“Are you serious? My father is barely in the ground and you pull this now? ”
Hayes’s voice was sharp, but I could barely hear it over the rain. We were standing at the edge of the funeral site, his father’s grave freshly covered with earth.
I looked past him to where Felicity, his brother’s widow, was being comforted by a cluster of relatives. My husband had spent the entire funeral holding her umbrella, his hand on her back, whispering in her ear. I had stood alone in the rain. “The funeral is over,” I said.
“We need to discuss the divorce. ”
“Is this about Felicity? ” he demanded. “Have some respect.
She’s my brother’s widow. ”
“No, Hayes. This is about me. ”
He laughed, a cold, dismissive sound.
“You’re threatening me? You have a mansion, an unlimited allowance. You can’t survive a day without the Vargas trust fund. ”
I didn’t argue.
I didn’t tell him about the three patents I held, the pharmaceutical developers I’d been meeting with on my “shopping trips,” the fortune I’d quietly built outside his name. I just said, “Fine. ”
As I walked away, I heard Felicity’s syrupy voice drift over the wet grass. “She’s just jealous.
She’ll get over it. ”
My name is Eliana Heath. On paper, I was Mrs. Vargas.
But my real identity was the exiled heir of the Santos family, married off to settle a debt. Today, I decided to stop pretending. I went straight to my lawyer, Talia, the only friend I had left and the best divorce attorney in the city. She was already pulling files when I walked in, her eyes gleaming with the prospect of a fight.
“We go for half,” she said, sliding a photo across her desk. “The prenup has a cheating clause. The photos from the funeral, this is a slam dunk. ”
“No,” I said.
“I don’t want his money. Clean break. Immediately. ”
“Why?
You spent three years as his nurse, his PR manager, his emotional punching bag. He never even touched you, did he? ”
“He told me on our wedding night he was saving himself for Felicity. ”
Talia slammed her hand on the desk.
“That bastard. We can destroy him. ”
“No. If this blows up, the Santos matriarch will step in.
Then I’m just trading the Vargas cage for the Santos cage. ”
“You’re really walking away with nothing? Your family sold you into this marriage and you’re letting Vargas walk free? ”
“I’m not letting him go.
I’m leaving first. Then I’ll settle the score. ”
I was walking back to the estate when I noticed something wrong. The minimalist art I’d carefully selected over the years was gone, replaced by tacky floral prints and pastel knick-knacks.
Felicity appeared in the hallway, Hayes behind her. “I hope you don’t mind. This place was so cold. It needed some warm family energy.
”
“Taste is subjective,” I said. “But some things are objectively loud. ”
“Eliana,” Hayes said, his voice warning. “Felicity is a guest.
Be gracious. ”
“A guest? Then why was she redecorating the host’s home? ”
“This is my house.
Leo has been through enough,” Hayes said. I looked at the three of them. She wasn’t here to stay. She was here to take my place.
I turned and walked away. No argument. No fight. Not anymore.
Dinner was a nightmare. Leo, Felicity’s son, was drumming on a crystal goblet. Hayes didn’t say a word. Felicity beamed.
“Let him express himself. He’s a musical genius. ”
My eyes landed on the mantelpiece. There, sitting alone, was my only photo of my parents, a black-and-white shot of them standing in front of a vineyard.
It was the only thing I had smuggled out when I fled my family at eighteen. “Ugly! All people are ugly! ” Leo screeched, pointing at the photo.
“Leo,” I said, my voice tight. “Uncle Hayes said you can treat anything in this house like a toy,” Felicity said sweetly. “Put that down,” I said. “No!
Uncle Hayes won’t say no to me! ”
Before I could move, Felicity blocked me. She just stood there, smiling, as Leo smashed the picture frame against the floor and tore the photo to pieces. “Mommy, my hand, it’s bleeding!
” Leo wailed. “What a cheap frame,” Felicity said, her voice dripping with disdain. “Hayes, get over here. Eliana hurt Leo.
