When Charles heard that Evelyn and Charlie had been taken by people from the Cipoletti family, his expression instantly darkened.

He''d always known what kind of ce the Cipoletti family was.

Ever since he learned that Charlie had been snatched by them—and suffered unspeakable things there-he''d set Francis and his own men to work, digging up any dirt they could find on the Cipolettis.

Anyone who daredy a finger on Charlie was never going to get away with it.

But the Cipoletti family, for all their polished reputation as one of Country Y''s grand old names, were really the beating heart of a massive criminal empire.

Human trafficking, organ trading, arms smuggling... All kinds of horrors happened behind their walls.

As Charles dug deeper, he realized that back when Eve told him Charlie had died, he hadn''t believed it. He''d been convinced Eve was hiding the boy somewhere. So he sent Aiden to look for Charlie.

But they''de up empty-because the Cipolettis had done a thorough job of erasing every trace. Aiden hadn''t gone deep enough, so he missed the truth.

Once Charles finally uncovered why the Cipoletti family wanted Charlie, he forced himself to hold back-for Eve and Charlie''s sake. Thest thing he needed was to turn the Cipolettis into a ticking time bomb, ready to explode and hurt them both.

The family''s influence was webbed so wide and deep, he knew he had to pull out the roots-leave them with no chance for revenge.

But he never imagined things would go sideways so fast.

The thought of Eve and Charlie trapped in that house made Charles want to smash his way in then and there.

But for their sake, he couldn''t afford to lose his head.

He made himself stay cool. The pain in his body was nothing he threw off the covers and swung his legs out of bed. As he moved, he asked Andrew, "Where''s Francis?"

"Getting the people together," Andrew replied, knowing there was no stopping Charles now. As he spoke, he gave Charles a quick shot of medicine.

Minutes crawled by.

Every connection, every tangled thread of the Cipoletti family''swork, lit up on the screen.

Charles and Francis had called in every favor, every friend, every resource.

To keep Evelyn and Charlie safe, Charles rang Josephine.

The only thing missing now was an inside map of the Cipoletti estate.

Josephine-she was the sixth wife of the current Cipoletti patriarch.

When she answered the phone, she thought maybe they were finallying home.

After Charlie got better, Evelyn had called her at once with the good news. But Josephine had never felt easy about the two of them staying in a foreign country. Shed kept urging them toe back as soon as possible.  s

Evelyn had nned to fly home the day after thepetition.

But none of them saw thising.

Now Josephine was shaking as she sat on the couch, ming herself for everything.

She should have put her foot down. She should never have let Eve go to Country Y at all.

It was all her fault-her foolish hope that everything would be fine.

Years ago, she''d been forced to marry the Cipoletti patriarch as his sixth wife.

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Every child in that family went through "special training."

Their so-called "family creed" was the destruction of all feeling and mercy.

Under their twisted rules, the kids were molded into cold, heartless creatures, capable of anything.

The only way out of the Cipoletti family was in a coffin.

Once Josephine discovered the family''s secret, she swore she''d never let Eve fall into their hands.

She spent years nning their escape.

When Evelyn was four, Josephine risked everything to get her daughter out.

She lived every day in fear of being hunted down.

After they fled, they drifted from

ce to ce never staying anywhere too long, terrified, the family would catch up.  s

For a year, they ran-until they reached Twin Bridges.

It was there Josephine saved Charles''s life.

After Charles was taken away for treatment, she and Eve left Twin Bridges behind.

But disaster struck on the road.

She and Eve were separated...

Just thinking about the Cipoletti family made Josephine''s whole body go cold.