Chapter 346

The air crackled with tension as Mia's grip tightened on my shoulders, her fingers digging into my skin like claws. I stared at her in stunned silence as she shook me violently, her voice rising to a fevered pitch.

"He’s not breathing, Evie!" she screamed, her words echoing off the walls of the hotel room. "He might be dead!"

I struggled to break free from her grasp, my heart hammering in my chest as panic coursed through my veins like wildfire. "Mia, calm down," I urged, my voice strained with desperation. "We'll check on him, I promise."

Mia's eyes blazed with fury as she released me, her gaze darting around the hall. And then she saw him, standing beside me like a specter from the past. Timothy, the one person Mia despised above all others.

Her shock turned to fury in an instant, her face contorted with rage as she advanced on him with all the fury of a tempest unleashed. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, her voice a sharp dagger in the silence of the room. "You should be in prison, where you belong."

Timothy's jaw clenched, his expression stony as he met her gaze head-on. "I'm here for my father," he said evenly, his voice cold and detached. "And nothing you say will change that."

Mia scoffed, her laughter bitter and hollow. "Your father?" she spat, her words dripping with venom. "You mean the man who’s given you everything? And in return you decided to turn to a life of crime?”

Timothy's hands curled into fists at his sides, his knuckles white with suppressed anger. "You know nothing about me or my father!" he shot back, his voice low and dangerous. "And you have no right to judge anyone after everything you’ve done."

Before Mia could respond, Timothy brushed past her with a sense of purpose that left no room for argument. I hesitated for a moment, meeting Mia’s scornful gaze, before following Timothy into the room without a backward glance.

As we made our way down the hallway, the echoes of Mia's angry protests faded into the distance behind us. I couldn't shake the feeling of guilt that gnawed at my conscience, the knowledge that we may have been too late to stop her.

But there was no time for regrets, no time for second-guessing. Kamran's life hung in the balance, and we had to find him before it was too late.

We reached his room in a matter of minutes, our hearts pounding in our chests as we pushed open the door and rushed inside. And there he was, lying on the floor in a crumpled heap, his face pale and lifeless in the dim light.

Timothy wasted no time in springing into action, dropping to his knees beside Kamran and checking for a pulse. Relief flooded through me when he found a faint heartbeat, weak but steady beneath his fingertips.

"He's still alive," Timothy breathed, his voice filled with relief.

But my relief was short-lived as I turned to face Mia, who had followed us into the room with a sense of determination that sent shivers down my spine.

"What did you do to him, Mia?" I demanded, my voice trembling with anger and fear.

Mia's eyes narrowed, her gaze cold and calculating. "Me?" she scoffed, her laughter bitter and hollow. "I didn't do anything to him, Evie.”

Her attention between Timothy and I, and her lips curled in disgust.

“But I should have known something was off when Kamran came into the room acting strange. And then when I saw the suitcase in your room... well, let's just say my suspicions were confirmed about a certain criminal being involved."

I felt a knot form in the pit of my stomach as her words sank in. The suitcase. She’d known I was bluffing

"You're not fooling anyone, Mia," I spat. "Whatever you've done to Kamran, you're going to pay for it."

Her face went slack. "I didn't do anything to him!" she shot back, her voice trembling with rage. "But I don’t doubt that your beloved jailbird had something to do with it."

I took a step toward her and she mirrored the movement. But before we could utter another word, Timothy intervened, his voice calm but firm.

"We need to focus on helping my dad," he said, his words a soothing balm in the midst of the storm. "We can deal with the specifics later."

"He might've had a bad reaction to the pills he took," Mia insisted, her anger giving way to desperation. "He's been having trouble in bed lately, and he thought they might help."

I could see the doubt flicker in Timothy's eyes, the uncertainty gnawing at his resolve. But I knew better than to trust Mia's smooth words, knew better than to let her manipulate us into believing her lies.

As she rushed to push Timothy off of Kamran, I felt a surge of fear wash over me like a tidal wave. Without hesitation, I reached for my phone and dialed the number for the authorities, my fingers trembling with the weight of my actions.

But before I could speak a word, Mia's eyes widened in horror as she caught sight of the gun tucked away in the waist of my pants. Before she could question it, I pulled it out and turned off the safety. Her steps faltered, her movements slow and deliberate as she inched toward the bed.

"What are you doing, Evie?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Why are you turning on me?"

I ignored her questions, my heart pounding in my chest as I pointed the gun in her direction. "Stay away from them," I commanded, my voice steady despite the fear that threatened to consume me whole.

Mia's expression hardened, her gaze locked with mine in a silent battle of wills. But as I held her gaze, I saw the fear flicker in her eyes, a spark of realization dawning in the darkness.

She sat on the bed with a sense of resignation, her movements slow and deliberate as she reached under the pillow. But to her shock and dismay, her hand came up empty, the gun nowhere to be found.

The smugness that had lingered on her face vanished in an instant, replaced by a look of panic and desperation. "Where is it, Evie?" she demanded, her voice tinged with fear. "Is that what you stole out of here?"

I leveled the gun at her once more, my hands steady despite the turmoil raging within me. "You're going to tell us everything, Mia," I said, my voice cold and detached. "And you're going to tell us now."

Mia's eyes darted around the room in search of an escape, but there was nowhere left to run. With a resigned sigh, she began to speak, her words a tangled web of deceit and betrayal.

"I did it for us, Evie," she said, her voice tinged with desperation. "I did it to protect you, to protect our family."

But her words fell on deaf ears, drowned out by the roar of anger and betrayal that surged through me like a tidal wave. I couldn't believe that I had ever trusted her, that I had ever allowed her to manipulate me into believing her lies.

"I said talk," I spat, cocking the gun. “Or I’ll shoot.”