Page 113 of Sweet Deception

But I couldn’t let Stefano or my father suspect a thing. I had to act normal.

So I did.

At lunch, I ate with my siblings like everything was fine. I watched movies with my aunts. I smiled when I needed to.

I knew my father was watching me. There were security cameras in the major rooms, but never in my bedroom.

That night, I lay in bed, running through my options. I knew Gleb’s number by heart. If I got my aunt’s phone, I could call him. But not now. I had to wait.

And as for Stefano... I would deal with him. Maybe not with brute force. But with something far worse.

I just had to be patient.

Then...

A knock on my door.

I bolted upright, my breath catching. My eyes darted around, searching for something, anything, I could use as a weapon.

Nothing.

I swallowed hard.

My best defense? Not opening the door at all.

Whoever it was... they weren’t here for anything good.

And I wasn’t ready to find out why.

“Who is that?” I asked, my voice cautious.

“It’s Isabella,” came the urgent whisper from the other side of the door.

I hesitated. Why would she be here at this hour?

Still, I unlocked the door. As soon as it cracked open, Isabella slipped inside, her face pale and frantic. She glanced over her shoulder, then grabbed my wrist.

“We need to leave. Now.”

I yanked my hand back. “Leave? To where?”

“I work for Gleb Romanov. I’m sorry. I betrayed your father,” she admitted in a rush.

My stomach clenched. “How can I trust you?”

“You can’t,” she said flatly. Then, without warning, she gripped my wrist again and pulled me out of the room.

I wanted to resist, but something in her eyes, pure desperation, made me follow.

“Where are we going?” I demanded in a whisper.

“Shut up and move,” she hissed.

We slipped through the darkened hallways, heading toward the backyard. As we neared the pool area, my breath caught at the sight of seven guards sprawled across the ground, unconscious.

“You... did this?” I whispered.

“I spiked their drinks,” she muttered while unlocking a small gate. “They’ll be out for an hour, but we don’t have that long.”