”
I knelt down and began picking up the pieces of my parents’ smiling faces from the broken glass. Hayes walked over to comfort Felicity and her son. His foot landed on my hand as he passed. “What happened to Leo?
” he asked. “It’s all because of that cheap glass frame of hers,” Felicity said. I looked up at the ruined photo, stained with spilled wine. “There was no negative.
This was the only one. ”
“I don’t know, but you hurt Felicity and Leo,” Hayes said. “You apologize to them. ”
I looked at Hayes, the man I had tried to love for three years.
They destroyed the last photo I had of my parents, and he wanted me to apologize. I turned and walked upstairs, blood dripping from my hand. That night, I called Talia. “Send me the papers.
Tomorrow. I want his signature on that divorce agreement. ”
Three years of patience. Three years of pretending.
No more. I walked into the study with my coffee, just like I always did. Hayes was going through paperwork, looking frustrated. “Are those foundation reports done yet?
” he asked. “Just missing your signature. The accountant said noon deadline or we miss the filing window. ”
I placed the thick stack in front of him.
The top pages were boring financial spreadsheets, but I had tabbed the signature lines. “Here. And here. ”
He picked up the pen.
He was about to sign. But then he stopped. “What’s this? ” He flipped to the last tab.
The divorce agreement was tucked inside the foundation reports, its title covered by an attachment. Only the signature line was exposed. “Foundation reports,” I said smoothly. “Hayes, we’re going to be late for Leo’s school meeting.
”
“I’ll check it later,” he said, pushing the stack away. “I’ll sign when I’m back. ”
I felt a flash of cold anger. “It’s already noon.
If you miss it again, we’ll get penalized. ”
“So annoying. Next time, sooner. ”
“This is the final time,” I said quietly.
I heard that Mr. Sterling was coming today, the executive of the family trust, the board’s eyes and ears, a man who terrified Hayes more than his own father did. I needed to set the trap before he arrived. I hung the matriarch’s wedding gift, Friedrich’s painting, *Wanderer above the Sea of Fog*, next to Felicity and Hayes’s photos.
A lone figure stood on top of the clouds. A bottomless abyss was right beneath his feet. “What is that dreary thing? ” Felicity said, wrinkling her nose.
“It’s so gray. ”
“It was painted in 1818. It’s a national cultural treasure. Priceless, really.
But if it ever hit the market, it could easily break a hundred million dollars. ”
“Hundred million? You’re joking, right? ”
Leo ran in holding a juice box.
I knew he was about to ruin something of mine again. “Leo, be careful,” I said. “That is very expensive. ”
“So what if he looks at it?
” Felicity scoffed. “This whole house is going to be his someday anyway. ”
“It belonged to the Santos family, really. If anything happened to it, Hayes would be in a lot of trouble.
” I kept my voice light. “Go look. If you don’t like it, give it some color. ”
Leo grinned.
He squeezed the juice box with both hands. A jet of purple liquid sprayed across the delicate rice paper. “Oh, no,” Felicity said, not sounding sorry at all. “It looks better now.
It has color. ”
“See? He’s an artist. ”
The heavy oak doors opened.
Mr. Sterling stood there, two lawyers behind him. He looked at the ruined painting, his face turning to stone. “Mrs.
Vargas, what has happened? ”
“I tried to stop him, Mr. Sterling, but Felicity said I deliberately—” I let the sentence hang, unfinished. Hayes stormed in, saw Felicity crying, Leo glued to a chair, and Sterling holding papers.
“What’s going on? My card was declined. ”
“You allowed an outsider to damage a Santos Trust asset,” Sterling said, his voice cold as stone. “Under the trust terms, all your discretionary accounts are frozen until the board audit is complete.
”
“Over one painting? A hundred million dollars? ”
“She let him do it! She hates Leo!
” Felicity shrieked. “I warned him,” I said quietly. Sterling’s men carried out the painting. I watched Hayes’s face crumble.
A cold satisfaction flickered in my chest. Later, I went back to my room and took the original from behind the false panel. What Leo destroyed was only the insured display copy. Elnar had already returned the real painting to me.
