Chapter 174
Alexander Kingsley was stunned by the sudden turn of events.
Instinct took over. He staggered backward, fear coiling around him as everything fell apart. Orders no longer mattered—survival was the only thing on his mind.
In blind panic, the men scattered, their shouts echoing through the night. “Run! She’s insane enough to take us all with her!” Even Adrian Castillo, driven by sheer instinct, bolted without direction, his steps frantic and desperate.
No one could have predicted Isabella Sinclair’s next move.
Her calm facade shattered, revealing a ferocity that bordered on madness—especially with the explosives now armed, powerful enough to obliterate them all.
In the split second before the explosives were hurled, Alexander seized his chance. No longer restrained, he drove his elbow back and stumbled forward through the chaos.
Isabella’s hand clamped around his.
“Hold on!” she commanded.
The explosion erupted just as they plunged into the icy water.
Everything blurred.
The pier trembled violently as shockwaves tore through the air. Isabella and Alexander vanished beneath the surface, the freezing depths shielding them from the blast’s full force.
The cold cut through them like knives, yet Alexander could still feel the warmth of Isabella’s grip on his hand. Somehow, that touch dulled the bone-deep chill.
Underwater, he caught a glimpse of her—dark hair swirling like ink, her sharp eyes eerily serene yet burning with unspoken intensity. His heart hammered, each beat mirroring the violent explosions above, as if it might burst from his chest.
The surface of the water reflected the chaos in eerie contrast—flames licking the sky while the depths remained an icy blue abyss. It was hauntingly beautiful.
Under the moonlight, Isabella emerged like a vengeful siren, her wet hair clinging to her face, her presence both lethal and mesmerizing.
When Alexander met her gaze, something inside him shifted.
She hauled him onto the pier.
“Are you alright?” she asked, extending her hand once more.
His injuries burned in the saltwater, but he managed to rasp, “Just a scratch. I’ll live.”
He took her hand, their fingers entwining as she pulled him ashore.
Breathing heavily, Alexander studied her. “Isabella… aren’t you afraid of dying?” He had never called her by her first name before. Something about this moment—about her—made formalities feel wrong.
Though Alexander prided himself on his composure, he secretly thrived on danger. But tonight, he realized Isabella made his pulse race in a way nothing else ever had.
There was something in her—a madness lurking beneath the surface that unsettled him.
The night’s events haunted him. If he hadn’t moved in time, if they had jumped a second later—they’d be dead.
“Why should I be afraid?” Isabella tucked a wet strand of hair behind her ear, her tone unnervingly calm. “We won, didn’t we?”
Death had never been something she feared. Avoiding it had become second nature.
Life in Ontdale, with all its mundane annoyances, was peaceful compared to this. But while she enjoyed that ordinary existence, she wasn’t bound by it.
There was a vast difference between liking something and needing it.
Deep down, she was a killer—a woman who had spilled blood without hesitation. Fear and coercion had never ruled her.
She didn’t belong in Ontdale. Not really.
“Besides,” she added, her voice steady and unyielding, “only those who take risks and survive get to talk like this. Fear? Hesitation? That’s what gets you killed. If you hesitate, you end up like them—blown to pieces.”
A cold, detached smile curled her lips. “No one alive has ever made me afraid.”
Alexander’s throat tightened.
“Ms. Sinclair, you won.”
“Mr. Kingsley,” she corrected, her eyes gleaming with a strange mix of satisfaction and challenge, “we won.”
In that moment, his heart pounded violently.
The inferno still raged at the pier, its reflection flickering in her dark, piercing gaze. The image seared itself into his memory—one that would haunt him forever.
Before tonight, he had always seen Isabella as distant, untouchable—as if she observed the world from some detached vantage point. It fascinated him, made him want to unravel her.
But now, something had changed.
This life-and-death ordeal had revealed a different side of her. In the face of danger, she transformed—calm, powerful, unstoppable.
There was a wildness in her that terrified him. Her blood hummed with chaos, and it awakened something primal in him.
With a mix of awe and trepidation, he realized he had only glimpsed a fraction of who she truly was.
And yet, in that fleeting moment, Isabella Sinclair had reached something deep inside him—awakening feelings he wasn’t ready to face.
