Chapter 3 What The Fuck?!

Alina’s POV

I had never been afraid of dying.

Not really.

I had been afraid of never living…of waking up at forty, fifty, sixty, still wearing someone else’s smile, still saying “yes, of course” when I wanted to scream, still being Alina Sterling The First instead of just… Alina.

But right now, tied to this chair with petrol fumes burning my nostrils and fire racing across the floor toward me like a living thing, I discovered something new…

I was terrified of burning alive before I ever got the chance to find out who I could have been.

My heart was hammering so violently I thought it would bruise my ribs. Every breath tasted like panic and gasoline.

And then…

The chair jerked violently backward.

Someone had grabbed the backrest and yanked.

“Hold on!” a deep, urgent male voice barked.

I froze as every muscle locked. Could it be one of my bodyguards?

Hands…big, rough, impossibly fast…were fumbling behind me, trying to work the knot. They cursed under their breath when the rope wouldn’t give.

“Fuck…stay still,” he growled.

Oh, how I love people that cuss out loudly whenever they feel like it. Something about that freedom makes my heart race.

As a matter of fact, freedom is my favorite word. Too bad I don’t have it.

I felt something cold and sharp slide against the inside of my wrist.

I flinched hard.

“Stay still so I don’t cut you,” the voice said again…lower this time, almost gentle despite the roughness.

I went statue-still. This cannot be one of my bodyguards. He would have introduced himself before touching me. That’s protocol.

Could this be one of them?

Is this some sick game? Let her think she’s going to burn, then rescue her at the last second just to break her more?

The blade moved quickly and soon, the rope fibers snapped.

Then the fire roared louder and brighter.

The petrol trail caught properly and heat exploded.

I screamed…high, raw, animal. Unladylike.

But then, the ropes fell away.

Strong arms scooped me up instantly…under my knees and behind my back…like I weighed nothing.

He ran. Like hell was after him. Because it was. Literally.

Fire licked at the wooden beams. Heat seared the side of my face. Smoke choked my lungs. I buried my face against a hard chest that smelled like leather, motor oil, and clean sweat.

A deep groan tore through the ceiling…wood screaming under pressure. Something was giving way.

Before I could react, a massive log ripped free and crashed down inches in front of us, splintering the floor. I screamed, clutching him, burying my face against his chest as debris rained around us.

“Don’t move,” his voice cut through the chaos, low and steady. “I’ve got you.”

He swerved hard, boots pounding as the structure groaned behind us, threatening to collapse completely. Then…suddenly…the air felt lighter.

The cold night air slammed into us like a blow, sharp and unforgiving, as we burst free into the dark and out of the building.

Sirens were already close…multiple, converging fast.

The stranger dropped to one knee, lowering me carefully onto cold concrete.

For a heartbeat, neither of us moved.

Who is he?

What am I supposed to do now?

He saved me… didn’t he?

But why?

I’d been taught better than this. No one gives without expecting something in return. Every kindness comes with a price…you just don’t see the bill until it’s due.

I drew in a shaky breath, about to thank him… And then his fingers closed around my throat.

The diamond necklace…the fifty-carat noose my father had chosen for tonight…clicked open.

He lifted it away from my skin.

“This is payment for saving you,” the deep voice said, calm, almost amused. “Hope you don’t mind.”

I was shaking so hard I could barely speak.

I nodded once. Yeah…always transactional. Father was right about that.

He was already standing…ready to leave.

I reached up with trembling fingers, trying to pull the blindfold off.

“Wait—” I called after him, voice cracking. “Thank you… thank you…”

But he was already moving…long strides, disappearing into the shadows just as red and blue lights painted the walls.

I finally ripped the cloth away.

Too late.

He was gone. I didn’t even get his name.

Ambulance doors opened. Firefighters shouted orders. Someone wrapped a scratchy blanket around my mostly naked body. A female paramedic dropped in front of me, voice gentle but professional.

“Ma’am? Can you tell me your name? Do you know what day it is?”

Before I could answer, a police officer leaned over her shoulder.

He saw my face.

His eyes widened.

He whispered something to the paramedic.

The woman stiffened. Her hands suddenly moved slower, gentler, more careful…like she was touching antique porcelain instead of a half-naked, smoke-stained girl.

They finished checking me quickly.

Then the same officer…middle-aged, tired eyes, badge number 478…opened the back door of his cruiser.

“Come on, Miss Sterling. I’ll take you home.”

I murmured a quiet thank-you and slid inside, still clutching the blanket tight around me like it was the only thing keeping me together.

Questions wouldn’t stop crowding my mind. Why hadn’t my father sent the trackers? The men he trained for moments exactly like this. Why weren’t they with the police…why hadn’t they come at all?

I was being driven home in a patrol car.

The birthday girl hadn’t shown up. Shouldn’t that have caused panic? Sirens? Lockdowns? Something?

There had to be an explanation. There always was.

I pushed the unease aside and glanced out the window… My stomach tightened.

The officer hadn’t taken the coastal road toward the estate. He turned left…toward downtown.

Toward the Sterling Grand Hotel.

My stomach dropped again.

“Where are we going?” I asked quietly.

He glanced at me in the rearview mirror.

“Your birthday party, of course. Your father specifically requested we bring you straight back here.”

Something cracked inside my chest. So he knew that I was kidnapped?

I almost died.

I almost burned alive.

And all he cares about… is that I make an appearance at the stupid party?

The betrayal tasted worse than smoke.

I stared at the back of his head.

“Officer,” I said, voice dangerously calm, “aren’t you supposed to take my statement? Ask me who took me? This was an attempted murder, not me wandering to the wrong side of town.”

He sighed long and heavy…like he didn’t have an option.

“Your father said to handle it quietly. No dust. No statements tonight. He’ll take care of everything himself.”

I looked out the window trying to blink back the tears as the city lights blurred.

He doesn’t love me.

He doesn’t even care enough to be afraid I almost died.

He only cares that the Sterling name doesn’t get dirty.

We pulled up to the hotel minutes later.

The officer walked me through a side entrance. Two more security men joined us. They flanked me like I was evidence instead of a person.

I pulled the blanket tighter around my body, suddenly feeling exposed.

Stepping into my family’s hotel wearing only underwear and an emergency blanket should have felt like the lowest moment of my life.

But it wasn’t.

The real lowest moment came when the grand double doors of the ballroom opened.

One thousand pairs of eyes turned in perfect unison towards me.

And I froze.

Not because of the stares…I’d been born under a spotlight. I’d had thousands of eyes on me since I could walk. Privacy had never been mine to lose.

I froze because of who was standing in my place.

On the podium.

Wearing a gown almost identical to the one that had just been torn off my body…midnight sapphire, crystal-encrusted, seventeen layers of organza.

Wearing my birthday crown.

Cutting my birthday cake.

Smiling my smile.

She looked up.

Our eyes locked across the glittering, horrified, silent room.

And for the first time in twenty years…

For the first time since I was old enough to speak…

I forgot every single etiquette lesson I’d ever been taught.

I opened my mouth.

And I screamed the word I had never been allowed to say.

“What the fuck!”