⚡ Chapter 19 –
The air felt like it was shrinking.
Each breath I took tasted of gasoline and fear.
Ethan's grip tightened on my wrist, but before he could pull me back, a familiar voice cut through the chaos.
"Let her go."
I turned.
It was Lena — the one person I trusted to the end of the world, the one who had promised to keep me safe no matter what.
But now… she was standing beside my father.
My stomach dropped. "Lena…?"
She wouldn't meet my eyes. Instead, she held out her hand to me.
"This is for your own good, Val. You don't understand what's coming."
Ethan swore under his breath, pulling me behind him.
"She's lying," he said. "She's been feeding him information for weeks."
My mind spun, flashes of recent moments hitting me — the way she always "just happened" to be where I was, the strange looks, the questions she asked.
My father chuckled. "I told you, Valerie. Everyone can be bought. Even your best friend."
Lena's voice trembled, but her words didn't.
"Come with us. Or they'll all die because of you."
Behind her, one of my father's men cocked a gun. The sound was deafening in the silence.
I had to decide.
Step forward and betray the ones who had protected me…
Or stay and risk watching them fall one by one.