The next morning, I put the divorce papers into a beautiful envelope, disguised as an anniversary gift. When Hayes came downstairs, I handed it to him. “A gift for you. ”
Before he could open it, Felicity screamed from upstairs.
He shoved the envelope into his pocket and rushed upstairs. I picked up my suitcase and walked out without looking back. The Santos estate was a frozen fortress. I walked into the great hall alone, and every relative stared at me.
“Where is the Vargas boy? ” the matriarch asked, her voice like grinding ice. “He was detained by business, Grandmother. ”
“He’s with his mistress,” my cousin Damon sneered.
“Everyone knows. ”
“You have embarrassed us,” the matriarch said. “The kneel in the courtyard. One hour.
”
“Grandmother, it’s a blizzard. ”
“Do you question me? ”
Two guards grabbed my arms. I knew it was useless to resist.
I didn’t even struggle. They shoved me into the snow. I knelt on the freezing stone, the wind cutting my face like a knife. Ten minutes.
My legs went numb. Twenty minutes. My teeth started chattering. Thirty minutes.
I couldn’t feel my feet anymore. Through blurred vision, I saw headlights. “Who made her kneel here? ”
I forced my eyes open.
I saw a face I hadn’t seen in four years. Sharp jawline, dark eyes burning with terrifying rage, a scar through his left eyebrow. Elnar Santos. The exile.
The wolf. “You idiot,” he said. The matriarch had notified Hayes. When he arrived, the iron gates were twisted metal from the crash, and there was blood on the ground.
“Where is my wife? ” Hayes demanded. “Kill the Vargas deal,” Elnar said to his men. “Destroy the stock.
Burn it to the ground. I want Hayes Vargas begging on the street by morning. ”
I woke to the smell of oud. Elnar sat in the shadows watching me.
“You almost died,” he said. “For that man? ”
“Brother, I didn’t do it for him. I did it for the end game.
”
“The game is over. You’re not going back. I’ll burn the Vargas estate to the ground with them inside. ”
“No.
If you burn it, I lose everything. My parents, my dignity, my name. I need to finish this my way. ”
“You don’t give me orders.
I’m not your servant. ”
“I’m not your kill. Let me go back. Let me destroy them from the inside.
I want them broken, not just burnt. ”
He searched my face for the trembling girl he once knew. “Fine. Go back to your little play.
But remember, I won’t save you a second time. If you crawl back, the price won’t be just your loyalty. It will be your freedom. ”
“Understood.
”
I returned to the estate. I walked into the closet. The wedding dress still hung there. I used to think if I looked beautiful enough, Hayes would finally see me.
Now it was just a white ghost. “Eliana, what are you doing? Are you crazy? ” Hayes’s voice came from the doorway.
“Your arm? They beat you? ”
“The Santos family didn’t beat people. ”
“You did that for me?
Because I didn’t show up? ” He paused, suspicion flickering in his eyes. “What about last night? Who were you with?
Was it Elnar? ”
“Hayes, you chose to stay with her. So don’t ask me who I went to. ”
Felicity appeared, her face all concern.
“Honey, I feel dizzy. Can you take me to the room? ”
I followed them, hid behind the master bedroom door, and pulled out my phone to record. Felicity and Hayes were kissing on my wedding bed.
I was going to monetize this. The video was out. My phone blew up. *Trending number one: Heir caught in incestuous tryst with brother’s widow.
*
“Stock down eight percent in ten minutes,” Talia reported. I was standing in the doorway watching Hayes and Felicity’s faces turn to ash. “It was you,” Hayes said, his voice hollow. “You filmed it.
”
“I know, Hayes. ”
“I’m calling my lawyer. I’ll sue you into the ground. You can delete it.
Five million dollars. ”
“My accounts are all frozen,” I said calmly. “Sterling locked everything. ”
“You have the vintage Ferrari collection,” he said desperately.
“Patek Philippe watches in your safe. ”
“Sell them. All of them. ”
His mother, Victoria, collapsed when she saw the news.
