<h4>Chapter 142: Chapter ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO: Piper’s Death</h4>


    Christy’s POV


    The moment Curtis dragged me backward into that narrow tunnel, my heart dropped straight into my stomach.


    One second Kendrick’s eyes were locked on mine, full of fire and promise, and the next we were separated as darkness swallowed everything.


    The steel door mmed shut behind us, echoing through the tight corridor like a death sentence. My scream got trapped in my throat because Curtis’ arm tightened around me, his hand pressing painfully against the side of my face as he forced me further down the hallway.


    "No... stop! Kendrick!" I tried twisting away, my wrists burning against the ropes digging into my skin.


    "Let me go!" I pleaded weakly as my body still ached from Zain’sst outburst when he found out about his parent’s deaths.


    "Shut up," Curtis hissed, dragging me faster, his breath rough against my ear.


    "You think I’m stupid? Did you really think I would let him take you back that easily?" he asked me with a mysterious smirk.


    I stumbled as he yanked me, my bare feet scraping against the cold stone. My entire body trembled, but not just from fear, it was from the raw anger that burned hot in my chest.


    Because I had seen Kendrick, I had seen all of them. They found me and I wasn’t alone anymore.


    For a moment, I had felt safe....Just for a moment, I had believed everything was finally over.


    But Curtis always had one more trick...he always have one more way to ruin everything.


    The hallway lights flickered above us, revealing Zain staggering behind with blood soaking his shoulder. His face twisted with pain and fury when he saw me struggling.


    "You useless bitch," Zain spat, limping after us.


    "If you didn’t fight so damn much, we could move faster. She is fucking slowing us down!" he yelled at me but I just gave him a re.


    Piper was behind him, shaking, her eyes wild like an animal backed into a corner. Her hands were trembling so badly she could barely hold her small handgun.


    Curtis didn’t answer, He was too focused on forcing me forward. My legs hit something hard and I noticed that it was a corner. The tunnel split, and he shoved me left, deeper into the underground maze.


    I twisted again, trying to break away, but he jerked me back so hard my neck snapped to the side.


    "Try that again," Curtis growled.


    "and you’ll regret it." he threatened while ring at me.


    I could still see his jumbled expression but his obsession was still obvious.


    Zain reached us, panting really hard like he was going to lose consciousness "Curtis! We can’t take her! We’re injured, the cops are everywhere, we are boxed in for crying out loud and she is a fucking liability!"


    I could feel Zain’s rage behind me.. . He was trying to hide his hatred for me. He hated that I was still breathing... Hated that everything had gone wrong the second Kendrick stormed in.


    Curtis ignored him and kept dragging me until we reached another metal door. He shoved me forward and punched in a code. His hands shook slightly, not from fear, but adrenaline.


    When the door slid open, the stench of damp concrete hit me. The room was small, almost cell-like, lit by a single flickering bulb. He pushed me inside, but he didn’t let go. His grip was desperate now, like he was afraid someone would snatch me from him.


    "I should kill her right now," Zain snapped, stepping into the room after us.


    "We don’t need her... She is slowing us down. They are right behind us, Curtis!" Zain continued trying to convince him.


    "You kill her, and everything falls apart," Curtis shot back, finally pushing me against the wall.


    "I told you already.. I have a n." he said while staring at my face.


    "A n?" Zainughed, the sound dry and sharp. "Your n is falling apart, Mark and Callie got caught and Celeste is bleeding out and might die soon while Piper nearly got shot in the face... "


    "I SHOULD HAVE BEEN SHOT!" Piper suddenly screamed, her voice cracking as she pointed a shaking finger at Curtis.


    "You left me! You left all of us! You said we were in this together!" she yelled like she had finally snapped.


    Curtis’ eyes narrowed with the same coldness I had seen since the day he kidnapped me.


    "In my n," he said tly, "only the useful ones survive."


    Piper froze... Zain stiffened and my breath stopped for a few seconds.


    He said that, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Like they were all tools he had never intended to keep.


