The days crawled by like centuries, each hour a torturous eternity as Brielle kept her vigil by Leo's bedside. The steady beep of the heart monitor was the only sound that broke the suffocating silence, a constant reminder of her son's fragile condition.

Darius paced the room like a caged lion, his eyes burning with a fury that threatened to consume him. Every muscle in his body was taut, coiled like a spring ready to unleash its wrath upon the one responsible for this atrocity.

"We have to find her," he growled, his voice a rumbling thunder that sent shivers down Brielle's spine.

Brielle nodded, her gaze fixed on Leo's...