Bonds

Chapter Izo

-Maya’s POV-

My head felt like a hollow shell, devoid of any thoughts or memories. The very concept of death, something I’d always pushed to the back of my mind, was now a terrifying reality I couldn’t escape.

Would it be like this?

My soul leaving my body, a helpless observer as my physical form grew cold and lifeless?

The inside of my skull was a vast emptiness, yet a searing pain pulsed through my body, so intense it threatened to consume me whole.

Was this it?

Was this what death felt like?

Had I finally received the answer to a question I hadn’t dared to ask myself before?

Then, a noxious stench, sharp and acrid, invaded my senses, snapping me back to a semblance of awareness. It filled the void in my mind, forcing reality back into focus. The hospital. The drive to the airport. The sickening crunch of metal as our car collided with another. The concrete wall looming impossibly close… and then, darkness.

My eyes flew open, a scream tearing from my throat. “Ivy! Nate!

Panic surged through me as I tried to sit up, but my body wouldn’t obey. I was strapped tightly to a rickety wooden chair, my arms and legs secured with rough rope that bit into my skin. Fear, cold and primal, clawed at my throat.

Where was I?

What was happening?

I renewed my struggles, desperate to break free. But with each strained movement, a wave of weakness washed over me. My breath hitched in my throat, and I screamed again, my voice hoarse and raw. “Ivy! Nate! Someone please! Who’s there? Where are my children? Let me go!”

a cramped,dimly lit room, the air thick with the stench of sewage and decay. Rough, damp stone formed the walls, and the floor was slick with a

pipes snaked along the walls, dripping with condensation that pattered onto the floor in a rhythmic counterpoint to

from iron hooks embedded in the walls, some dangling ominously empty, others bearing the weight of heavy shackles. The room was an

answers. Where was I? Who had taken me? Most importantly, where were the twins? The thought of them alone, lost and frightened, sent a fresh wave of terror

with my mind. But the familiar presence was numb. She was

off the stone walls, a pathetic sound

။။

Chapter 128

dripping water

silence, making me jump. “Will

the sound, and in the flickering light and I saw Adrian standing in the shadows, his face contorted in a look of

Let me go right now! Where are my children? I swear on the Moon Goddess, if you’ve laid a finger on them,

wave of his hand. “Stop the shouting. You’re getting

go, Adrian! Whatever twisted game this is to get

finally gets a mention. How’s my dear old friend doing these days? Public enemy

in my mind. “It was

too busy chasing after him to

his jab, I pressed on, my voice trembling with a mixture of fear and fury. “Were you the one sending the messages? All of them?” Blackmailing

dark chuckle. “Don’t flatter yourself, Amaya. You’re not that important for me to blackmail. Alex is the one I want to see suffer and you

Why kidnap me? Where are the twins?” My mind raced, desperately searching for an escape plan,

for a moment, his eyes fixed on me as if he was studying some fascinating specimen. “I can’t believe you still love him. After everything he did to you, to us. You’re nothing

you have some sick revenge

here, Amaya. I’m just

snapped, my voice raw with a mixture of terror and fury. “Screw you and screw whatever

sent shivers down my spine. It wasn’t a friendly smile, it was a smile filled with a chilling amusement, a promise of something dark and twisted. He held my gaze for a moment,