    Piper’s face twisted in betrayal, rage slowly tearing through her. Tears blurred her eyes, but her hands steadied.


    "So what am I to you?" she whispered, voice trembling. "After everything? After I protected you? Lied for you? And helped you?"


    Curtis didn’t blink. "Expendable."


    Piper’s jaw dropped...She stared at him like she had never seen him before. "You..You can’t be serious."


    I could tell from her reaction that she had feelings for him but unfortunately he didn’t even spare her another nce.


    "What makes her so special, why are you acting like you can’t see my love for you!" Piper yelled angrily at Curtis.


    "What makes you think that you deserve to be by my side, are you worthy" he simply asked her without any emotions.


    "Why? What does she have that I don’t?" she asked him angrily while ring at me.


    "She is Christy and you are not...Do you really think if she wasn’t in the picture, you would have a chance?" he asked her with a mockingugh.


    "Why?" she asked him with a pained expression.


    "I can’t be with a woman that has been used by different dirty men" he said bluntly and she took a few steps back like she had been hit.


    Zain swore under his breath, holding his wound tighter. "I told you before, Curtis. We should have killed her when we had the chance. But no...you trusted him over the people who actually helped you."


    Piper’s chest rose and fell quickly, like she was seconds away from snapping. Her eyes slid to me dark, resentful and watery as she was trying to hold back her tears.


    "This is all because of her," Piper spat. "Because he likes her! Because she is the toy he’s obsessed with!"


    Curtis’ jaw tightened, but he didn’t deny it.


    He couldn’t deny what was so obvious.


    Zain took a step closer to me, eyes burning with enough hatred to set me on fire. "Let me end her, one stab is all it will take, she is worth more dead than alive. Curtis, listen to me... we will never escape with her slowing us down."


    My breath halted.


    He reached for the knife strapped to his belt, pulling it out in one steady movement. His steps echoed as he approached, and my back pressed harder into the wall.


    "Don’t," Curtis snapped instantly.


    But Zain didn’t stop. The loss, the pain, the chaos.. they had pushed him past reason.


    "Curtis, STOP HIM!" I shouted, chest heaving.


    "She dies here," Zain growled, raising the de. "We don’t have time for your obsession!"


    Curtis moved fast, grabbing Zain and shoving him back. Zain stumbled, nearly dropping the knife.


    The room exploded with their loud voices.


    "You’re losing it!" Zain yelled. "You want to escape? Then we need less weight dragging us! And she... "


    "Christy stays alive," Curtis barked. "I didn’t go through all this because of a damn fantasy... I have a n!"


    "This n NEVER included us?" Piper screamed. "What are we then? Shields? Sacrifices?!"


    Curtis didn’t turn to her, he just smirked.


    "Pretty much," he said.


    The silence after that sentence felt like a punch to the chest.


    Zain’s eyes widened in shock while Piper’s breath stuttered.


    For a moment, I even forgot how to breathe.


    Piper’s face twisted into something ugly, raw, and heartbreaking all at once.


    "You used us," she whispered. "You used me."


    Curtis didn’t deny it.


    Something snapped inside Piper. She reached behind her quickly, ripping a small sharp knife from her boot. Her scream tore out of her chest as she lunged straight at me.


    "You ruined everything!" she shrieked. "I will kill you myself!"


    I flinched as the de came straight for my throat.


    But before she could reach me a gunshot exploded in the tiny room.


    Piper’s body jerked mid-air, her eyes stretching wide in pure confusion. The knife slipped from her fingers and ttered across the floor.


    For a moment, she stood frozen, staring at Curtis like she didn’t understand what just happened.


    Then she copsed and blood spread beneath her quickly, a dark, warm pool reaching toward my feet.


    My breath trembled.


    Zain stared in shock. "You... you shot her?"


    Curtis lowered the gun, face nk. "She wasn’t useful anymore."


    "You are insane," Zain whispered. "Absolutely insane."


    Curtis turned his cold eyes toward me then, and my heart thudded hard.


    He stepped closer, his shadow falling over me.


    "Now," he said calmly, "let’s finish the rest of the n."