Chapter 4

Hannah Eaton POV:

Blaire' s face, which moments ago had been composed, twisted with fury. The carefully constructed triumph of her podcast launch had dissolved into a public spectacle, and her carefully curated image was crumbling. This was not the viral hit she had envisioned.

The host, panicking, frantically motioned for the security guards. "Take her out! Please, escort her out!"

I felt hands on my arms, but I screamed, a raw, animal sound, and violently pulled away. The touch, the unexpected restraint, sent a jolt of terror through me, a primal echo of the hands that had seized me so many years ago.

The lights, the faces, the noise-it all swirled into a nauseating blur. The smell of stale popcorn and expensive perfume became the metallic tang of fear. I was back there, in the dark, hands on me, voices shouting. My body seized up, trembling uncontrollably. I couldn't breathe. The world tilted on its axis, colors bleeding, sounds distorting into a cacophony of fear.

"Hannah!" Erik cried, rushing forward, reaching for me. "Hannah, I'm here!"

But his voice, his touch, only fueled the panic. I violently slapped his hand away, my eyes burning, unfocused, with a primal rage. "Don't touch me! You're a monster! A sick, twisted monster!" My voice was thin, reedy, barely audible above my ragged breaths. "You called me your patient... your fiancé... and then you sold my soul."

A reporter, pushing closer, shouted, "Is she unstable? Is this part of a setup to discredit the podcast?" Another one chimed in, "She sounds unhinged! Is this the 'hoax' coming undone?"

Erik' s face contorted in pain and desperation. He looked from the hostile reporters to my shaking form, then back at me, a silent, pleading agony in his eyes.

Blaire, ever the opportunist, seized the moment. "This behavior, Ms. Eaton, is exactly why Dr. Nichols believed you needed help. We will be pursuing legal action for defamation and disruption of a private event." Her voice was cold, sharp, cutting through the chaos.

All eyes, filled with judgment and morbid curiosity, were on me. The weight of their gaze was suffocating. I tried to speak, to defend myself, but my throat was tight, my chest burning. Words failed me.

Erik, perhaps in a last desperate attempt to regain control, grabbed my arm tightly, trying to pull me towards the backstage exit. "Hannah, let's go. We need to leave." He snatched the microphone from my shaking hand.

My protests, my strangled cries, were swallowed by Blaire's triumphant, amplified voice, "Thank you all for attending! We will have a follow-up statement soon!"

Just as I felt myself being dragged away, a booming voice cut through the pandemonium, clear and authoritative, silencing the crowd. "Stop right there!"

The wall of reporters and audience members parted almost magically, creating a clear path down the center aisle. A tall, imposing figure strode forward with purpose. His face was grim, his eyes intense. He wore a dark suit, his FBI badge clipped to his belt glinting under the stage lights. He moved with an undeniable authority, his gaze fixed on me. He walked directly onto the stage, past the startled host, past Blaire and Erik, and came straight to me.