The cold glow from my laptop screen bathes the room in pale blue light. I sit hunched at the small table in Isabella’s safe house, my heart hammering against my ribs. This is it-my play to end it all.
Ethan. Xavier. The third player. They’ve all tried to control me, twist me into their puppet. But tonight, I pull the strings.
My fingers fly across the keyboard as I compose the final message to the FBI-one that will burn everything to the ground. Coordinates. Meeting points. Stashed assets. Encryption codes. I leak it all.
This is how you kill monsters: by ripping out the web that sustains them.
Isabella stands by the window, peeking through the blinds at the empty street below. She hasn’t said a word since I told her what I planned to do.
“You really think this will work?” she asks finally, her voice low and wary.
“It has to,” I reply, my hands trembling slightly as I click send on the encrypted message. “I’m out of other options.”
She turns to face me, her expression unreadable. “You know once the FBI moves in, there’s no going back, right? Ethan, Xavier, the third player… they’ll all go down. But if anything goes wrong, you go down with them.”
I meet her gaze steadily, the weight of the moment sinking in. “It’s worth the risk.”
She shakes her head with a grim smile. “You always did love a good gamble.”
I lean back in my chair, blowing out a shaky breath. “The raid’s in six hours. We just need to keep our heads down until it’s over.”
Isabella nods, but there’s tension in her movements, a restlessness that puts me on edge. “I’ll make sure the exit route’s ready, just in case.”
She grabs her gun from the table and slips out into the hallway. The moment the door clicks shut, a knot of anxiety tightens in my gut.
I know how this world works. Plans go sideways. Loyalties shift. I’m trusting no one but myself.
The clock on the wall ticks slowly toward dawn, each second stretching like a lifetime. The FBI will move at sunrise. They’ll descend on both Ethan’s and Xavier’s empires simultaneously, wiping them out in one surgical strike.
For a brief, dizzying moment, I let myself hope. What if this works? What if I walk away from this clean, free of the past and the blood?
But deep down, I know better. Nothing in this world ever comes without a price.
The phone on the table vibrates, rattling against the wood. Unknown number.
My stomach churns. Nobody calls this number except the people I should avoid.
I hesitate for a beat, then swipe to answer. “Who is this?”
There’s a pause, then a woman’s voice-soft, familiar, but laced with something sharp underneath.
“Hello, Alyssa. It’s… it’s me. It’s your mother.”
The air leaves my lungs in a rush. My mother.
“That’s not possible.” My voice comes out flat, disbelieving. “My mother’s dead.”
A bitter laugh crackles through the line. “Is that what they told you?”
“Who the hell are you?” I snap, my heart pounding in my chest.
“I am your mother, Alyssa. And everything you’ve been told about your past? It’s all a lie.”
My hand grips the phone so tightly I feel like it might shatter. This is a trick. It has to be.
“What do you mean, a lie?” I demand, my voice sharp with suspicion. “What lie?”
“Your father’s death. Your life with him. The way you were raised… None of it was what it seemed. There are things you don’t know, Alyssa. And if you follow through with this plan-”
“What do you know about my father?” I interrupt, my breath coming fast now, panic creeping in.
She sighs, a sound heavy with regret. “I know that everything you think you know about his murder is wrong. And if you go through with this raid, the real truth will be buried forever.”
I lean forward, gripping the edge of the table like it’s the only thing holding me to reality.
Everything she’s saying-none of it makes sense. But it’s throwing me off balance, making me doubt everything.
“If you’re really my mother, prove it,” I whisper, desperation creeping into my voice.
There’s a long pause on the other end, followed by a quiet, knowing response.
“Do you still wear the necklace I gave you? The one with the sapphire charm? You used to twist it around your finger whenever you were nervous.”
My heart skips a beat. Nobody else could know that.
I clutch the necklace around my neck-a charm I’ve worn for years without ever questioning where it came from. How does she know about this?
“I’m telling you the truth, Alyssa,” she murmurs. “But you have to listen to me. If you stay involved with Ethan and Xavier, you’ll never find out what really happened to your father.”
The room spins. The raid. Ethan. Xavier. The FBI. It’s all slipping through my fingers, like sand in a storm.
“You’re lying,” I whisper, more to myself than to her. “This is some kind of trick.”
“It’s not a trick, Alyssa. I’ve spent years trying to protect you from the truth. But now… it’s your choice.”
The line goes dead.
I sit frozen, the phone still pressed to my ear, her words echoing in my mind. Everything you know is a lie.
A choice is coming.
I can hear the clock ticking down toward the raid-toward the moment that will decide everything.
And suddenly, I realize the most terrifying truth of all: No matter what I choose, someone is waiting to destroy me.