“Son of a bitch, this is the woman who leaked the case files on purpose. Got the cops breathing down my neck again!”
“She's supposed to be some Henson family heiress. We grab her, squeeze them for ransom, then get rid of her.”
They moved fast, hauling me into a van before I could scream.
A warehouse. I lay on the concrete floor, barely breathing.
They dialed number after number.
“Ann Henson? Tell her to drop dead. I'm not paying a cent.”
“I told you I'm busy. Stop getting people to play along with your little drama!”
The line went dead.
One of the men stared at me, confused.
“Her old man doesn't care, her husband doesn't care. She's worthless.”
A blade slid from its sheath. The man holding the knife walked toward me, his eyes dark and hollow.
“Maria Henson already paid us fifty million to kill her. We're dead men walking anyway. Take the money and run.”
Before anyone moved, another man rubbed his hands together and yanked open my collar.
“Hold on, don't kill her yet! Look at this body. Let's have some fun first.”
I kicked out with everything I had, knocking him back, and my fingers found a shard of broken glass on the floor. I sawed through the ropes.
Every ounce of strength I had left went into running for the door.
They chased me like rabid dogs, screaming obscenities.
Sirens. In the distance, getting closer.
“Someone's coming! Shoot her! She's seen our faces!”
“Shit!”
Bang.
The bullet tore through my back. Blood sprayed. I hit the ground hard.
The next time I was conscious, all I could hear was the thin, steady beep of a monitor.
The defibrillator fired again and again. A doctor was shouting in my ear.
“Ann! Stay with me! Think of something beautiful in your life! Think of someone who loves you!”
My life. Dragged across the country by traffickers. Scrounging cold leftovers from strangers' plates. Eating out of the trash.
After they were caught, I became a shell of a person, doing whatever it took just to stay alive.
Then I met Otto. He became the single point of light in my world. We studied law together, fought the world's injustice together, and he gave up everything his family had just to be with me.
Then my mother, the one person who loved me, died. And he stopped loving me too.
Tears slipped past the corners of my eyes. God, it hurt.
The doctor's voice cracked into a roar.
“She's hemorrhaging! Get the blood bank on the line, her vitals are crashing!”
The nurse stammered, unable to get the words out.
“Doctor, the blood bank won't release the supply. Mr. Sanchez ordered it reserved for his wife. He said she's injured and the stock has to stay on hold.”
“His wife has a scratch that'll heal on its own by morning! This is absurd. Call the second hospital, now!”
Grief and fury crushed through my chest until I couldn't breathe.
Otto, if you knew I was dying, would you still have done this?
My mind became a reel of everything Maria had done, every time Adam had punished me and cursed me for her sake.
Why should the people who destroyed me walk away untouched while I bled out on a table? I refused.
I was going to live, and I was going to drag every last one of them to hell.
When I woke, the doctor stood at my bedside, opening and closing his mouth as if the words wouldn't come.
“Ms. Henson, the crash caused severe trauma. The baby didn't survive. Because treatment was delayed so long, the damage is permanent. You won't be able to conceive again. I'm sorry. We did everything we could.”
I stared out the window, numb, until the door clicked shut. Then I broke.
“I'm sorry, baby. Mommy's so sorry.”
My phone lit up.
“Ms. Henson, your immigration paperwork has been expedited. Welcome to London.”
“All assets have been transferred. Also, the matter you asked me to look into: Maria Henson is your father's illegitimate daughter. Your mother's death was not natural.”
I gripped the bedsheet until my knuckles went white, grief splitting me open.
A second later, a message from Maria.
“Ann, even if you died, he wouldn't spare you a glance. Otto and Daddy are taking me to Capital City for treatment right now. Give it up!”
No more clean breaks. No more walking away quietly.
I would send every last one of them straight to hell, and I would make them pay.
Three days later, Otto opened his phone and saw a colleague's social media post. Unease crept through him instantly.
“What farewell party? Who's leaving the firm?”
The reply came fast.
“Attorney Sanchez, you didn't know? Attorney Henson resigned. We threw her a farewell dinner today.”
