登入Evangeline POV Lisa walked away without looking back, and I stayed where I was, watching her reflection disappear through the glass until the door closed behind her.Two guards stepped in behind me. Cassidy came in from outside and motioned for me to follow. Neither of us spoke as she led me into another room. The guards removed my restraints but remained close enough to intervene if I tried anything.Several middle-aged women sat around a mahogany table, speaking quietly among themselves. They acknowledged my presence with nothing more than a glance before returning to their discussion.They let me stand there.I bit the inside of my lip and swallowed against the knot in my throat.One of them turned to Cassidy."How did Lisa respond?"Cassidy shrugged."She doesn't believe her. She thinks she's acting out of desperation. She said if Meridian had never turned against her, she'd still be trying to destroy her."Quiet murmurs moved around the table."She doesn't want blood on her hand
Evangeline POVThe days had blurred together until I no longer knew who I was, what I felt, or how to keep my thoughts from slipping away.Even though the rational part of me knew my mother had chosen to sacrifice me instead of saving me, I still wished it hadn't been by my hands. If I could turn back time, I would.The guilt stayed with me, and no amount of justification made it easier to carry.Cassidy, the woman I was supposed to kill, had taken me to an ordinary house. That surprised me. After everything she'd said about Meridian coming for me, I expected hidden bunkers, armed guards, and rituals carved into every wall. Instead, I'd spent two nights in a normal home.Even stranger, nobody whispered inside my head. The only thing destroying me was what I'd done.Now I was about to stand before Lisa, confess everything, and ask for forgiveness.The woman I used to be would've laughed at the idea. She would've dismissed Lisa as nothing more than a cheap surrogate, mocked her to her f
Lisa POVThe hours crawled by, and I'd never felt more restless than I did after Joanna's visit. I couldn't bring myself to imagine seeing Evangeline again.I hadn't realized how deep the damage ran until now. The memories came all at once, like somebody had thrown open a door I'd fought to keep shut.Her calling me her sister, agreeing to make me her surrogate through natural conception, the guilt that followed, the attraction I never wanted to feel toward Cameron, finding out she wasn't who I thought she was, running from one safe house to another, almost losing the baby and my own life because someone poisoned me.Every road seemed to lead back to the day I signed that surrogacy contract. And now they expected me to sit there and listen to her confession, as though hearing her side could undo any of it.They'd spent so much time protecting my body that they'd forgotten what this had done to my mind. I wasn't even convinced I'd make it through childbirth without someone trying to co
Lisa POV"Who would've thought your presence and this bowl of chicken would give me a spike of happiness?" I said to my mom.She laughed as she unpacked the takeout bag while I folded another piece of crispy chicken through the cream, making sure every bite was coated before bringing it to my mouth.I shut my eyes as my teeth sank into it. A contented sigh escaped me."It's emotional torture," my mother said, smiling as she watched me eat. "I can't imagine being pregnant, isolated, and not even having your favorite treat."I pointed a piece of chicken at her."Don't make me relive those memories."She laughed again, and before long we drifted into talking about random things.We were in the safe house now, if that was even the right word. It felt more like protected isolation.The comfort didn't come from the place itself, because there wasn't much of it. It came from knowing we were safe behind locked doors and thick concrete walls while whatever was happening outside stayed outside.
Cameron POVThe urge to turn and look at Catherine's body stretched across the backseat kept pulling at me, but I refused. I'd already looked. Her pupils had swallowed her eyes, and blood had spread beneath her.A ringing filled my ears. Sweat gathered along my hairline, but the panic never came. I knew what I'd seen, yet everything inside me stayed numb.Kade knelt beside Evangeline, splashing water across her face and calling her name. He checked her pulse, then wiped another handful of water over her forehead as though refusing to believe she wouldn't wake."We should leave," a woman seated in the passenger seat said."They'll come for her."She looked to be in her forties. Dirt streaked her clothes, rope burns marked her wrists, and dried blood clung to the corner of her mouth. Yet there wasn't a trace of panic on her face.She wasn't the hag who had come to my office the previous month, but that didn't make me trust her any more.Kade looked up sharply."You."He pointed at her w
Lisa POVStaying inside the chapter house became harder every day. I needed the isolation, but being cut off from the rest of the world was starting to wear on me.My phone had been left at home. I couldn't hear my mother's voice or find out whether Cameron had finally stopped calling.The days blurred together until they all felt the same. Everything that made life feel normal had been stripped away.The pregnancy wasn't helping. Midnight cravings had become their own kind of torture. I'd wake desperate for spicy grilled chicken, then remember breakfast would be another bowl of soft vegetables and herbal tea that tasted like someone had boiled all the flavor out of it.The food was healthy, and I knew the baby needed it. My hormones didn't care.Some nights I buried my face in the pillow because I wanted fried chicken so badly I could cry. Other nights I missed Cameron. That annoyed me almost as much.Of all the people I should've stayed away from, my own body kept reaching for him.
LisaMy mom talked nonstop the entire ride back to the safe house, her voice filling the car. She kept turning her head toward the windows like she still couldn’t believe she could see, pointing out everything passing outside.“Street signs. Look at that shop. Oh, the traffic lights are so bright.
LisaCameron walked in, and my thoughts scattered so hard I couldn’t even remember why I was standing there. He didn’t belong in this room with fluorescent lights and plastic chairs; he looked like something I had imagined too many nights in a row. I didn’t know where to put my eyes or what to do w
LisaA butterfly landed on the back of my hand. Its wings were dusty orange with thin black lines. The hedge blocked the outside noise, and insects buzzed around the flowers near my chair. Nurse Agatha sat across from me talking, but my attention had already drifted. I closed my hands around the b
CameronI avoided Evangeline for the rest of the evening, not out of pettiness, but because I dreaded saying something that would make things worse.I shut myself in the study and opened my laptop, stacking files across the desk so I had something to focus on. My coffee had gone cold beside the key







