CHAPTER 154

The next morning, Jessica awoke to the dull ache of anxiety pressing heavily on her chest. She had barely slept, her mind cycling through every possible scenario as she tried to navigate the tangled web of deception she found herself in. The task her father had given her lay like a stone in her gut, and the man's face from the photograph haunted her thoughts. She knew that once she crossed that line, there would be no turning back.

As she dressed, she slipped the photo into her jacket pocket, the edges of the paper sharp against her fingertips. She needed to play her role convincingly, and that meant showing her father she was serious. She would go through the motions, follow his orders, but the plan she and Phillip were crafting would be her true allegiance.

Just as she was about to leave, her phone buzzed with a message from Clara: Meet me at the safe house. We've got something important.

Jessica exhaled a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Clara and Phillip were her life