Hospital corridor. The Vargas family surrounded Hayes. “You fool,” his uncle snarled. “You’ve wiped a billion dollars off the market in an hour.
”
“I’ll fix it,” Hayes said. I walked into Victoria’s room. Her eyes were open. “It was you,” she said.
“The news. ”
“Hayes needed a wake-up call. ”
“What do you want? ”
“Hayes needed to be severed from Felicity.
I can fix the PR, but I want the patent rights to the synthetic collagen formula and your voting proxy. ”
“That formula is worth millions. ”
“Hayes’s reputation was worth zero. ”
She stared at me for a long moment.
“Done. But you must make him leave her. ”
I drafted the statement. *Felicity Branch is merely a dependent of the family trust and Hayes Vargas will relocate to a separate residence.
*
“We have to do this? ” Hayes asked, his voice pained. “Stock was down twelve percent. Your mother was in ICU.
” I slid the paper toward him. “Sign. ”
Felicity screamed. “You’re not signing that!
You promised, William! ”
“Did you think the public would sympathize with a home-wrecking widow? ” I asked her coolly. “You’d be a social pariah.
”
She turned to Hayes. “If you stayed quiet, I would set you up in New Jersey. Trust stipend stays. But shopping stops.
”
“New Jersey? ” she spat. “I’m sorry,” Hayes said, not sounding sorry at all. “Driver takes you in the morning.
”
“You’ll regret this,” Felicity hissed. “Good choice,” I said. Phase one complete. He was isolated.
Next. I was at JFK, readying for Munich. One last call before boarding. “Eliana?
Where are you? ” Hayes’s voice came through the phone. “The divorce papers are in that file stack I left you. Go find them.
” I hung up. I was about to board when the call came. Hayes had found the papers. He was on his way to the airport.
He wasn’t going to let me go. Cloud backup failed. The USB containing Project Nina was in the Vargas safe. Without it, I had nothing.
I slipped through the service entrance of the estate on Hayes’s thirtieth birthday. The USB was in my hand. “You! How dare you come back?
” Felicity stood in the doorway. “So he didn’t kick you out,” I said. “Make sense. Someone had to bake his cake.
”
“Weren’t you getting a divorce? Then stay the hell away! ”
“Felicity, you couldn’t even hold a knife properly. ”
Hayes appeared behind her.
“What is this? You’re actually leaving me? ”
The helicopter touched down on the grass. Elnar walked toward me through the rotor wash.
“Your flight is canceled,” he said. “I’m taking you to Munich. Eliana officially resumes the Heath name. ”
I boarded my brother’s private jet.
I canceled my phone line. I was going to disappear from Hayes’s world completely. The news was all about Hayes abandoning his wife for his sister-in-law. Felicity’s photo in Hayes’s jacket was everywhere.
She was smiling like she’d won. I was in Munich. The Project Nina launch. Elnar was there, holding a document.
“I acquired all of Vargas’s debt,” he said. “I now control fifty-one percent of Project Nina. ”
“Mrs. Heath,” a man said, “Bavarian Pharma offered a hundred million for forty-nine percent non-controlling stake.
”
“Schmidt,” Elnar said, “I didn’t know you had a death wish. Execute. ”
“What? Stock down fifteen percent?
You tipped off the regulators? ”
“One more minute in this room, it’ll be thirty percent. Sign it. ”
I looked at Elnar.
“Why did you sell me? Married me to Hayes for ten million. ”
“I signed a transfer for your dowry. To give you your own money.
”
“The matriarch showed me a letter. You wrote that you hated me. ”
“I never wrote a letter. ”
“She said you begged to leave.
That you were in love with Hayes. ”
“I didn’t even know Hayes existed until the engagement party. ”
It hit us both. “She played us both,” I said.
“For seven years. ”
Seven years. I was sold to the wrong man. He thought I hated him and she sat there smiling for seven years.
I need space. I’m going back to my place. “Eliana? ” Elnar called after me.
