The explosion tore through the night like a gunshot from the sky.
The shockwave rattled the main mansion, windows shuddering violently as alarms screamed to life. Somewhere far away, glass shattered. Somewhere closer, people screamed.
Elena couldn't see anything.
But she could hear.
Voices overlapped—panicked, sharp, distorted like she was underwater.
"Someone's inside—!"
"Elena went in—she followed them!"
Footsteps thundered across stone. Someone was crying. Someone else was shouting orders. The sound of sirens cut through the chaos, growing louder, closer.
Her body felt heavy. Too heavy.
Hands grabbed her arms, lifting her, rushing her through the night air. She felt cold, then warm, then cold again.
"I can't find Ava and Prim!" a man shouted desperately. "There's no sign of them—no bodies—nothing!"
A scream ripped through the noise.
"Emily—!"
The voice was raw. Panicked. Not controlled.
For the first time in Elena's memory, her calm, elegant aunt sounded like she was breaking.
Through blurred vision, Elena saw her—Emily running forward, hair loose, face white with terror. Nathan followed close behind, his jaw clenched, eyes wild.
Then darkness swallowed everything.
---
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The sound drilled into her head.
"Elena's waking up—call the doctor!"
A hand tightened around hers.
"Elena… baby… can you hear me?"
Her eyelids fluttered open.
Light stabbed into her eyes.
"Mom…" Elena whispered, her throat dry. "Mom."
Isabella broke instantly, tears spilling down her cheeks as she leaned forward, gripping Elena's hand tightly.
"My baby… you scared me," she sobbed. "You scared all of us."
Elena swallowed and looked around slowly.
White walls. Hospital curtains. Machines humming softly beside her bed.
"Your dad went to get the doctor," Isabella said quickly, brushing Elena's hair back. "Diego is outside, waiting."
"Oh," Elena murmured, sinking back into the pillow.
The door opened.
Jacob entered with the doctor, his face lined with exhaustion. The doctor checked her pupils, asked her simple questions, nodded with quiet approval.
"She's stable," he said. "We'll keep observing her, but she's awake. That's a good sign."
As they finished, Elena stared at the ceiling.
"Grandpa and Grandma are with Ava and Prim, right?" she said suddenly.
Her voice was calm—but her fingers curled tightly into the bedsheet.
"They're their favorite grandchildren," she continued flatly. "They don't care about me."
The room froze.
Isabella's face drained of color. Jacob exhaled slowly.
"Elena," he said carefully, "you've been unconscious for two weeks."
Her eyes snapped open.
"Two… weeks?"
Her mind reeled.
Two weeks?
But the fire—the explosion—it had just happened. She could still feel the heat, the force slamming her body into the wall, the ceiling collapsing—
"It was that bad?" Elena asked, her voice unsteady.
Before anyone could answer, the door opened again.
Grace walked in, smiling faintly. Her husband followed, then her children. Diego slipped in behind them, his face tight with worry.
"It was worse than bad," Grace said softly. "I can't tell whether you're lucky or unlucky to have woken up."
Isabella's head snapped up. "What do you mean by that?" she snapped. "Are you cursing my daughter?"
Grace waved a hand lightly. "Oh no. I'm just stating facts."
She tilted her head, eyes gleaming.
"Emily is going to kill her. Literally."
Jacob stood abruptly. "My daughter did nothing!"
"Aunt Emily wouldn't hurt her," Diego said quickly. "She's family."
Grace laughed quietly. "How naïve."
Elena's heart began to pound.
"Why would Aunt Emily hurt me?" she asked sharply. "I didn't do anything!"
Her voice rose, panic creeping in.
"What did Ava and Prim say to her?"
Silence fell like a blade.
Elena's chest tightened.
Grace smiled.
"I guess no one told you," she said gently. "Ava and Prim's bodies were never found."
Elena's breath hitched.
"There were cameras," Grace continued calmly. "You were seen following them into the sealed building. You looked angry. Furious."
