Right after paying the hospital bills, Nancy and Juliet were determined to get to the bottom of this. They exchanged worried glances, the weight of the situation hanging heavily between them. "Who was involved in a fight with Jackson?" Nancy asked, her voice tense, her calm cracking with each word. Every moment of uncertainty made her anxiety grow. This wasn't just a random attack. Someone had deliberately crossed a line."Who would dare beat up our future son-in-law?" Juliet added, her anxiety morphing into frustration. She felt the pressure building inside her. Jackson was supposed to be part of the family soon—this was personal. The more they thought about it, the angrier they became.Without wasting time, they rushed to the car, barely speaking. The silence between them was thick, filled with the fear of what they might discover. Nancy’s hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her mind raced with questions, each one darker than the last. Could t
The next morning greeted Alex with a sense of dread. He jolted upright, his heart racing, drenched in sweat. Beads of moisture clung to his face, and his breathing came in rapid, shallow gasps, as though he had just run a marathon. His chest heaved with each breath, his body on high alert from the remnants of the nightmare that had gripped him.The duvet, soaked through with sweat, clung to him like it had been caught in a torrential downpour. He wiped his face with trembling hands, trying to calm his racing thoughts. "Thank God, it was just a dream," he thought, still shaken. But the vividness of it lingered like a bad omen.In the dream, he had been strangled—by someone who looked exactly like him. The eerie twin had worn a cruel expression, his hands tightening around Alex’s throat, choking the life out of him. Behind this doppelganger, a shadowy figure emerged—a man who looked like his father. His father had been walking out of a blazing fire, wearing ancient-looking robes, his fa
“Micheal! He sent us!” The man in the suit screamed, his voice cracking with fear. Alex’s lips curled into a smirk. The moment they mentioned Michael’s name, everything clicked into place for him."Of course he is. That son of a bitch. I will make sure this is the last time he does something like this." Alex said confidently, then slapped the man in suit on his head as if he was an erring student who failed to listen to instruction. Rising smoothly to his feet, Alex strode toward the door and yanked it open. His tone was ice-cold yet disturbingly calm as he spoke. “Get the fuck out.”The intruders didn’t hesitate. Despite the pain they were in, they scrambled to their feet, their fear of Alex far greater than their injuries. The tension in the air was thick, and their panic was obvious as they rushed out of the apartment like their lives depended on it.As soon as they left, Alex’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He stared at it for a moment, his instincts already telling him this wasn’
The next morning, Anastasia arrived at the Stewart family villa just as she had been instructed. As she stepped out of the car, the tension in her chest tightened, her heart pounding faster with every step she took toward the imposing entrance. The villa loomed before her like a prison—grand, cold, and suffocating. This was her family, but it did not feel like home now.Inside, her footsteps echoed in the empty hallway, each one amplifying the dread crawling up her spine. It was as if the house itself whispered for her to turn back. But she couldn’t. Not now. She had been summoned, and that meant she had no choice.When she entered the dining room, her eyes immediately landed on Nancy, sitting stiffly at the head of the table, sipping her tea. Juliet, her mother, sat beside her, lips pressed into a hard frown. The tension in the air was suffocating, heavy with unspoken accusations.They didn’t acknowledge her as she stepped inside. It was as if she were invisible—a dismissal that had h
Alex boarded the next available flight to Italy. He kept this decision to himself, telling no one—not even Anastasia. After all, Michael was Anastasia’s friend’s boyfriend. The last thing he wanted was to involve her in what could be a dangerous mission.He knew that Anastasia and Juliet’s friendship was strained, judging by the tension he'd noticed at their last get-together. Still, Anastasia had a noble heart. If she found out what he planned to do, she might try to stop him, appealing to his sense of reason. He couldn’t afford that.“Welcome to Italy, sir,” said the man waiting at the airport. It was Luca De Rossi, the private fixer Alex had hired even before leaving Southlake.A few hours ago, Alex had devised a plan to deal with Michael, but he needed someone familiar with both the legitimate and underworld sides of Italy. After a bit of searching on the internet, he’d found Luca, a former associate of the mafia heir, whose portfolio was filled with dangerous but successful dealin
Being disowned by her family was a bittersweet moment for Anastasia. On one hand, she felt a strange sense of freedom, like she was no longer shackled by their expectations. But on the other hand, it still hurt deeply. The people who were supposed to love her unconditionally had turned their backs on her. Yet she chose her freedom. She chose to chase happiness, no matter how painful the price.As she stepped through the gate of her family villa, a lump formed in her throat. Her mind kept circling back to Alex. She had dialed his number countless times, clinging to the hope that he would answer and that he’d somehow know exactly what to say to make everything right. But all she heard was the same automated voice: “The number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable.”With a frustrated sigh, she sent him a text: “Babe, where are you? I’ve been trying to reach you.” She stared at the screen for a moment, hoping for a response that didn’t come. There was no time to sit and wait. H
At the first light of morning, Luca arrived again, and Alex slid into the SUV, which was already waiting for him. But as soon as he stepped inside, something felt different. The interior wasn’t the usual one he knew SUVs to always have. This SUV was customized—built for a very specific purpose.Alex’s eyes shifted to the back seat. There was only one chair, set at an angle, facing a large screen that looked like a high-tech workstation. A faint sense of unease crept into his thoughts, but it faded quickly. The strange setup didn’t bother him much—nothing seemed to lately.“I’ve heard news that Michael is in Italy,” Luca said, starting the car. “He came into the country from Southlake at midnight. I’ve got my eyes on him, and in 29 minutes, he’ll be ours.”Alex barely reacted to the news. His confidence was unwavering. He didn’t fear Michael or the task ahead. He was a secretive man of power, wealth, and influence—men like Michael was only temporary obstacles in his path.As the SUV pu
Anastasia arrived back at her apartment but hesitated before stepping out of her car in the driveway. She was still troubled by the events from earlier, unable to shake them from her mind.“What got into me?” she whispered, asking herself over and over. But no answers came. Sighing, she tried to push thoughts of Jackson aside, hoping that it was all behind her now.Finally, she stepped out of her car and reached for the door of her apartment. But as her fingers touched the handle, she noticed something—it was already unlocked."Could it be Alex?" Anastasia wondered, freezing at the door.She had given Alex a spare key a few days after they started dating, just in case he needed to drop by when she wasn’t around. But Alex had always been respectful; he never came over without giving her a heads-up.“He didn’t call today,” she muttered as she stepped inside, hoping Alex would be there and that she'd finally have someone to talk to about her day.But instead, she found someone else in he