The Sterling's Twisted Love Story

siren faded, but the chaos in the

one where they' d celebrated my adoption five years ago.

it her wrist with a shard of glass from a picture frame, a picture frame that held a ph

y name. J

ree years on, the mission to expose the illicit tech empire of my adoptive fa

could

k. Her voice, usually so smooth and elegant, was sharp with

looked up to you. And

raining kicked in, keeping my breathing even, my face a mask of

make markets tremble, took a step toward

rmenting her for weeks, haven' t you? The little things, the whispers

to gain Charlotte's trust, to make her see me as a rival she could manipulate. It had been worki

en the kinder one, the one who' d sneak me an extra cookie or defend

jaw tight. "I can' t bel

n the accusations from Richard and

ry eyes with a silk handkerchief. "You, you' re strong. Yo

he cavernous room. My head snapped to the side, and the sting spread across my skin.

ow growl. "You will not leave. You will not speak to anyon

to a crime I didn' t commit. For them, I was the outsider, the orphan they' d t

d my body to go limp for a fraction of a second, a silent plea.

ke this har

perfectly manicured gardens. The life I had pretended to have

rotocol for emergencies. No direct contact unles

It was my emergency beacon. I reached over and began to tap it against the

A request for extraction. I had gathered enough evidence, but the sta

mily I never really had.

r voices through the door. The

oice thick with relief and simmering anger. "But she' s traum

as cold steel. "Tomorrow, we' re moving her things to the gues

tries to run?"

ill help her. Her bank accounts will be frozen. Her car will be gone. Sh

th

was real. They had the power to erase me. The faint hope I ha

a two-story drop. I could make it, but not without in

e door and k

d? M

s outside

wasn' t entirely an act. "Please, just talk to me. I can

hen, I heard Richard' s foo

, his voice muffled but clear. "You threw it away. You' re not

tead, I heard the sound of a heavy chain being drawn acr

the door. The physical pain from the slap

y burner phone, the one only Hayes had the numbe

er. Sterling is planning someth

ficing me for the mission. The hope of rescue vanished, leaving me alone in the d