Chapter 189 

The movement I spoke was when it happened. 

The car jerked. Tires screamed. Glass shattered. A deafening boom erupted from somewhere behind, and before I could even register what was happening, everything turned upside down. 

My head slammed into the window. Pain exploded through my skull. 

Screams. 

Gunshots. 

Then nothing. 

Just black. 

When I came to my senses, my mouth was dry. The taste of blood coated my tongue. My hands were tied behind my back, wrists raw from whatever rope or cuffs they’d used. My head throbbed with every breath I took, and when I tried to move, pain radiated down my side like someone had cracked me in 

half. 

It was cold. Not freezing, but cold enough that goosebumps erupted across my skin. 

Where the hell was I? 

A light flickered above, humming faintly. The air smelled like damp concrete and something rotting. A basement. Or worse. 

Footsteps echoed. 

Then the door opened with a groan. 

And there he was. 

Nico. 

He walked in slowly, like he had all the time in the world, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and his phone in the other. Calm 

no rush to pounce. 

“Good morning, sunshine,” he said. 

Smirking. A predator with 

I didn’t answer. 

He crouched in front of me, resting his elbows on his knees, eyes flicking over my face. “Rough night?” 

1 turned my head away. 

He grabbed my chin hard–and forced me to look at him. 

“You know,” he said, voice cold and casual, “it’s always the quiet ones who have the biggest mouths when they think they’re safe.” 

I yanked my head back. “Screw you.” 

He laughed. “Maybe later. But first, let’s get one thing straight.” He stood and paced slowly in front of me. “You thought you could play spy? Sneak into my inner circle, mess with my head?” 

Silence. 

Chapter 189 

at know everything now,” he continued. “You’re not just Dominic’s pet project. You‘ re his inside man. fils bait. You’ve badi tanding him internet wheir damn time, 

Still, I said nothing wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. 

But he wasn’t done. 

“Here’s the part I think you’ll find most interesting,” he said, pulling something from his pocket and tossing it on the ground in front of me. 

A bloodstained watch. 

Dominic’s. 

My stomach dropped. 

“I guess you could say your little boyfriend had a worse night than you.” Nico crouched again, expression sickeningly pleased. “I hot him hard. Flipped three times. Went up in flames.” 

“No…” The word barely left my lips. My chest constricted like someone had stuffed it with concrete. 

He saw the crack in my expression and grinned. “Yeah. That’s about what I expected. Don’t worry, I’m sure someone will identify what’s left of his body.” 

I wanted to throw up. 

But I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. I swallowed the bile, forced myself not to cry. 

“Kill me,” I said, voice low. 

Nico tilted his head. “Not yet. We’re just getting started.” He stood, and this time his expression shifted into something darker–colder. “You’re not gonna die easy, Aria. That’d be a waste. First, you’re gonna watch your little empire fall. Then you’ll beg for death.” 

He pulled his phone out again and tapped the screen. 

“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice hoarse. 

Make sure the whole world knows what you really are.” 

“Sending Dominic to his grave properly,” he said. “Let’s 

He turned the screen so I could see… 

A picture of me. 

Half–naked. 

From earlier. 

My past, clawing its way into the present. 

“Say goodbye, princess.” 

Then he hit send. 

I shouted, my voice raw, “You videoed me while unconscious? You sick fuck!!” 

Nico chuckled. Just amused. The kind of laugh that made your stomach twist. 

“Calm down, darling. You’re sick, remember?” He crouched beside me again, brushing a strand of blood–matted hair from my face like we were lovers having a sweet moment. “Soon to die… shouldn’t you be happy I brought you back to your roots? Your main job, before you die. Being a slut.” 

1 spit in his face. 

Chapter 189 

He didn’t finch, Just wiped it with the back of his hand and gave a slow, almost impressed hod. 

You know, fused to like you, Arla,” he said, “Really. I saw potential. You were pretty, sharp when you weren’t playing dumb. I wanted you, I wanted in protect you in my own way, But you…” 

His voice tightened. 

“You’re so fucking stupid. You couldn’t even see the one person who actually wanted your betterment.” 

My skin crawled. “You don’t want anyone’s betterment, Nico. You want control.” 

હિમતન 

“Same thing.” He stood again, brushing off invisible lint. “Dominic never deserved you. But you chased after him like a puppy begging to be kicked. And look where it got you. Captured. Broken. Alone. About to be famous for all the wrong reasons.” 

He looked at his phone. “I wonder how many views that clip will get.” 

My heart pounded. I forced myself not to look away, not to cower. “Dominic’s not dead.” 

“Oh?” he said with a grin, stepping closer, his shadow casting over me. “Still clinging to that delusion?” 

“If you believed he was dead,” I rasped, “you wouldn’t still be scared.” 

That made him pause. Just for a second. 

Then he smiled–wide and cruel. “You’ve got guts. I’ll give you that. Maybe I won’t kill you yet. Maybe I’ll let you watch everything unravel first.” 

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a sleek black phone. A burner. 

He tapped something. I didn’t know what he was doing until I saw the screen light up with a call. A FaceTime call. 

To Dominic. 

The moment it connected, I saw his face. Tense. Alive. But the bruises were there, scars and bandages on his head. His jaw clenched so hard I could 

almost hear it through the screen. 

“Aria,” he growled. 

I opened my mouth to speak but Nico grabbed my chin, squeezing until I whimpered. “Ah ah,” he said, looking at the camera, “She doesn’t talk unless I say so.” 

Dominic’s nostrils flared. “If you touch her, I swear Nico…” 

“You’ll do what?” Nico leaned in closer, lips brushing my ear. “You’ll what, Dominic? You’ll let more of your men die for her? Watch another safehouse 

burn?” 

He kissed the side of my neck slowly, I felt disgusted as his tongue licked it. 

“Stop it!” Dominic roared. 

I felt Nico’s smug grin against my skin as he pulled away. “This is just a preview,” he said. “And if you want the real show to end any differently…” 

He angled the phone, letting Dominic see the bruises on my wrists, the blood dried on my temple, the fear I tried not to show. 

“Come alone,” Nico said. 

His grin widened from ear to ear. 

“Or she dies.”