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⚠️ Content Warning:
This chapter contains scenes of a planned accident and emotional conspiracy.
Reader discretion is advised due to physical injury and intentional harm
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The rain hadn't stopped in two days. The sky wept steadily, and the roads glistened with sorrow.
So did Nia.
She hadn't slept, hadn't eaten anything beyond dry toast. Her tablet screen still displayed the article that cracked her world:
"Liv Arin Launches Solo Brand — A Bold New Era"
Her sister's name, alone. No mention of their joint brand. No history. No Nia.
Zavian's hand on Liv's shoulder in the picture seemed like a knife pressing deeper.
She grabbed her coat with shaking hands.
> "I just need to breathe."
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The streets were slick with rain, headlights blurred like ghosts across the road.
She drove without thinking. Her heart was louder than the engine.
> "Thirty-five seconds. That's all. But it made me your protector. Your second spine. Why did you cut me off, Liv?"
She blinked back tears.
That's when the truck came.
Screech. Impact. Metal crushing metal.
Darkness swallowed everything.
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Scene Cut – Hospital, 3:22 a.m.
Monitors beeped rhythmically.
Nia lay in a sterile bed, her skin pale, a gash across her brow, leg in a cast, IV line dripping slowly.
The door opened with a soft click.
Kavian and Zavian entered quietly.
Zavian's gaze swept the room. "Stable. Minor head trauma, broken leg. Nothing critical."
Kavian stood at her bedside, staring down with no emotion.
> "She looks pathetic."
> "She wasn't supposed to survive."
Kavian's jaw tightened. "She never dies easy. Always had that stubborn streak."
> "So? Finish it?"
Kavian didn't answer immediately. His voice lowered.
> "No. Not now. If she dies, questions follow. Let her wake up. Let her think she's safe."
> "And the company?"
Kavian smirked. "She won't even realize it's crumbling until it's too late."
Zavian gave a half-smile. "And if she tries to fight?"
Kavian's eyes glinted like a blade.
> "Then we break her spirit before her bones."
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Scene Cut – Just Outside the Door
A nurse paused, balancing a tray of medicine. Her eyes widened as she caught their voices. She stepped back, horror dawning.
But as she turned—
Zavian blocked her path.
His smile was ice.
> "Going somewhere, miss?"
The tray clattered to the floor.
Her scream never came.
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Scene Cut – Driving Through Rain
Liv's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as the wipers brushed away her tears.
She hadn't meant to come.
She'd told herself she wouldn't.
> "She'll be fine," she muttered. "She always is."
But deep inside, something twisted. That last conversation haunted her.
> "We were two halves of the same whole."
She had walked away.
But now, something inside her whispered:
What if she never gets to walk back?
Her heart pounded. The hospital came into view.
> "Hold on, Nia. Please... just hold on."
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[End of Chapter 4]
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> If you're hurting in real life, please don't carry it alone. Talk to someone. You matter.