Isabella’s POV
The phone buzzed one last time.
Unknown: The wait is over.
Unknown: Meet you soon, princess.
I froze, my thumb hovering over the screen. My pulse thudded in my ears. The words didn’t sound like a message—they sounded like a verdict. A summons. My breath caught, cold and fast, like ice forming in my chest.
A sudden movement behind me made me whirl around—before I could even process it, a soft, fragrant handkerchief pressed against my nose and mouth. The smell was sharp, chemical, sweet, and suffocating. My eyes watered, and my vision blurred almost instantly. My muscles screamed to resist, but it was like trying to fight the tide.
“No—” I tried to scream, but the sound was swallowed, silenced, as darkness pulled me under.
Third-Person POV
The Moretti villa had been a
