The Fury Of Tobias

Celestine never expected a company raffle to change her life. A free trip to Japan with her daughter felt like a miracle-until their third day, when a crowded street swallowed them and rough hands dragged them into darkness.

She woke to chandeliers and sickly sweet perfume. Anzhelina lay beside her, breathing but limp. Men in black suits entered, voices laced with a foreign accent.

"You are here to take care of the young prince," one said.

Celestine's voice cracked. "W-what child? Where are we?"

They shoved Celestine and Anzhelina into the next room. It looked like a hospital but gilded-white sheets, machines beeping quietly, and a single crib under a canopy. Inside lay a thin, pale baby with an IV in his foot.

"You will care for him... or you and your daughter will die."

Celestine's heart pounded. Whatever this place was, she realized with sudden, cold certainty, there was no simple way out.