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!”

in a cramped,dimly lit room, the air thick with the stench of sewage and decay. Rough, damp stone

ceiling, and fat, moisture–laden spiders scuttled across them, their movements jerky and unsettling. Exposed pipes snaked along

dangling ominously empty, others bearing the weight of heavy shackles. The

my throat, constricting my airways. My mind raced, desperate for answers. Where was I? Who had taken me? Most importantly, where were the

with my mind. But the familiar presence

screamed again, my voice echoing off the stone walls, a pathetic sound

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Chapter 128

the dripping water and the

silence, making me jump. “Will you please shut

towards the sound, and in the flickering light and I saw Adrian standing in the

go right now! Where are my children? I swear

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

this is to get back at Alex, leave me and my children

old Alex finally gets a mention. How’s my dear old

“It was you! You sent the footage!

as ever, aren’t we?” he mocked. “I told you I’d expose Alex to the world. You were too busy chasing after him to see anything else. Seems you

on, my voice trembling with a mixture of fear and

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

raced, desperately searching for an escape

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 but

up and let me go! If you have some sick revenge plot with

step back. “I didn’t bring you here, Amaya. I’m just here to enjoy the show,” he added with a theatrical flourish, “Besides I always give

voice raw with a mixture of terror and fury. “Screw you and screw whatever this is all about! Let me go right

smile, it was a smile filled with a chilling amusement, a promise of something dark