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I sigh, moving through the room until I reach the door, which I close behind me.

This life is over; my new one is just beginning.

I move quickly through the manor, trying to stay undetected as best I can. I've done this so many times, sneaking around, that I know the staff won't care; they never do. The music from the parlour booms through the main lobby, the roaring of laughter and cheering following. I know anyone who'd care about us leaving would be well into their fifth drink by now; we had time. So much time.

I step out into the gardens, the cool air hitting my face immediately. But for some reason, I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. Nerves, probably. I chalk it up to that and walk quickly, checking over every hedge on instinct. As I wait at the fountain for Melina, the same place we shared our very first kiss, I hear footsteps behind me, but they sound wrong. They don't sound like her. I turn quickly, ready for whatever comes next, but then I'm met with a searing pain in my skull. I slump to the ground, everything fading.

"You'll never take what's mine." A voice floods my ears, but I can't see, I can barely hear. My heartbeat is in my ears, and a dark cloud covers my eyes until there's nothing but black.

My eyes shoot open, my head pounding beneath a single light. I try to move, but my body's disorientated. I shove my arms, trying to break free, and that's when I see the chains binding me to a chair—wrapped around my wrists, my chest, my ankles holding me in place.

"Let me fucking go!" I scream out into the room, bucking against the weight of the heavy links.

"Now, now, Ace. No need to be so dramatic." I hear the voice again, laughing. Mocking.

Vincent

"Why are you doing this? Archie will—" He cuts me off before I can threaten him with his father, the same way I'd always done. Vincent didn't scare easily, but he was fucking terrified of his father, just like we all were.

"He'll do what, Ace? Beat me? Chain me?" He scoffs. "Kill me?"

The door opens, and I spot the women walk in, but they look weird. Wrong. They don't belong here. They're pulling an IV trolley beside them as they get closer, moving around me with ease. I try to move, but I can't. I try to fight as needles find their way into my veins.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I shout, but they don't care.

"What someone should have done a long time ago, Ace. You think you can come into my home, take my family? My father? Who doted on you for fucking years, for God knows what reason? I used to believe it was pity, that he pitied the pathetic little worm you were, but then I heard it, the way he spoke about you to others. His son. His fucking son." He spits as he talks, his eyes dark and glaring. "How could you ever be referred to as that? How could anyone believe that you belonged to this family when you're nothing, some little rat that scurried his way in?" He steps closer, hands running along the bag that hangs from the IV. "Your own mother couldn't stand you. She'd rather pump herself full of poison than be near you."

"Go fuck yourself—" His hand lunges as he back hands me. The taste of blood fills my mouth, and I spit it at the ground. "You should see someone about those daddy issues, Vince. Can't be healthy."

He laughs in response, straightening his suit. "Daddy issues? You clearly haven't met Melina if you think what I have is daddy issues."

"Take her fucking name out of your mouth!" I scream, lunging forward, but the chains hold me back. The pain sears in my arm from the canula the women had fitted.

"Hit a nerve, have I?" He laughs, moving to the door. I watch as he opens it just enough for me to see her. Her eyes stay fixed on the floor, her hair sodden wet.

"Who do you think told me about your plans, Ace? How do you think I knew to come to the gardens, to stop you before you made a mistake?"

I study her face, her frame smaller than I'd ever seen before, and she finally looks up, meeting my gaze. And I see it. The truth in his words. The betrayal on her lips.

"I'm so sorry, Jax…" she whispers, her face breaking.

"No. No, you wouldn't. Lina, you didn't—" I can't hold back the pain, the hurt. The devastation.

"I think I'll give you both a moment. Let you love birds catch up." He leans into Melina, kissing her head as he passes. "I'll be watching, Melina."

He steps outside of the room, the women following behind him until there's only me and the woman I'd spent ten years loving.

"Tell me it's not true, Melina. Tell me he's lying, that he forced you."

She doesn't speak. She holds herself, her bottom lip trembling.

"He's my family, Jax."

"No. Don't give me that shit. These people aren't your fucking family, Lina. I was your family."

"I couldn't leave him, not after⁠—"

"Then why tell him? Why force me to stay, force me in this life we both fucking hate?" I spit. I see her breaking, but a part of me begins to die. Is it my love for her? Or is it the reality that I'll never be free from this place?