I didn’t stop. New York. I was back at the Tribeca apartment. Talia was already there, wine open.
“To divorce,” she said, raising her glass. “Asset transfer complete. You’re officially off the Vargas radar. ”
“Donate the five million to a legal defense fund for abused women,” I said.
“You just got five million and you’re giving it away? ”
“I was using it to clean my conscience. ”
“Fine. But you need to know Hayes hired Blackstone.
Top-tier private investigators. He’s tracking you. ”
“Let him look. I’d gone back to my real name.
The Vargas name was erased. ”
“Good news,” Talia said. “Dr. Sterling wants to meet you.
A new neural regeneration project. Completely separate from Nina. Yours from the ground up. ”
“Dr.
Sterling? ”
“He’s read your papers. He said you were the most talented scientist he’d ever seen. ”
I had left Vargas.
I had escaped Santos’s grip. Now someone wanted to pay for my brain, not my marriage. The next day, I arrived at the Sterling Institute. It didn’t look like a lab.
It looked like a fortress. Glass and steel. “Miss Heath,” Dr. Sterling said, shaking my hand.
“I’d read your paper three times. That section on neural pathway synthesis, genius. ”
“You’re too kind, Doctor. ”
“It’s not kindness.
It’s fact. I need you. ”
“Thank you. It’s just a concept.
”
“Concepts change the world. Your project, your rules. I’m building a neural regeneration division. You run it.
”
“I accept. ”
“There’s a small celebration dinner tonight. Some key investors will be there. You must come.
”
“I’m trying to keep a low profile, Doctor. ”
“You’re my lead scientist. This isn’t social. It’s work.
”
“Fine. I’ll be there. ”
Dr. Sterling’s estate was like a castle.
I brought my assistant, Julian. Calm, professional, only talked science. “Eliana, come,” Sterling said. “I want you to meet our primary benefactor.
”
The crowd parted. He stood by the fireplace. Charcoal suit, whiskey glass, radiating control. Elnar.
“We’ve met,” he said. “You signed a contract. Sterling works for me. Which meant you worked for me now.
”
“She’s family,” Sterling said. “I have a home,” I said through gritted teeth. “The institute you were standing in, the champagne you were holding, the salary you were drawing, it all came from my capital. You couldn’t run from that.
Tonight, I was going to show everyone who you really were. Welcome home, little sister. ”
A name from childhood. Now it felt like a chain around my neck.
He wasn’t there to celebrate me. He was there to claim me. Dr. Sterling stepped forward.
“Mr. Santos, you were mistaken about one thing. Eliana’s brilliance was her own. Her resilience was her own.
She overcame trials that would break lesser people on her own. My institute did not tolerate insults to colleagues. Least of all to my most important lead scientist. ”
Julian was at my side.
“The doctor is right. She was the heart of our team. Anyone who wanted to touch her would have to go through us first. ”
Two men built a wall around me.
“Interesting,” Elnar said. “You’d found a new protector. Let’s see how long this one lasted. ”
“That’s it for tonight,” Sterling said.
“But this wasn’t over. ”
He was wrong. I was learning to stand on my own. The next day, Hayes showed up at the institute, demanding his son Leo be in my neural regeneration trial.
“No,” I said. “There are strict inclusion criteria. ”
“You cold-hearted—” he spat. “No wonder you’ll never be a mother.
You don’t have a maternal bone in your body. ”
“Mr. Vargas, leave now,” Julian said. “My mother gave her patents, gave her voting proxy.
She owes us. ”
“Leo can be treated at a hospital. ”
“No. He’s the future of the Vargas family.
If you don’t help, Felicity will keep coming back. She’ll keep bothering you until you break. ”
“I’m calling the police. This is harassment.
”
I didn’t want to help Leo. But I made a deal. Felicity could come back to the institute, but only for simple paperwork. If she touched anything related to research, I’d make her regret it for the rest of her life.
“Why did you cave? ” Talia asked. “Because of Victoria. And Felicity under my watch is safer than outside it.
