The Price of Freedom.
The plan had been simple, get close to Damien Lopez. Reintroduce herself as his childhood classmate. Use the past as her doorway.
But Ana?
She refused.
"We weren't friends," she said out of the blue. "Back in college, he barely noticed me. If I go to him as Ana Clarkson, he'll shut me out without a second glance."
So she became someone else.
She chose a new identity, Tyler Ross.
She styled her hair. Bought oversized clothes. Wore the ugliest glasses Victor had ever seen. And she dressed so absurdly, it was almost comedic.
Victor had stared at her in disbelief. He was sure she was going to fail. She looked nothing like a seductress. Nothing like a threat. Just a clumsy, awkward girl playing a dangerous game.
And just when he was about to regret ever vouching for her...
She did the unthinkable.
She won Damien's heart, on the very first day of their meeting while dressed like that. Acting like that.
Victor could only stare, stunned, as the man who trusted no one, the genius who built walls higher than mountains, began to fall. Hard. Fast. Hopelessly.
That was the moment Victor marked her.
In his heart, he knew, this one is special.
And he wasn't going to let her slip away. Never.
He watched Damien spiral deeper into infatuation. In a matter of weeks, Damien took her to his California home, a place sacred, reserved, impenetrable.
And Ana?
Ana walked through the doors, smiled sweetly, and stole the codes like she'd been born for it.
The way she pulled off that operation, it was surgical. Smooth. So flawlessly executed that it left every single one of them stunned.
She walked in alone.
She returned triumphant.
Ana handed Dexter the codes like it was nothing, like she hadn't just danced with the devil and lived to tell the tale. And then, standing before the most feared man in the underworld, she did the unthinkable.
She made demands.
"Set my family free," she said.
And Dexter_ Dexter, who never bent, who never gave without taking, actually did it.
In all Victor's years of working for Dexter, no one had ever walked away with their family alive. No one had ever won.
But Ana did.
Victor had worked under Dexter for years. He'd seen trained men grovel and die for far less. He'd seen hardened agents fail to even make it out alive. But Ana? That fragile girl with eyes full of fire? She not only secured her freedom and that of her family, she walked out with stacks of cash. Real money. Blood money that Dexter never just handed out. But he did for her.
That moment changed something in Victor. He had seen powerful women, ruthless ones, beautiful ones, but Ana,
Ana was different.
While Ana was under their web, he discovered that, she is a kind of girl who didn't care about power. She didn't chase money. She wasn't seduced by attention.
She worked. She survived. She protected.
She was the kind of woman Victor had always dreamed of bringing home to Mama, the kind of woman who made you believe in quiet strength. In purpose.
Then after she left their abode, Victor couldn't stop watching her, so under false pretense of trying to protect her from the Lopez, he continued to watch her from a distance. Not as a stalker. Not as a threat.
But as a man falling in love.
While at Zurich, Victor kept a close eye on her. She never chased men or got caught up in distractions. She focused on her job and her family. Victor was very much convinced he was bringing this one home to his mother.
But Ana had turned him down from day one, and he wasn't bothered, he believed it was only a matter of time before she would be his. But when he started hearing that Damien was back in her life, he began to panic.
Victor was the only one who truly understood how deeply Damien had fallen for Ana. His love was so intense that he had refused to fight Dexter for the stolen codes, just to keep her safe.
Victor had been blocking Damien from finding Ana, hiding her trail, but he heard from a trusted source that Damien wasn't looking for revenge. He wasn't chasing the woman who stole from him.
He was looking for the woman who stole his heart.
And Victor couldn't breathe.
Because if Damien could fall that hard for Ana, with her baggy clothes and ridiculous glasses, how much deeper would he fall for Eva?
Eva, with sharper features. Eva, with striking curves and powerful poise. Eva, with brilliance that glowed like wildfire.
Victor knew the truth. Only her face had changed. The rest? The fire in her, the fierce heart, the quiet strength, it was still Ana.
And Damien would see it.
Feel it. Want it.
Victor couldn't allow that.
He wouldn't lose her.
Whatever Damien saw in Ana, Victor saw it in Eva too. And he wasn't about to risk losing her.
So Victor swore to himself, he would do whatever it took to keep her away from Damien. He would separate them, no matter the cost.
He'd cut ties, burn bridges, and break rules if he had to.
But he would stop Ana from working with Damien Lopez.
He'd separate them.
Even if it destroyed everything.
Ana
Eva was still deep in sleep when her phone buzzed beside her pillow. Half-awake, she answered groggily, but the voice on the other end sent a jolt through her entire body.
In the next scene, Eva and Bob were sprinting down the cold, sterile corridors of the hospital. Her hands trembled as she grabbed the nearest nurse, desperation etched on her face.
"Please, my mother, how is she? Please!"
The nurse didn't answer. Instead, the doctor appeared from behind, his expression calm, but weary.
"We managed to stabilize her, for now," he said gently. "But it was a miracle she made it through this time. The surgery... it's taking too long to arrange. If we don't get it done soon, you could lose your mother."
Then, without waiting for a response, he walked away.
Bob's shoulders shook as he clung to his sister, tears rolling down his cheeks. "What do we do, Ana?" he cried, voice breaking. "We can't let her die... She doesn't deserve this. She's fought her whole life to stay alive, why does she have to keep suffering? Ana, please... let's do something. She wants to live. She wants to live, Ana!"
Ana's throat tightened. Her voice came out small, wounded. "What do you want me to do, Bob?" she whispered. "All my salary barely covers her bills, your school fees, your exams, our food... Where would I even get that kind of money?"
Bob's eyes flared. "Victor," he said bitterly. "Victor is stupidly rich. The other day I mentioned mom situation to him he laughed about the amount, he said it was nothing... if only you'd give him a chance."
Ana froze. "What are you saying, Bob? I_"
"Would you rather let Mom die then? Just because you think Victor's not good enough? Are you really going to stand by and do nothing, watch her die, just because of your pride? Would you be able to live with yourself knowing you had a way out and didn't take it?"
His voice cracked. "Ana... you were always my hero. I told myself I had a sister who could do anything, who would go to hell and back for the people she loves. Don't change my perception about you, Ana. Please."
And with that, he walked away, leaving Ana standing alone, her heart in chaos, her mind spinning. She didn't know what hurt more, her mother's life hanging by a thread, or the sound of Bob's footsteps walking away in disappointment.
Bob, who had been lurking quietly in the corridor, wiped away the last trace of his tears. His face hardened with resolve as he pulled out his phone and dialed a number with trembling fingers.
"It's done," he said coldly. "She'll come to you. Just like we planned."
Then he ended the call and leaned against the wall, his eyes wet once more, but this time, with guilt. The truth was out: the entire situation had been orchestrated. A carefully laid trap between Victor, the doctor, and Bob himself.
"I'm sorry, sis," he whispered to himself. "But I had to do what's best for you... even if you'll never forgive me."
After hours of emotional torment, Ana finally gave in to the storm swirling inside her. Her hands shook slightly as she picked up her phone. She stared at Victor's name for a long moment, then tapped a message.
"Are you free? We need to talk."
The reply came almost instantly, a hotel address.