?Chapter 214:


    Darin had once made a promise to Rita—he might never be the best father, but he would make sure Elliana stayed alive. At the very least, her death would nevere by his hands. Breaking that vow to Rita was not something he could live with.


    Now that Merritt was gone, Kiara’s arrogance seemed to shrink. She clutched her cheek, still smarting from the p, and cried out, “But if Elliana stays alive, Paige will never know peace. What’s wrong with what I did?”


    “Enough! Stop arguing!” Paige snapped, irritation ring in her voice.


    Kiara and Darin ceased their quarrel.


    Paige turned her eyes on them and said slowly, emphasizing every word, “Dad, Mom, all of us have been deceived by Elliana. While we kept her locked in the shed all those years, she wasn’t some unloved nobody. She’s dangerous. And ruthless.”


    Darin’s brows pulled together in puzzlement. “Paige, what are you trying to say?”


    “Elliana… She’s terrifying,” Paige’s voice trembled. The image came rushing back—Elliana on that yacht, armed with two guns, walking calmly through pools of blood. The memory sent chills down her spine. “Dad, Mom, she killed everyst person on Merritt’s yacht. She handled the weapons like she was trained. With the kind of skill she showed, if she ever chose to wipe out our family, none of us would stand a chance. All this time, she’s been ying nobody just to mess with us. And if the dayes when she gets bored, there’s no telling how far she’ll go to destroy us.”


    That revtion left Kiara and Darin speechless.


    Paige looked between them, her face set and her tone deadly serious…


    “Dad, Mom, we either take Elliana out for good or find someone even more powerful than Merritt to protect us. If we don’t, we’re finished,” Paige said.


    Darin sat there,pletely stunned. He had watched Elliana grow up without a mother from the time she was five. She’d been kept in that back room of the Jones family estate, constantly pushed around by Kiara and Paige. How had she turned into someone this dangerous?


    Kiara wasn’t ready to believe any of it. “Paige, are you sure you didn’t get it twisted? Elliana’s just a nobody. There’s no way she’s some cold-blooded killer.”


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    “Mom, I saw it with my own eyes!” Paige snapped back. “You weren’t there. I saw how scary she’s be. I thought I was going to die. That’s why I threw myself in front of Cole’s bullet. I had to, just to survive and make it back to Ublento.”


    Darin finally began to grasp the gravity of it all. He sank back in his seat,pletely shaken.


    Kiara, after a moment of silence, suddenly lit up with a n. “Cole never liked Elliana to begin with. Now that he owes you his life, we can use that. We can get him to take care of her for us!”


    Paige stared at Kiara like she was missing the point entirely. “Mom, were you even listening? Cole thought Merritt had killed Elliana, and that’s what made him snap. He gunned down Merritt and wiped out everyone else on that yacht. He’s obsessed with her!”


    She could still hear his voice from that moment, filled with raw emotion, calling Elliana his everything.


    Kiara muttered to herself, “Cole’s into that ugly woman? That doesn’t even make sense.”


    “Doesn’t matter why he’s into Elliana. What matters is how we deal with this situation!” Paige said sharply, her frustration boiling over.


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