Elena shook her head weakly. "No—"
"You were the only one pulled out," Grace went on. "And when they found you—"
She paused.
"You were holding a lighter."
Elena's face drained of color.
"The firefighters said the place smelled like gasoline," Grace finished.
The room spun.
Elena's fingers trembled as felt the world closed in around her.
"I didn't do anything… I didn't."
Elena's voice trembled as she shook her head weakly.
"I didn't do anything."
Her fingers curled into the hospital blanket, knuckles pale. The lighter—yes, the lighter was hers. She smoked. Everyone knew that. But gasoline? She had never even touched the stuff.
Her thoughts spiraled.
I only smashed the clock pendant…
I only cursed them.
I only wished they would go to the past—
The memory made her chest tighten.
Even in her own head, it sounded ridiculous. Insane. Who would believe that words, a broken pendant, and a wish caused an explosion?
Grace tilted her head, watching her struggle.
"What?" she mocked lightly. "Cat got your tongue?"
Before anyone could react—
Slap.
The sound cracked through the room.
Grace staggered back in shock, hand flying to her cheek. Isabella stood rigid, eyes blazing, chest rising and falling with fury.
"I've had enough of your filth," Isabella snapped. "Get out of this hospital room—now. Or I swear I'll put you in one."
She stepped forward, voice shaking with rage.
"Mocking a child who just woke up from a coma—are you insane?"
Lucia immediately stepped in front of her mother, her small body tense, eyes sharp.
"Aunt," she said coldly, "why did you slap my mother?"
Isabella turned to her, stunned.
"She's telling the truth," Lucia continued, lifting her chin. "At the end of the day, all the evidence points at her."
She glared straight at Elena.
"You can silence my mom here, but what will you do when Aunt Emily wants revenge?"
The words landed like a blade.
"That's not your concern," Isabella said firmly. "Leave."
Grace laughed quietly as she adjusted herself.
"Good," she said softly. "Very good. Keep it up."
She turned and walked out.
Peter hesitated, glancing between the two sides before following, their children trailing behind in uneasy silence.
As they reached the hallway, Peter muttered tightly, "You should watch your mouth. You're only making things worse."
Grace stopped walking.
She turned on him sharply.
"Shut up," she snapped. "If you can't protect me, then shut your mouth. Do you think I'm doing all this for fun?"
She laughed bitterly.
"Who do you think I'm doing this for?"
Peter lowered his voice. "This situation is already dangerous. We need to be smart."
Grace scoffed.
"If you were as smart as you pretend to be," she said coldly, "you wouldn't be using my family to climb upward."
She stepped closer, eyes cutting.
"You should've been inheriting your own family business instead of clinging to mine. Do you think you're my brother Nathan? His empire stands on his own. Even Henry and Jacob are better than you."
She walked past him without another glance.
"Mom—Dad didn't mean it—" Lucia started, but Grace was already gone, heels echoing sharply down the stairs.
Lucia stopped, watching her disappear.
She turned calmly to her siblings.
"Don't worry," she said quietly. "Mom has everything under control."
She smiled faintly.
"No matter how angry Dad gets, he always comes back."
The old manor was sealed off, surrounded by layers of private security and police tape. Floodlights burned through the night, turning the backyard into a harsh white battlefield.
This was where the explosion happened.
The building behind the manor had completely collapsed—stone, timber, and ash piled into a jagged grave. For seven days straight, no one rested. No one left. Hands bled, voices cracked, tempers snapped.
Because Emily was there.
Every shovel strike was watched. Every pause punished.
"Ma—if we dig here, it might collapse again," one of the men warned, wiping sweat from his brow.
"I said dig," Emily snapped without looking up. "Are you deaf?"
"You are the one who's deaf," Nathan said sharply, grabbing her arm. "You're going to kill yourself before we even find the children."
She yanked her arm free, eyes bloodshot, face hollow from exhaustion.
"At least I'm doing something," Emily screamed. "Instead of sitting on my ass and leaving my children's fate in other people's hands. I'm not heartless like you!"
