Chapter 11
This had to end. One way or another. I had been watching from the sidelines long enough, pulling strings, making Elias and Sabrina squirm, but now? Now they had turned the tables.
They had painted me as the villain. They had made me the criminal.
Sabrina’s fake tears, the public outrage, the damn arrest warrant–it was all too much. So I made a decision.
I grabbed my phone, dialed a familiar number, and waited.
The line rang once. Twice.
Then-
“Veronica?”
Elias’s voice came through, rough, strained.
I smirked. “Why am I suddenly a suspect in something I didn’t do?”
There was a pause.
Then he exhaled sharply. “You disappeared, Veronica. Without a trace. You think that doesn’t make you look suspicious?”
I scoffed. “And that automatically makes me guilty?”
“Where are you?” he demanded, his voice sharp. “Why did you vanish?”
I could hear the frustration in his voice. The desperation.
Good. I leaned back against my chair, tapping my nails against the table.
“I left,” I said smoothly, “because I’m getting married.”
Silence.
Then-
“What?”
I smirked.
Elias’s tone shifted, tight and rigid. “What do you mean, married?”
I twirled a loose strand of hair between my fingers. “I mean exactly what I said.”
Another pause, I could hear his breathing, heavy and uneven.
“Veronica,” he said, his voice dangerously low, “who?”
But I didn’t answer. Instead, I ended the call. And blocked his number.
I imagined his expression–the disbelief, the anger, the loss of control. And for the first time in a long time, I felt powerful.
Elias stared at his phone, his mind reeling. She hung up on him. She blocked him.
Married? What the hell did she mean married? No, she wouldn’t do that! Veronica was his- forever! He didn’t agree on that! He still wanted Veronica
His fingers tightened around the phone, his jaw clenching so hard it hurt. He had spent days searching for her. He had stood in the rain, waiting, hoping for something And now she had the
The Moment He Chaseide
5:30 pm
DDD.
audacity to act like she had moved on?
No. No, that wasn’t possible.
Before he could call Jasmine–before he could do anything–his phone buzzed again.
A message from the police.
We have a lead on Patty’s location. Sending coordinates now.
Elias’s heart pounded. Finally. He grabbed his keys, barking orders to his men as he rushed out the door.
This was it. He was going to get his daughter back. And then he was going to find Veronica.
leaned forward, watching the security monitors as Elias and Sabrina rushed into the warehouse. They were frantic. Panicked.
Good. Patty was lying on a makeshift cot, fast asleep, completely unharmed.
But they didn’t know that. Not yet.
watched as Sabrina practically threw herself toward the child, shaking her awake, sobbing, ressing desperate kisses to her forehead.
Elias stood beside them, his expression tight with emotion, his hands shaking as he touched ‘atty’s hair.
For a split second, something in my chest twisted. Then I remembered what they did to my child. How I had been the one left sobbing, alone, helpless. The pain. The rage.
They needed to feel it too. So I pressed a button. A small light flickered on. And then, the beeping
tarted.
Sabrina froze. Her hands trembled as she slowly pulled back Patty’s blanket-
And then she screamed. Because strapped to Patty’s tiny body-
Vas a bomb. I smirked.
lias paled, his entire body going rigid as he stumbled backward.
Oh my God,” Sabrina sobbed, gripping Elias’s shirt. “Oh my God, do something!”
Elias dropped to his knees, frantically inspecting the device. His hands were shaking.
here was a countdown.
hree minutes.
Elias fumbled with the wires. “Shit. I–I don’t know how to disarm this.”
Sabrina sobbed harder, pressing Patty to her chest.
Please!” she cried. “Somebody help!”
leaned closer to the screen, watching, waiting, savoring the moment.
They had no way out. No escape.
For the first time, they were powerless. Just like I had been.
Elias’s breath came in ragged gasps. His forehead dripped with sweat as he tried–desperately- to dismantle the bomb.
“hapter 11
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56.1%
5:30 pm
One minute left. Sabrina was begging.
Patty, still half–asleep, whimpered, confused by the chaos around her.
Thirty seconds. Elias closed his eyes, his hand gripping the back of his daughter’s head. Twenty seconds.
He pressed a shaking kiss to Patty’s forehead, his voice breaking. “Daddy loves you.”
Ten seconds. Sabrina let out a broken sob.
Elias squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself-
Five seconds.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Click.
Nothing.
No explosion.
No pain.
Nothing.
Elias’s eyes snapped open.
Sabrina was gasping, frantically touching herself, checking for injuries- But there were none. The bomb was fake.
started laughing.
leaned back in my chair, my laughter filling the empty room.
At least now, they understood.
They felt it. The helplessness. The fear. The agonizing pain of knowing you were about to lose someone you love and being powerless to stop it.
wiped a tear from my eye, still grinning.
Now we’re even,” I murmured.
And I turned off the screen.
Chapter 11
