OLIVAS bPOV /b

Fuckdi

bPanic /bbsurged /bthrough my veins like wildfire. The only thing louder than my beating heart was the relentless beepinging from the kitchen—the bunmistakable /bticking of a bomb.

We needed bto /bmove. Now.

I thrashed against the cuffs holding me to the chair, ignoring the sharp sting biting into my wrists. The darn things were too tight, too solid. Each movement only dug them in deeper. I could barely breathe, my chest rising and falling in sharp, shallow gasps.

WAS

I had just discovered who my real family was. I had just started to feel something close to belonging. And now? These people were trying to erase me from the world. Me and my unborn baby.

No. I wouldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let that happen.

Across the room, Julian was furiously wriggling in his own chair, trying to slip free of the restraints. I turned my head toward him, desperation coloring my voice.

“What do we do?” bI /basked, paning every word.

Julian didn’t answer right away. His jaw clenched, muscles flexing as he fought the cuffs.

“We need to get the hell out of here,” he finally said.

“I… can’t die here…” Mom’s voice cracked behind me. Her fear was rawb, /bopenb, /blike a wound.

The loud tter of wooden chair legs scraping the floor filled the space as we each squirmed and struggled. Julian’s chair wobbled and tilted as he moved closer to me.

“Try to get behind me,” he instructed. “Maybe you can reach my cuffs.”

I took a shaky breath and jerked my body sideways. Inch by inch, I scooted my chair, dragging my heels across the floor. Every second felt like ban /bbhour/b. The beeping from the kitchen continued, faster now. Or maybe that was just in my head.

Finally, our backs touched. I fumbled with my fingers, trying to find the metal binding his wristsb, /bbut my range was too limited. The chair back was blocking me.

“I can’t reach it,” I said, tears of frustration pricking at the corners of my eyes. “It’s no use.”

“Fuck…” Julian hissed, voice low and tight with frustration. “I didn’t want to do this, but…”

There was a sudden, sickening crack.

I froze.

Julian let out a soft grunt, and then… the clink of something metal hitting the ground.

I whipped my head around just in time to see him rising to his feet, his hands–free.

“What…how?” I stammered, stunned.

Then I saw it. His right thumbb… /bwas hanging at a strange angle.

“You dislocated your thumb?” I gasped,

bo/b, he bsaid /bbthrough /bbgritted /bbteeth /bwiping bsweat /bbfrom /bbhis /bbfor /bhard. “bNow /bbwe’ve /bbgot /bfelt than a minute, maybe less fre

ick byour /bcuffs. bA /bpin, ba /bwire

bThere/b! bI /bbsaid /bbquickly/bb, /bbnodding /bbtoward /bthe small table in the corner. b“My /bhairpin I left it there earlier?

Jun bdashed /bacross bthe /bbroom/bb, /bsnatching bthe /bbpin /bin a blur. He ran back and dropped to his knees behind Mom first. His fingers bmoved /bwith some precision, the result of all the times he had practiced lock picking “just in caseb./bb” /b

“I btaught /bbyou /bbthis/b, rememberb?/bb” /bhe muttered to himself as he worked.

bI /bbcould /bbonly /bpray that all the training and cleverness would be enough now because the timer was still ticking. And we were brunning /bbout /bof time.

Clickb. /b

The sound of the cuffs unlocking from my mom’s wrists, I turned quickly, relief flooding my chest when I saw her hands fall free.

b“/bGo! Leave now!” Julian barked, urgency crackling in his voice like statica

“But what about you two?” Mom’s voice was trembling, full of fear and hesitation, her eyes darting between us and the burning pressure of bthe /bbkitchen /bwhere the bomb’s beeping hadn’t stopped.

“We’re right behind you, Mom. Just go!” I urged her, trying to keep my voice steady, though my own pulse was pounding so hard it nearly drowned bout /bthe ticking in the kitchen.

Without another word, Julian immediately shifted behind me, crouching to start picking the lock on my cuffs. My breathing grew shallowb, /bbmy /bchest brising /band falling rapidly as I kept throwing anxious nces toward the kitchen. The beeping was still there—closer, louder, more menacing.

My throat feit dry as sandpaper. My skin was crawling with the awareness that the bomb could go off any second. There would be bno /bwarningb, /bno countdownb. /bI could die without even realizing it was happening.

Click.

That sweet, miraculous sound.

Before Julian could even fully pull the cuffs away, I twisted my wrists free, sprang from the chair, and bolted to my feet. He was right behind flushed and tense, his eyes scanning everything.

me,

his face

We didn’t wait to speak–we just ran.

We tore through the hallway, the cold night air rushing in through the shattered windows. The front door was already wide open as if the house itself wa urging us to escape. We sprinted toward the grand gates of the estate. They were slowly opening, but far too slowly for a situation like this.

“No, no, no!” I muttered under my breath, my heart hammering against my ribs as I reached the partially opened gate.

Mom managed to squeeze through the gap first. I followed, twisting my body sideways and pushing through the narrow opening. Julian shoved behind me, just barely making it out.

Then-

BOOM!

The sound was deafening. It wasn’t just noise–it was force. The explosion stopped us dead in our tracks bas /bmes erupted into the sky behind bus/bb, /bconsuming the house we had just escaped. I turned to look–but that was clearly a mistake

The sight of fire engulfing the entire structure was horrifying, but it wasn’t the fire that struck me first.

It was the shockwave.

BANG!

bChapter /b136

It ripped through the right like a monster. Windows chattered. Marris screamed from nearby car). And dox st for me to a gloria, dia berky fa bbackward/bb, /btossed by the invisilds foren like a rag doll. My head mmed into the ground, and starbrorit in day ton

I blinked rapidly, trying to make sence of where I was, and whist had happened. The pain was immerte and share my ears wereine andere bhigh /bpitched hum that blocked out everything else, it was like the entire world was spinalne. Na im se davu. Piet chade

I groaned and pushed myself to sit up, but my body felt like it weighed a ton. My hand’s trembited as t reached down arul saw blood ficting from my tags

real blood Fesh, warm, and Painful

Panic surged into my chest like a second wave. The force of the shockwave had been stronger than I imagined stronger even than the impact fram when isadora pushed me before i lost my baby.

“No…” I whispered, the word catching in my throat. My vision blurred with tears as I ced both hands on my stomach. Please, God Not again. Don’t let history repeat itself.”

I prayed harder than I ever had before. Not just for myself, but for the tiny life growing inside me. This couldn’t be how it ended not after everything