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SOFIA'S POV
‘Very clever,’ I commented.
Thinking, ‘Attacking Doc to shift the pack's focus. The time they would have used to sniff out evidence, they used it to hurl insults at an innocent person, meanwhile, the real culprit mixed up in the crowd, probably having a smirk on her face, feeling proud of her actions.’
This means that after she knocked out everyone, she dragged them into the pack, waiting.
She met us first, leading the entire way forward.
Her openness never gave us the chance to suspect her.
She took advantage of the trust we had in her as a teammate working and fighting together.
Despite the both of us never seeing eye to eye, Ava always loved making snarky remarks, attacking me, which I had never understood as no one bothered to let me know, including Leon.
But even with that, she was still my teammate.
The betrayal stung harshly. If it was like this for me, I didn't dare imagine how it would be for the people who were actually closer to her.
It must hurt like flesh being slowly sliced off.
I've been fooled by her, in fact, but it seems like everyone had been fooled by her.
‘I have to inform Leon,’ I made to leave, realizing how stupid I was, thinking I could handle it alone.
I fished out my phone from my pocket, carefully tapping the Do Not Disturb button.
Ava couldn't know I was here.
I called Leon. Once it rang, I stepped away from the door to talk to him. Just then, I heard something that blew my mind.
“Um… the little boy… is— is he okay?”
I froze, my foot hovering off the floor. My head tilted slightly as I tried to understand exactly what I was hearing.
“No, no, sir, I'm not trying to disengage from our deal,” her flattering voice responded.
“And I know you've been helping me, it's just… I know it's out of my place, but I just want to know if he's okay. The mother has been going haywire ever since she found out.”
‘What? Is that what I think it is?’ Completely forgetting about the ringing phone, I stared at the door.
Inside, there was a pause. Silence descended for a moment, then the conversation continued.
“Yes, sir, I'm aware.”
‘Is she talking about my child?’
“She’s also back. Her other child, the twin of the boy, is with her, but she's unconscious. Should I bring her?”
I gave a start. ‘She’s talking about my child!’
I saw red, blinding rage overtaking my reasoning.
The next things that happened were in blurs. Before my body could realize it, I had kicked open the door, barging into her house.
Ignoring her stunned face and eyes wide in horror, I threw myself at her, lunging.
Tackling her to the tiles, I gripped her collar, balling it up. With reddened eyes, I stared at her, growling, “Where. Is. My. Son?” My fist around her collar tightened.
My words snapped her out of her shock. She stammered, her eyelashes fluttering up and down.
Immediately, they rested on my enraged figure. She swiftly averted it, panic seeping into her eyes.
“Sofia!” she yelled out, her brows furrowing in confusion.
Like the pages of a book being flipped, the panic and confusion I had witnessed earlier vanished, like what I saw earlier was an illusion.
I knew this was Ava, the composed interrogator.
My shoulders tensed, my guard raising up. I wouldn't be moved, believing whatever lies she was about to spout out of those lips of hers.
“What's wrong with you?” she shot at me, but I could see it in her eyes, which moved cautiously, searching around her as she spoke to me.
I wouldn’t be playing any games with her. I had no such time.
Thinking this, I tightened my hold on her collar once more, crossing my thigh over her torso, caging her from standing up.
I lifted her from the floor, drawing her face closer to mine, and with seething flames spitting out of my eyes, I spat, “Don’t play jokes with me, Ava. I heard what you were saying before with the person on the phone— the little boy… his twin sister— unconscious!”
My voice increased with each word that came out of my lips.
How could she? I thought.
I shook my head, dispelling my thoughts. I didn’t want to go down a rabbit hole of why and what-ifs.
My son needed me the most now, and I’d do anything to get him back.
Even if it's to…
I stared at Ava’s figure beneath me. Murderous intentions flashed through my mind.
But immediately, I jerked awake, astonished.
How could I think of such a thing?
And surprisingly, I wasn’t as averse to it as I usually am.
I shook Ava. “Tell me where my son is. Where is Alex!”
I could hardly stop myself from screaming into her face.
At my words, the staged confusion, which looked so real, was wiped out of her face. For a second, her facial expression became very blank.
Like a plain canvas, her composure had set in.
But my anxiousness only grew.
She stared at me, her eyes defiant, telling me she wouldn't be saying a thing even if I forced open her mouth.
That was the feeling I got.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” was what she said to me.
Her words were like a fire to the fuse.
‘It seems she's adamant on denying her involvement.’
I wrestled with my emotions, which tried to get the best of me.
Voices whispered to me, urging me to let go, to do what was in my heart, dangling the price of finding my son before me.
And I didn’t resist.
Untangling my right arm from her collar, I reeled it backward, folding my fingers into a fist.
If you can't talk, then I don't mind adding a little extra effort.
My fist descended toward her, but—
Something slammed into me from behind.