At least I know every move she makes. ”
The gold pendant around Felicity’s neck caught my eye. It looked like my mother’s. “Find out where it came from,” I told Talia.
Felicity kept making trouble. She showed up at Julian’s birthday party in a white lace dress, announcing she’d be the future Mrs. Vargas. She brought a pink coffee machine to the institute lobby, blocking the fire exit.
A worker collapsed in shock when she plugged it in. I did CPR, saved his life. Felicity twisted the story, telling Hayes I was making out with a mover on the lobby floor. I was in the lab, absorbed in my work, when Julian asked, “You’re a genius, really.
Free tonight? Dinner? ”
“She’s busy tonight,” Elnar said, appearing in the doorway. “Mr.
Santos, I don’t see your name on the schedule. ”
“I own this lab. ”
Julian left. The data under the microscope was coming together.
I pushed forward. Felicity destroyed three months of work. She smashed a vital sample vial, screaming it was an accident. The review was in a week.
“Redo it,” I said. “Give me three days. ”
She thought I would break. She didn’t know that once you’d walked through fire, you didn’t flinch at a little flame.
That night, Hayes held Felicity in his arms. He noticed the dent was gone from the gold pendant. “The edge of this pendant,” he said. “I remember a dent from when you dropped it saving me.
Why is it gone? ”
“I’ve worn it so long. Edges wear down naturally. ”
When Felicity fell asleep, Hayes dialed a number.
“I need you to look into someone. Felicity Branch. I need to know if she was in New York that summer. The summer I was pulled from the ice.
If she’s not Nina… ”
I barely left the lab for three days. On the third night, Elnar pushed the door open. “Do your work.
I’ll be here. ”
At four in the morning, the data finished running. The results were perfect. The internal presentation.
I stood on stage presenting the work of three sleepless nights. “The neural regeneration synthetic enzyme from Project Aesop exceeds industry standards in both purity and efficiency. This is only the beginning. ”
Thunderous applause.
After the meeting, three biotech companies and five investment firms reached out. At the celebration dinner, Hayes arrived early with Felicity. He took a call from his investigator and his face completely changed. “Felicity,” he said, his voice shaking.
“You weren’t in New York that summer. You never saved me. ”
“Hayes, what are you talking about? ”
“Steal Nina’s pendant?
Pretend to be her? Get close to me? ”
“No, that’s not true. I am Nina.
”
“You’re not. You stole her name. You stole every memory I had. I thought you were her.
”
The pendant I wore caught my hand. The little boy I saved was Hayes. “Wait,” I said, stepping forward. I held up the pendant.
“You remember it, don’t you? ”
“How? Nina. How could it be you?
”
“I never thought the boy I saved would end up being my ex-husband. ”
“Eliana, I’m sorry. Give me one more chance. ”
“You pushed the light away.
”
“I can make it right. I’ll make everything right. Come with me right now. ”
Elnar stepped forward.
“Don’t touch her. ”
“ELIANA, NO. You’re my Nina. ”
“At your father’s funeral,” Elnar said coldly, “how did you treat her?
You were with your brother’s widow. You let her son call you daddy. And now you want to drag her back into your swamp? ”
Hayes and Felicity were thrown out.
I finally didn’t have to run anymore. Elnar and I were falling into something impossible. I was standing in the lab, preparing for the next stage of the project. Then my phone lit up with a live stream notification.
Felicity’s face appeared on the screen. Behind her was a familiar lab setting. Julian was tied to a chair, his mouth taped shut. “Eliana, I know you’re watching,” she said, her voice dripping with venom.
“You think you win by pushing me and Hayes out? You think taking back Santos makes everything fine? You’re wrong. Cousin, tonight we settle everything.
”
“See this? Your little assistant is here. Your partner. Your most trusted ally.
He’s in my hands now. ”
“Eliana, don’t come. It’s a trap,” Julian said, his voice muffled. “Shut up!
”
“Eliana, I’m giving you one hour. Come alone, or tomorrow when you turn on the news you’ll see your dear assistant’s dead body. I’ve said my peace. ”
The stream ended.
