Chapter 193

• Charlotte watched them go—Howard's arm around Anastasia, vanishing through the warehouse door like ghosts of betrayal. Shattered once more, he chose his sister over her again, the pattern etched in blood and tears. Hope guttered out like a snuffed flame; she knew what came next—death's shadow looming for her and the fragile life within. But her child... she had to fight, to shield that spark somehow.
• Jeremy's smirk slithered across his face as he turned to her, eyes raking her bound form with predatory glee. He prowled closer, leaning in until his breath fouled the air between them—reeking of cheap triumph. A finger grazed her cheek, slow and deliberate, tracing the drying blood from her split lip.
• Revulsion surged, bile rising in her throat; she jerked her head away, skin crawling under his touch. "Get your filthy hands off me," she hissed, her voice steel despite the tears pricking her eyes.