568: DEFIANCE

ARIEL'S POV Luke and I still stood, thinking about this whole shit that Harriet had carried out. Our guess indeed, but I could tell it was quite precise. "Hmm, yeah, right. The monster among women," Luke said softly, shaking his head. A cold shiver ran down my spine as I muttered the words “monster among women.” The image of Harriet’s face, twisted in a mask of hate and fury, burned itself into my mind. “She is, isn’t she? A monster,” I said softly. “And the worst part is, she’ll stop at nothing to destroy us." "If only I could just choke to death," Luke said, clenching his fists. “Luke,” I said my voice firm. “Don’t even think like that. We can’t let her win. We have to be strong for ourselves and for our family. And if that means running away, so be it. We will survive this.” I placed a hand on Luke’s cheek, gazing into his eyes. “I love you. And I won’t let her take you away from me. She's not going to do anything. We need to protect ourselves, and most importantly, we need t