Chapter 6 - The Broken Sanctuary
The glass shattered inward, raining tiny, harmless crystals across my lap.
I screamed, instinctively reaching back to shield the twins.
Luca ripped the car door open with terrifying strength.
"Get out of the car, Nia," he commanded perfectly calmly.
"You are a monster!" I yelled, refusing to move.
He did not argue.
He simply reached past me, unbuckled my seatbelt, and pulled me out onto the highway shoulder.
Two of his massive security guards immediately stepped between me and my car.
"Mommy!" Mia cried from the back seat.
"Don't touch them!" I screamed, fighting against the guards.
Luca opened the back doors and unbuckled the twins himself.
He lifted them gently into his arms, one on each side.
His expression softened the moment he held them.
"It is okay, I am your father," Luca whispered to them.
The twins looked at me, completely terrified and seeking permission.
"Put them down, Luca, you are scaring them," I pleaded, tears streaming down my face.
"They are coming home with me, where they belong," he stated coldly.
"You cannot legally take them like this," I argued frantically.
Luca nodded to one of his men.
The guard handed me a thick, court-stamped document.
"The judge granted me temporary emergency custody twenty minutes ago," Luca explained.
"Based on what?" I demanded, reading the legal jargon through my tears.
"Based on your documented history of severe psychological instability," Luca replied smoothly.
I stopped struggling and stared at him in horror.
"I have no psychological history."
"You do now," Evelyn said, stepping out of the second SUV.
She smiled that perfect, venomous smile.
"We submitted the psychiatric hold records from the night you attacked that poor nurse at the clinic," Evelyn lied flawlessly.
I had never attacked anyone in my entire life.
They had completely fabricated a history of mental illness to strip away my rights.
"You won't get away with this," I swore to Evelyn.
Luca turned away, carrying my crying children toward his vehicle.
"Bring her," Luca ordered his men without looking back.
The guards grabbed my arms and forced me into the back of Evelyn's SUV.
We drove in agonizing silence toward Luca's sprawling, fortified estate outside the city.
The massive iron gates slowly swung open to reveal the imposing mansion.
They escorted me inside and locked me in a beautiful, heavily guarded guest room.
I paced the floor for hours, listening for the sounds of my children.
Sometime after midnight, the lock clicked, and Evelyn walked into the room alone.
She handed me a steaming cup of tea.
"Drink up, Nia, it is going to be a very long war," Evelyn smiled.
I knocked the porcelain cup out of her hand, shattering it against the wall.
Evelyn laughed softly.
"Luca actually still loves you, you know," she whispered.
May you like
I glared at her, completely confused by her sudden honesty.
"That is exactly why I hired the hitman to kill you tomorrow," she added brightly.