"I'm heartless because I'm using my brain?" Nathan shot back. "If this collapses again, you'll bury them alive—if they're even here. Think!"
"Don't tell me to think!" Emily shouted, swinging the shovel at him. Nathan barely dodged it.
"You're acting like a child," he said coldly. "You've barely eaten. You haven't slept. You haven't even showered. You're destroying yourself."
"I'm doing this so I don't kill your niece," Emily screamed. "I'm forcing myself to believe Elena is missing too—because why is she in a hospital bed while my children are buried somewhere in the ground?"
Her voice broke.
"Why does your family keep these ancient death traps standing? Why didn't you tear it down? Why are you so calm when our children might be dead?"
Her scream echoed across the ruins.
"I want a divorce!"
Nathan went still.
"You're blaming without evidence," he said quietly. "Investigate first."
Emily laughed hysterically, tears streaking down her face.
"If I wasn't using my brain, your entire family would be dead by now," she said bitterly. "Thank God for the last rational cell in my head telling me to calm down."
She dropped to her knees.
"I'm a terrible mother," she sobbed. "I knew your family had enemies. I knew people were waiting for you all to fall—and I still brought my children here."
Nathan's expression softened for a fraction of a second.
"No place is safe," he said. "You know that."
Before she could resist, he lifted her up and carried her away from the ruins as she screamed and fought.
At that moment—
"Sir."
John rushed toward them, breathless.
"We found them. Ava and Prim have been rescued. They're being taken to the hospital. Your parents are already there."
Emily froze.
"Put me down," she demanded hoarsely. "I'm going to my children."
"Not when you smell like death," Nathan muttered, ignoring her struggles as he carried her out.
In the Hospital – Elena's Room
"Ava and Prim have been found."
Jacob said it out loud, but the words barely felt real. The tension that had been crushing his chest for days finally loosened, and his knees almost gave way. He grabbed the edge of the bed to steady himself, breathing hard.
Yet—
his brother and sister-in-law did not react.
That was when Jacob felt it.
Death.
It lingered in the room like an invisible presence.
Nathan looked calm, as always—too calm. But Jacob, who had grown up with him, knew better. From the moment the accident happened, something had shifted. It was as if the world itself had gone silent. No noise, no chaos—just an eerie pause, like time had frozen and the Carter family had been sealed inside their own domain.
Police, private security, even elite military units had been deployed.
The best in the country.
And yet, none of them truly knew what they were searching for.
That alone told Jacob everything.
This wasn't an investigation—it was Nathan Carter taking control.
The Carter business empire, one of the largest in the world, had been brought to a complete standstill. Projects frozen. Deals suspended. Losses so massive they would make any board of directors panic.
But Nathan hadn't even blinked.
It was a warning.
If anything happened to his children, he would wipe everything clean—companies, partners, even blood relations.
And this hospital?
It was under Nathan's name.
Jacob's fingers curled slowly.
If Ava and Prim didn't survive…
Elena wouldn't be spared either.
It was the first time Jacob truly understood the weight of his brother's power.
And then there was Emily.
People called her the crazy one—the woman who knew every secret in high society, the lawyer who never lost a case, the owner of a legal empire, a jewelry empire, a beauty empire. Standing beside Nathan, she looked almost restrained.
But Jacob knew the truth.
Nathan went silent before destruction.
Emily burned everything once she was lit.
"So… Aunt and Uncle won't do anything to us, right?"
Diego's voice broke the suffocating tension.
Jacob didn't answer immediately.
"We don't know yet," Isabella said softly. "We still don't know Ava and Prim's condition."
"And even if they're fine," Jacob added slowly, "what they say about that night will decide our fate."
Elena's breath hitched.
"I didn't do it," she sobbed, shaking her head. "I didn't do anything, Mom."
Isabella pulled her into her arms without hesitation.
"It's okay," she murmured, holding her tight. "It's okay."
But no one in the room believed things would stay that way.
---