Owen studied her in silence, as if trying to asure the weight of her resolve. Then, slowly, he nodded. "Fine. I accept."
Sophia’s lips curved into a faint, confident smile—not taunting, but certain. "One more thing. You may have set the rules of this ga, but every ga has an ending...But don’t forget—before anyone reaches the finish line, there are countless tis they fail first."
He turned toward the shattered window, his expression thoughtful. Even he was curious now—who would be the one to win this twisted ga?
...
Out on the road, Lucas drove one-handed, his other hand gripping the steering wheel tight as his voice cut through the car’s Bluetooth system.
"Lucas, I’m here," Kai reported through the line, "but there’s sothing off. There’s another group here—I can’t tell who they are."
Lucas’s brows knitted. "Another group? That’s impossible."
Kai handled intelligence for him across continents. Lucas rarely sent him into the field, and now that he had, to hear about unknown parties was a problem he didn’t like.
"They’re well-trained," Kai added. "Not ordinary."
"Don’t make a move," Lucas ordered coldly. "I’ll be there in five minutes."
He hung up, pressed harder on the accelerator, and the engine roared.
...
In a small forest beside the junkyard, hidden among rusted tal and wild vines—
"Billy, what do we do now?" Angela whispered, barely breathing.
"Don’t panic," Billy replied calmly. "Mom’s fine for now."
His young face was smudged with camouflage paint. Beside him, Charles and Dustin crouched low, their eyes sharp and cold.
Monts later, Eric crept up from the other side. "Billy, should we take them out?"
"Not yet," Billy murmured, eyes locked on the red dots blinking on his laptop. "There’s more. It’s not just us eight—there are others. The people holding Mom hostage number twelve. And at our nine o’clock... six more."
The glow of the screen reflected in Billy’s serious, disciplined face.
"If we wait too long, and Dad shows up, we might lose our chance to strike," Eric warned.
"Patience," Billy said firmly. "Mom’s okay. She’s talking to the guy—looks like they’ve made so kind of deal. No aggression on either side yet."
Eric frowned, clutching his binoculars. "Thank God you thought ahead and hid a tracker in her bracelet. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have even known she’d been taken."
They’d discovered her abduction long before Lucas had.
Billy had given Sophia that bracelet himself—a sleek design concealing a chip that pinged her location if she moved more than ten kiloters away.
When he saw her signal jump across the map at unnatural speed, he knew sothing was wrong.
Good thing they found her in ti.
Suddenly, a tall woman in a skin-tight suit dropped beside Billy, her tone low and crisp. "Master, movent at nine o’clock. Do we intercept?"
"Let them be," Billy ordered quietly. "The people inside have Mom. Those others might be Dad’s n."
It was the only explanation that made sense.
"Piper, no unnecessary kills. If they’re Dad’s, you pull out—imdiately."
"Yes, sir."
Piper bowed her head. No one looking at this scene would ever believe the calm, boyish face before her belonged to the leader of one of the world’s most secretive underground networks.
A group that obeyed only one voice—Billy’s.
...
Inside the junkyard, Owen tapped his cane impatiently. "It’s been twenty minutes, and there’s still no sign of him. Seems your mighty Lucas doesn’t care as much as you think. Maybe all his sweet words were just part of his little ga."
A knife glead in his hand—sleek, polished, deadly.
Sophia’s eyes flicked to it, then back to him. "You’re running out of patience, aren’t you?"
He laughed. "Not . But our little ga has rules, doesn’t it? And he’s already forfeited. I called him when you were still unconscious. If he doesn’t co..."
The blade flashed as Owen smiled cruelly. "...then, my dear, you’re mine."
He lifted the blade and dragged it gently across her cheek. A thin, red line blood almost instantly.
"Look at that—such delicate skin. What a waste when so people don’t know how to cherish it," he sneered.
"Has no one ever told you not to be so arrogant?" Lucas’s voice cut through the air.
Everyone turned.
"Oh, I thought you wouldn’t show. Guess I underestimated you," Owen mocked.
"Let her go. We can talk this out—one-on-one," Lucas said, steady but controlled. He couldn’t let his fear show; if he did, the man across from him would only grow more reckless.
"How dare you ask for my terms? Lucas, my whole family died because of you! Today you pay," Owen snarled.
"Pay? The Reid affair has nothing to do with us. You’ve got the wrong people," Lucas denied. Why should he be accused for cris he never committed?
Owen shrugged as if Lucas’s protests ant nothing. "You can deny it until you’re blue in the face. Fine—if you want to spare her, I’ll give you a choice."
He nodded once, then laughed. "But only one of you walks away. Which will it be? Her life, or yours?"
"Owen, don’t cross the line. If you harm her, I’ll make you wish you’d never been born!" Lucas warned.
"I’ve already been living a life worse than death," Owen spat. "Every day and night is hell. I hear my parents’ screams, my brother’s voice. He could have been the one to survive—I was the only one left. If I don’t get revenge, I’ll never have peace."
In a blur, Owen’s knife pressed to Sophia’s throat. "She dies, or you die."
"Owen! Put it down!" soone yelled.
"Answer !" Owen demanded, feverish and unhinged. Sophia looked at Lucas and said, calm and clear, "You go. Leave ."
"Sophia, what are you saying?" Lucas protested.
"Fine—then you die, and I live." The mont she spoke, the ropes binding her were sliced.
She had been waiting too. But now her words were ant to force a decision.
Lucas clenched his fists so tight his knuckles whitened.
"Owen said only one of you can live. She chose to live—what about you? Will you let her go or walk away?" Owen cackled, doubled over, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
"Is this what you call true love?" he mocked. "Pitiful. I thought you two were sothing special—what a disappointnt."
"The world is selfish," he continued, venom dripping. "People love themselves first—especially you, Lucas. You faked being crippled to con your uncle—your own father’s brother—and then you wiped us out."
Owen shook his head, wiped his eyes with the back of his hand like a man pretending not to be moved.
"All right, all right," he said, turning his gaze back to Sophia. "See? The ga’s over—you lost."
Sophia looked at Lucas and smiled, not surprised by the outco. She’d expected this.
"Lu—" she began.
Before she could finish, Lucas’s face hardened. With absolute resolve he said, "She lives."
Owen froze, stunned. "What did you say?"
"I choose her to live. Are you deaf? Do you want to say it again?"
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