I clenched my jaw, swallowing the bitterness of that truth.It wasn’t my place to speak up, to do anything at all. I had no right to interfere.
I could only accept it.
She’s his. Simple as that.
After tomorrow, Allyn will be a King. My brother’s legal wife.
My father, oblivious to the mess brewing inside me, put the phone on speaker once it rang, scanning through documents with his back to us.
Then, my father’s voice broke the stillness.
“I’m listening, Lydia.”
From the other side of the phone, we heard a crashing sound, then a woman’s scream.
The kind of scream you never expect to hear from Lydia.
“I need backup,” Lydia’s voice came through, frantic and breathless. “They broke into the apartment. I’ve been shot. Hurry thefuck up.”
Angelo and I exchanged a glance.My father froze, his usual composure slipping as he dropped the documents, his expression shifting to something far darker.
He grabbed the phone with urgency.
“What the hell happened?” he barked.
Lydia’s voice came again, strained and pained.
“They took Allyn,’’ She said. ‘’They took her.”
Then the line cut out.
CHAPTER39
ALLYN
A blinding light pierced my vision, forcing my eyelids open.
Everything around me was blurry, as though I was drunk or drugged.
My body froze as panic shot through me. The moment my surroundings came into focus, I realized—this place wasn’t familiar.
I was trapped in a lavish, cream-colored room, the kind of room I only saw in magazines. To my right, large windows offered a stunning view of a sprawling garden, the flowers almost mocking the chaos inside my mind.
My heart hammered against my ribs, each beat louder than the last. I shot out of bed, my legs unsteady as I rushed to the door, only to find it locked.
I wasn’t just panicked. I was terrified.
Memories rushed back in a violent wave.The apartment. Men in black, bursting in with weapons. Lydia’s scream as they shot her, the sound cutting through my mind like a knife.
My own scream as I tried to reach her—before a strong arm wrapped around me and a cloth covered my face, choking the air from my lungs.
Then, darkness.
I don’t know how long I was out, but it was long enough. Just as I thought I might lose consciousness again, the door clicked open.
A woman stepped inside. She wore a black and white uniform, her short chocolate-brown hair framing a soft, neutral face. Her eyes, warm and brown, met mine as she placed her hands in front of her body.
“Come with me, miss,” she said softly, her tone carrying no trace of threat. “He’s expecting you.”