The screen went dark, leaving only my own reflection. “You can’t go! ” Elnar said. “She’s insane!
She’ll be waiting to trap you. ”
“She has a detonator. Damon has a knife. You going alone is suicide.
”
“I know. ”
“I’m already calling in my team. ”
“No. I’m going alone.
”
“You’re insane. ”
“She said alone. I won’t let someone die because of me. ”
“Then I’ll go with you.
You don’t want me in sight, I’ll stay where you can see me. If something happens to you, I’m going in. No one’s stopping me. ”
“You contact the police.
Surround the institute’s perimeter. No one moves until I’m inside. ”
I pushed open the doors of the Sterling Institute alone. The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder.
Julian was tied to the central lab table, wires wrapped around his body. “Eliana! Get out of here! She’s insane!
” Julian shouted. “You came! ” Felicity laughed, her eyes wild. “You actually came!
You really do care about him! ”
“I’m here,” I said. “Let Julian go. This has nothing to do with him.
”
“Nothing to do with him? All of you were laughing at me! You, Hayes, and that damn Elnar! You pushed me to this!
”
I scanned the room. Ventilation duct three was still open. The sterilizer’s indicator light was blinking. I knew every pipe in this lab with my eyes closed.
“You know the rules, cuz,” Felicity said. “You walk in, he walks out. ”
“Fine. I’ll trade.
”
“You think I believe that? You’re too smart! Scarily smart! You’re definitely planning something!
”
“I came empty-handed. No weapons, no comms. Search me. ”
“You think you’re still the great scientist on top?
Kneel. Beg me for mercy. Say you were wrong. Say you never deserved anything I had.
”
The sterilizer’s indicator light shifted from green to red. Coolant began flowing back into the main power line. Twenty-three seconds. I felt the vibrations in the floor.
Footsteps were close. “Felicity, stop wasting time,” Damon’s voice came from the shadows. “Sell the timer and let’s go before the cops arrive. ”
“Then we’ll all die together,” Felicity said.
Her finger pressed down. But there was no explosion. The emergency protocol I had secretly activated had cut power to every detonator circuit. “Why?
Why won’t it blow? ” Felicity screamed. The blast door descended from the ceiling with a dull roar. The steel barrier separated Felicity and Damon on the other side.
I stood beside Julian. “Go, Julian. Out the back door. The police are outside.
”
“No, I’m not leaving you. She might have a backup. ”
“Go! That’s an order.
I’ll be fine. ”
“You think you can stop me? ” Felicity screamed from the other side. “I have another—” The explosion ripped through the edges of the blast door.
The shock wave threw me to the ground. Above me, a massive metal rack came loose and was falling. “ELIANA! ” A figure lunged forward and covered me completely.
“Eliana, I finally got to protect you,” Hayes said. “Just once. ”
The metal rack crashed down on Hayes’s back. Blood dripped onto my face from his arm, warm and sharp with the smell of iron.
“You’re okay,” he said. “That’s all that matters. ”
“Don’t talk. Stay awake.
”
“First time I’ve seen you worried about me. Worth it. Getting you out. ”
“He’s still in there, Elnar,” I said.
“The ambulance is here. Someone will save him. ”
Elnar carried me out of the blaze. The cold wind hit my face, and I looked back over his shoulder.
Hayes’s body lay among the rubble, the medics swarming. His eyes were open. They never left me. Hayes lay on the bed, tubes running everywhere.
The doctor said he might not make it through the night. “You’ve been standing here for two hours,” Talia said. “The doctor already told you he might not make it. ”
“I know,” I said.
“I should hate him. So why do I feel something? ”
“You’re sad because you’re human, not because you loved him. ”
It was like he opened his eyes.
“Eliana,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “I dreamed about the day of the funeral. I gave her the umbrella. You stood alone in the rain.
I’m sorry. I’m not asking you to forgive me. I just want you to know I finally see you. ”
The monitor suddenly changed rhythm.
One beat. Two beats. Then silence again.
