Chapter 82: 82

Bethany's POV

Emily's words had been echoing in my head all day, her warning playing on a loop. 'There's a bomb inside you, Bethany. Mason implanted it to make sure you wouldn't ever run from him. It's real, and if you defy him, he'll use it.' The idea was too horrifying to fully process, and yet it fit Mason's cruelty so perfectly that I didn't doubt her.

And now here I was, creeping through the house in the dead of night, my heart pounding in my chest. I clutched the key Emily had given me earlier like it was my lifeline. She hadn't explained how she'd gotten it or why she was helping me, but her parting words had been simple: 'Adrian deserves to know, and you deserve the chance to fight back.'