Chapter 7

A week later, Bernard was called back to New York for an urgent meeting with his family's board of directors. He left me in the castle on the hill with Evelin, under the watchful eyes of a team of bodyguards.

That evening, Evelin was in a particularly foul mood. She decided I needed to give her a pedicure and read to her unborn child from a book of nursery rhymes. I was on my knees, filing her toenails, my stomach churning with humiliation, when the world exploded.

The glass doors of the terrace shattered inwards. A group of men dressed in black, their faces covered, stormed into the room, guns raised.

In the ensuing chaos, one of them grabbed Evelin. She screamed, a high-pitched sound of terror. "Do you know who I am? Bernard will kill you!"

The man twisted her arm behind her back. There was a sickening pop, and Evelin shrieked in pain, her arm hanging at an unnatural angle. They gagged us both, their movements efficient and brutal.

"We know exactly who he is," the leader sneered, his voice muffled by his mask. He was one of Bernard's cousins, a rival I recognized from a family photo Bernard had. This was a hostile takeover, a power play. "And we know what he values."

He pulled out Evelin's phone and video-called Bernard.

Bernard's face appeared on the screen, his brow furrowed with annoyance. "Evelin, I'm in a meeting."

Then he saw the scene behind her. The masked men, the guns. His face went white.

"Bernard, my love," the cousin taunted, putting a knife to Evelin's cheek. "A little family reunion. Now, let's talk business."

But Bernard wasn't looking at Evelin. His eyes were locked on me, wide with a terror so profound it seemed to stop his heart.

"Don't touch her," Bernard breathed, his voice a raw, desperate rasp. "Don't you dare fucking touch Addison."

Everyone in the room, including me, froze.

"Hurt Evelin, I don't care," Bernard was rambling, his voice cracking. "But if you lay one more hand on Addison, I will burn your entire family to the ground. I'll give you anything. Ten billion dollars. Just let her go."

Evelin started sobbing, her body shaking with betrayal. The man holding her laughed, pressing the knife harder against her cheek, but Bernard didn't even flinch. His crazed eyes were still fixed on me.

"I mean it!" he screamed into the phone. "I'll sign over my entire stake in Logan Enterprises! Just don't hurt her!"

The cousin looked at me, then back at the phone, a look of pure confusion on his face. "What's so special about this one?" he muttered.

"He doesn't love me!" I tried to say through the gag, shaking my head frantically. "It's a trick!"

The cousin ignored me. He slapped me hard across the face, and then ripped the top of my dress open.

"Let's give him a show," he sneered, nodding to one of his men to start recording.

"NO!" Bernard's roar was inhuman. It was the sound of an animal in a trap. "Please... I'm begging you... don't..." His voice broke.

"Why?" I screamed in my mind, tears of terror and confusion streaming down my face. "Why are you doing this?"

Suddenly, the windows on the other side of the room shattered. Bernard's security team, the real team, swarmed in, guns firing. The entire kidnapping was a setup. A brutal, elaborate ruse to fool his rivals. He had been playing them the whole time.

The moment the room was secure, Bernard, who must have been just outside, burst in.

He ran past me, not even sparing me a glance. He went straight to Evelin.

He ripped the gag from her mouth and wrapped her in his arms, crushing her to his chest. "Are you okay, my love? Are you hurt?"

"You love her!" Evelin sobbed, hitting his chest with her good hand. "You said you'd give everything for her!"

"It was an act, baby," he murmured, kissing her hair, her face, her tears. "A trick to fool my idiot cousin. You know I only love you. I would die for you."

The captured cousin stared at Bernard, his face a mask of disbelief and fury. "You bastard... you played me."

Bernard laughed, a cold, triumphant sound. "You're a fool. You always were."

He lifted Evelin into his arms and started to walk away, leaving me bleeding and exposed on the floor.

As he passed, I reached out and grabbed the cuff of his pants. My last shred of hope.

"Bernard," I choked out, the gag now loose around my neck. "Help me... the baby..."

He paused. He looked down at me, his face unreadable.

Just then, Evelin moaned. "Bernard, my stomach hurts... the baby..."

That was all it took.

He didn't hesitate. He kicked his leg back, dislodging my hand, and walked away without a backward glance. His focus was entirely on Evelin.

I watched his back retreat. A sharp, searing pain shot through my abdomen. It was a cramp so violent it stole my breath. I looked down.

Blood. So much blood. It was pooling on the white marble floor beneath me.

The world started to go dark at the edges. With the last of my strength, I crawled out of that house of horrors. I left a trail of blood behind me, a testament to the life that was draining out of me.

I somehow made it to the road, flagged down a car, and got to the airport. I bought a one-way ticket to Europe with the first flight leaving.

As I sat at the gate, waiting to board the plane that would take me away from this hell, I took out my phone.

I sent one last message to the number that was no longer saved in my contacts.

Bernard Logan, I hope you rot in hell.

Then I snapped my SIM card in half and threw it in the trash. It was over.