Crystal's POV
"Three. Fucking. Weeks."
I roared, throwing the whisky bottle across the room. It shattered against the wall, glass raining down near Christopher's feet.
Bella had been gone for twenty-one days.
Twenty-one days of hell.
Christian had nearly lost his mind. I had nearly lost my soul.
One of our hackers was shot. Another quit. The house felt empty. Too empty.
"Control yourself, Crystal," Christopher said coldly.
"Control myself?" I laughed darkly. "My woman was taken from under our noses and you're telling me to control myself?"
"You don't own her," Christian snapped.
I turned on him instantly. "Watch your mouth."
Tension crackled in the room like a loaded gun.
"She's alive," Christian said suddenly, his voice tight. "We got a call. Anonymous. She's being dropped tonight."
My heart slammed against my ribs.
"Where?" I demanded.
"At the gate."
That was all I needed.
Bella's POV
I didn't know how many days had passed.
Time didn't exist here.
Pain did.
Fear did.
Darkness did.
They kept me in a room with no windows. Sometimes the lights stayed on for hours. Sometimes they left me in darkness until my mind started playing tricks on me.
I was weak. Dehydrated. Bruised.
But worse than the pain was the fear.
The waiting.
The not knowing when he would come back.
Christopher.
Anthony.
The same face.
Different devil.
I had heard him say it himself.
Anthony Santa Cruz.
The enemy.
The man who wanted the Abaddon empire.
And I was his weapon.
He came in one night, calm. Too calm.
"You're stronger than you look, kitty," he said, circling me slowly. "Most girls would be broken by now."
I stayed silent. Silence was my only shield.
"You saved the wrong man," he continued softly. "Crystal should've died that night. If he had, I would be king now."
I looked up at him, my heart pounding.
"That's why you hate me," I whispered.
He smiled. A cold, cruel smile.
"I don't hate you," he said. "I just enjoy reminding you that your kindness ruined everything."
My hands shook.
"You don't even know what game you walked into, Bella," he added. "But you will."
Then his tone changed.
"You're going home."
Hope sparked in my chest — small, fragile.
"But don't think this is mercy," he warned. "This is a message."
Later
They didn't blindfold me this time.
They cleaned me up. Gave me new clothes. Simple. Plain.
No kindness in it.
Just preparation.
Anthony leaned close before I was taken away.
"You won't tell them who I am," he said quietly.
I swallowed.
"You won't," he repeated. "Because if you do, they won't find your body next time."
My blood ran cold.
He smiled again.
"Good girl."
At the Abaddon Gate
The car slowed.
The gates appeared.
I recognized them instantly.
Home.
My heart broke and healed at the same time.
The car stopped.
The door opened.
"Get out," a man said.
My legs were weak, but I forced myself to stand.
The car drove off.
Just like that.
Like I was trash.
Like I meant nothing.
The gates loomed in front of me.
I raised my hand and knocked.
Once.
Twice.
Then everything inside me gave out.
I collapsed.
Crystal's POV
The guards called it in.
"Boss — there's a girl at the gate."
I didn't walk.
I ran.
When I saw her on the ground, my world stopped.
Bella.
Thin.
Bruised.
Broken.
Alive.
I dropped to my knees beside her.
"Bella," I whispered, lifting her gently. "Sweetness… I'm here."
Her eyes fluttered open.
She looked at me like she was afraid.
Not just afraid.
Changed.
Hurt in a way I couldn't fix with bullets.
"They know you," she whispered weakly.
"Who?" I asked sharply.
"They know everything."
Before I could ask more, she passed out in my arms.
Rage burned through me.
They would pay.
Every last one of them.
But what I didn't know…
Was that the enemy had already been standing beside me the whole time.