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I remember the screech of tires, the loud crash, and then everything went dark.
Mommy and Daddy were with me, but now they’re not. I’m scared, and I just want to go home.
I turn around to see Nilo’s face is a blank slate, frozen in shock. He’s just standing there, unable to speak, unable to move, unable to cry.
Later, I found out that our parents were gone. Forever.
That guilt settled in Nilo’s bones that day, and he’s carried it ever since. Because we were supposed to pick him up from a ball game. But we didn’t, and now it’s too late, and nothing will ever be the same again.
I was too young to understand what it meant then. It was only when I was older, when Nana reminded me about the situation, that it hit me. I’d never have children. I’d never hold my own baby in my arms, never experience the joy of motherhood.
But now, all this is just way too much.
The walls of my life are closing in.
There is a baby in me.
Our baby.
The realization hits me hard, and I feel a sharp pain in my gut as I understand that I’ve been living a lie. Spying for Aleks, feeding him information, putting Yulia at risk – all the while telling myself that I was doing it for the right reasons. That I had no choice.
But now, facing the truth, I’m torn apart by guilt and shame. I’ve betrayed those who trusted me, those who cared for me. And for what? Aleks’s promises? His manipulation?
I thought I was strong, that I was doing what I had to do to survive. But I see now that I was weak, that I allowed myself to be used, to be a pawn in Aleks’s twisted game.
I don’t care anymore if Luka is going to kill me today.
The thought sits heavy in my chest, a cold, hard reality. There’s no way around it, no way to avoid the inevitable. I know what I’ve done, and I know the price I have to pay.
Because I am going to tell him the truth.
I will confess my betrayal, lay bare my lies, expose the ugly truth of who I really am.
And he will kill me.
Chapter 54
Luka
THERE ARE a few things that I am not.
I am not a good guy.
I am not a forgiving guy.
I am not a sentimental sucker for romantic movies.
I am not someone who enjoys a surprise, especially the kind involving diapers.
But most definitely, I enjoy torturing and killing people who betray me.
Now, I’m sitting across from Sophia as she spills out her deepest secret.
“I was sent to spy on you…by Aleks,” she chokes out, her voice breaking. “He has Nilo and Wren, and I don’t know… Luka, I don’t know if they’re still alive.”
My world shifts.
The room spins, and I feel like the floor is falling out from under me. My vision narrows, focusing only on her.
