For a heartbeat, no one moves.
The words hang in the air like smoke—thick, suffocating, heavy with unspoken possibilities. Which mother? As if the answer could be anything but the one who raised me, the one who vanished from my life in twisted metal and staged flames.
“Tick tock,” Dupont murmurs, his voice smooth, almost amused. “The police won’t wait forever. And neither will she.”
Alex’s grip on my hand tightens. I can feel his pulse hammering against my skin, matching the frantic rhythm of my own heart. In the office, he was always in control—the untouchable CEO, the man who inherited an empire with cool precision. But here, now, that mask is cracking. The unshakable businessman is slipping, revealing something raw beneath.
“This is exactly what he wants,” Alex mutters, his
