Chapter 3

I arrived at the Central Commission Intelligence Division just after dawn.

The police station was unusually quiet. Officers hurried through the lobby while detectives exchanged reports from the night’s operations.

I barely noticed any of them. My eyes searched only for one person.

“Miss Sorell?”

An officer recognized me immediately.

“This way.”

I followed him toward the interrogation area. Before I even reached the room, I heard a woman’s laughter.

Then… Click. The sound of handcuffs unlocking.

I froze.

The interrogation room door opened, and a woman stepped outside. Long black hair. A crimson dress. The same face that had haunted my nightmares for five years.

Selene Ravka.

The officer beside her removed the last handcuff before speaking politely.

“You’re free to go, Miss.”

The moment her eyes landed on me, she smiled. It was arrogant and mocking. As though she had already won before the game had even begun.

She tilted her head. “You seem to have mistaken me for someone else.”

She stepped closer. “Who? Someone you despise so much…”

Her smile widened. “…that you’d call the police on an innocent woman?”

My lips parted, but no words came out.

Innocent?

Before I could answer… “Nyra.”

I turned.

Kaelis had just walked out of another office. A senior officer accompanied him, shaking his hand respectfully before leaving.

Kaelis looked perfectly composed. Too composed. There was no surprise on his face. No confusion. No relief after hearing that Selene had supposedly been found.

Instead, he strode straight toward me.

“Our wedding is today. Did you really plan to ruin it?”

I stared at him.

“…What?”

“Today, of all days? There are hundreds of guests arriving from all over Europe. The Commission. Our allies. Our families. And you choose today to make this accusation?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Was this really Kaelis?

The same man who had sworn before Orin’s grave that he would hunt Selene to the ends of the earth? The same man who spent five years beside my hospital bed?

My throat tightened.

“You’re…”

I forced the words out.

“You’re angry?”

His silence answered me. A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

“Then explain this.”

I pointed directly at the woman beside us.

“Isn’t she Selene Ravka? I saw the two of you together last night. I saw you kiss her.”

For the first time, something flickered across Kaelis’s eyes.

Before he could speak, another voice interrupted.

“Miss Sorell.”

The senior officer stepped forward.

I recognized him instantly. He had been the lead investigator on Orin’s murder. He had also handled the convoy explosion that supposedly killed my father.

He was the one who stood before me at the hospital and apologized because they couldn’t locate Selene Ravka.

“Were you the one who reported today’s case?”

“Yes.”

He sighed. “I’m afraid there’s been a misunderstanding.”

He gestured toward the woman beside Kaelis.

“This lady is not Selene Ravka.”

The words echoed inside my head.

Not… Selene?

No. Impossible. I knew that face. I would recognize it even after another fifty years.

I looked at her again.

She was already looking back at me, the corners of her lips lifting into the same mocking smile.

She was enjoying every second of my confusion.

“I believe I owe Miss Sorell an explanation,” she said softly.

Turning to the officers, she smiled.

“Would you mind letting me explain everything privately?”

The senior officer nodded. “Of course.”

She looked at me.

“Why don’t we continue outside?”

A few minutes later, we stood in the parking lot. Rows of black luxury vehicles waited outside.

She smiled apologetically. “This misunderstanding happened because I never introduced myself properly.”

She opened the passenger door of her car.

“May I borrow Miss Sorell for a moment?”

Kaelis glanced between us before gently kissing my forehead.

“I’ll be right behind you.”

His familiar warmth only made my heart ache.

“It’s alright. Listen to what she has to say. Then we’ll go to the cathedral together.”

He said it so casually, as though nothing had happened.

Still desperate for answers, I got into the passenger seat.

The door shut with a click.

The moment the car left the station, her smile disappeared.

She pressed harder on the accelerator. The city blurred past the windows. Then, without looking at me, she suddenly laughed.

A low, unrestrained laugh. Then she finally spoke.

“I am Selene Ravka.”

Silence. For several long seconds… I couldn’t even breathe.

She admitted it so casually. As though confessing to today’s weather.

She laughed louder. “I bribed that senior officer years ago.”

My fingers curled tightly.

“What?”

“The investigation into your limping brother.” She shrugged. “He closed it exactly the way I wanted.”

My entire body trembled.

“Orin…”

She nodded with a smile. “Yes. The sweet little cripple.”

My vision instantly turned red.

“You…”

She continued speaking as though discussing something amusing.

“I thought I’d already made myself perfectly clear years ago. I wanted you dead. I wanted you to be miserable. I wanted you to suffer until you willingly handed Kaelis over to me.”

She looked at me briefly before smiling.

“But in the end, I didn’t need to. I got him anyway.”

Every word stabbed deeper than the last.

So it was true. Everything I had witnessed last night, every kiss, every embrace, every lie, Kaelis had known all along. He had been protecting her. Protecting the woman who murdered Orin.

My breathing became uneven.

“Why…”

My voice shook violently.

“Why would Kaelis help you?”

She laughed again.

“Maybe you should ask your fiancé.” She deliberately emphasized the last word.

Then, as though remembering something amusing, she snapped her fingers.

“Oh. I almost forgot.” She smiled sweetly. “Do you know the bones buried beneath your brother’s grave?”

My heart stopped.

“What…”

She smiled.

“I had them replaced. With a cow’s bones.”

The world went silent.

Orin. The brother I had mourned. The grave I had visited. Every promise I had whispered beside that headstone…

There had never been anything of him left beneath it.

Something inside me shattered.

“You monster!”

I lunged across the center console and wrapped both hands around her neck.

“You deserve to die!”

She gasped but laughed anyway.

“I knew…”

“…you’d react like this.”

The car swerved violently. Tires screeched across the pavement. Still I refused to let go.

“You killed him! You destroyed my family!”

Selene clawed at my wrists.

“I’ll kill you!”

The steering wheel jerked sharply. The car accelerated even faster. A sharp curve appeared ahead.

The speed of the car got fast. Much too fast. Selene finally lost control.

“No—”

The car slammed directly into a massive tree. The impact threw everything forward. Glass exploded around us. Metal twisted.

Pain shot through every part of my body. Warm blood trickled down my forehead. My vision blurred. Darkness slowly swallowed everything.

Just before losing consciousness…

I made one final vow.

If I survived… I would make every single person who betrayed my family pay. Even if that person was Kaelis Virel.

Then, somewhere nearby… I faintly heard someone shouting.

“Nyra!”

Kaelis’s voice sounded desperate. Then, I heard footsteps, people running, sirens, and an ambulance. The sounds blended together inside my dizzy mind.

Everything hurts. Especially my arm.

Then I heard another voice.

“Mr. Virel! The collision trapped both women’s arms beneath the dashboard! We don’t have enough time! If we pull one free first, the other’s arm could suffer longer damage!”

My heart pounded weakly. I tried opening my eyes. But I couldn’t.

I tried calling Kaelis’s name. No sound came out.

The medic shouted again. “Please! You have to choose!”

Seconds passed.

Then, Kaelis answered without even a moment’s hesitation.

“Save her.” His voice was firm.

“If her arm is disabled, she’ll lose her mind.”

I waited. I waited for him to say my name.

Instead…

I felt him point somewhere else.

“Save Selene first.”