Rain slashes across my face as I step off the midnight bus, the sign above the road still reading 'Welcome to Blackvale – Where Order Reigns.' Ten years. Ten years since they threw me into the mines like trash. My boots crunch over broken glass near the old market—now a checkpoint guarded by two of Father’s men.

I pull my hood lower, heart pounding, but not from fear. From fury. The data stick in my bra holds everything: Caine’s bribes, the marriage contract, proof my mother’s been beaten weekly. One leak, and the press will swarm.

But it’s not enough. I need Elara out tonight. I slip toward the cellar window behind the church—the one Mom used to leave bread for stray cats. A flicker of candlelight inside. Then a scream. Muffled. Familiar.

She’s already being punished.

My knife is in my hand before I think. Do I storm in and risk everything? Do I call Liam and wait for backup? Or do I vanish into the shadows and come back with an army?