left the safe house. That single, terrifying thought consumed him, eclipsing all else.He stopped the car, his hand instinctively reaching inside his coat for his second phone. The moment the screen illuminated, his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, for there, staring back at him, was a missed call from Clara.Alexander stared at her name for several agonizing seconds, the glowing letters burning into his mind. She had tried to reach him, and in that crucial moment, he had missed her call.A sudden, cold dread tightened its grip around his chest as his fingers, trembling almost imperceptibly, immediately moved across the screen.He called her back, his heart pounding a frantic rhy

Alexander leaned back against the plush leather, his eyes fixed on the blur of buildings passing outside the window, his mind a whirlwind of speculation. “I’m not sure.”His thoughts returned to the confrontation inside the hotel, more specifically, to Nahir’s face when Alexander had arrived without Clara.Nahir had tried to hide his reaction, to maintain a façade of indifference, but Alexander had noticed it. It had lasted less than a second—a slight tightening around his eyes, a subtle change in his posture, a brief flicker of frustration that disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared.At the time, Alexander had wondered why Nahir seemed so concerned about Clara’s absence. Now, with Clara gone again, that memory carried a completely different, terrifying weight. “Nahir expected her to be there,” Alexander murmured, the realization a cold, hard knot in his gut.Crime Boss glanced at him, his brow furrowed. “What did you say?”Alexander looked toward him, his gaze intense. “Whe

Aurelia could barely see the road through the tears that kept blurring her vision. She had driven without any real destination in mind, allowing instinct to guide her while her thoughts remained trapped inside the Radisson Blu.Her hands were wrapped tightly around the steering wheel, her knuckles pale from the pressure, yet she barely noticed the strain in her fingers. Her mind kept replaying everything that had happened.The poisoned food, Alexander's accusation, Nahir's desperate attempt to stop her from tasting it, and, most painfully of all, the way Alexander had walked away.He had not shouted at her. He had not threatened her or demanded that she choose between him and Nahir.He had simply looked at her with an expression she had never seen in his eyes before and calmly told her that whatever remained between them would be settled in court, and that was what hurt the most.For three years, Aurelia had become accustomed to Alexander remaining by her side, no matter how badly sh

Vivian sighed. “I've seen the way you've treated him. I've watched you choose Nahir over him more times than I can count. I watched you rush to the hospital and worry about Nahir while Alexander was lying there badly injured.”Aurelia closed her eyes. “I didn't know how badly he was hurt.”Vivian left her hands. “That excuse doesn't work anymore.”Aurelia's fingers tightened against the fabric of her clothes.Vivian's voice softened, but every word carried the weight of a painful truth. “Alexander told you himself. He nearly died.”Aurelia lowered her head. “I know.”“You had a final chance; you blew it up, and now he's done,” Vivian said firmly.Aurelia slowly looked up.Vivian held her gaze. “He's going to divorce you.”Aurelia's eyes immediately filled with tears. “He said we'd finish everything in court.”Vivian exhaled slowly. She had expected those words, but hearing Aurelia say them made the situation feel far more final.Then another thought crossed her mind. Vivian's expressi