A DEAL WITH THE BOSSY BILLIONAIRE

SIA POV

Two days!

That's how long I have to wait before getting married to the love of my life, Nolan Reeds.

The air was thick with tension as I felt the darkness pull me under. The last thing I saw was Killian's eyes, wide with alarm, his voice fading into the void as he screamed my name. Then everything went black, and I was thrust into the recesses of my mind, where the past was waiting to devour me whole.

Eight years ago, I had been a different person, an ambitious patrol officer with dreams of making a difference. The world seemed simpler then, but that was before I crossed paths with Bado. The name itself was a ghost, whispered among those who dared to acknowledge it, yet there was no concrete evidence to pin it down. That all changed when I rescued a young boy-Sam-who wasn't just any child. He was a clone, a perfect replica of another human being, manufactured by a shadowy corporation known as Th3a. They didn't exist on any official records, but I knew they were real. I had seen their work with my own eyes.

I reported what I found, but instead of praise, I was met with silence. My superiors dismissed my claims, urging me to drop the case. But I couldn't. The boy's lifeless eyes haunted my dreams, and I knew I was onto something bigger than any of us could comprehend.

Months passed, and I was promoted to the DEA. It should have been a victory, but it felt more like a death sentence. Three detectives had died investigating the same case, and I was next in line. My first assignment was simple: gather evidence against Rowan Chandler, a suspected drug kingpin. But as I dug deeper, I realized Rowan was nothing more than a pawn in a much larger game. He was no king-just a sacrificial lamb.

I was supposed to pull out, to abandon the case when it became too dangerous. Orders came down from above, but I couldn't let it go. I was too deep, too close to uncovering the truth. The deeper I went, the more twisted the story became. I found old files, bizarre reports that seemed more like science fiction than reality. But I had seen the impossible-a clone that rotted away within seconds of death.

The name Bado kept resurfacing. It wasn't just a name; it was a specter that loomed over every aspect of my investigation. Eva Foluma Industries was a prime suspect, but two days before I could obtain a search warrant, the entire board was wiped out. It was a massacre, and the message was clear: I was playing a game I couldn't win.

I infiltrated one of their facilities, a massive underground compound hidden beneath the desert. What I found there was beyond comprehension-rows upon rows of human replicas, each more perfect than the last. They weren't just clones; they were an army, waiting for activation. Bado wasn't just a drug lord; he was a puppeteer, controlling an entire population with a drug derived from an alien species called Stnax from a planet known as Uptrian.

As I moved through the facility, I was ambushed. They erased all my evidence-videos, audio, everything. All that remained were my memories, fragmented and fragile, and no one would ever believe what I had seen. But I remembered, and that memory was my curse.

Back in the present, the flashback hit me like a freight train. My eyes fluttered open, and I was back in the room. Killian was on the ground, his body convulsing as Dr. Frank stood over him with a smug grin.

"Stop!" I screamed, my voice hoarse. "I'll go with you, just stop!"

Dr. Frank tilted his head, considering my plea. With a snap of his fingers, the electric currents stopped, and Killian collapsed in a heap. Two men grabbed me, roughly cuffing my wrists behind my back. I didn't struggle. What was the point? We were outmatched and outnumbered. I could only hope that going quietly would buy us some time.

They dragged us out of the house, shoving us into a van. I glanced at Killian, his eyes full of pain and confusion. This wasn't the end-not yet. I still had fight left in me, and as long as I was breathing, I would keep fighting.

Inside the van, they connected us to some kind of tubes. I tried to pull away, but the men held me down, forcing the cold metal into my veins. Within moments, everything started to fade again. My vision blurred, and I could feel the sedative working its way through my system.

As the darkness closed in, I caught a glimpse of Dr. Frank's face, his lips moving as he whispered something to one of his men. I couldn't hear the words, but I saw his expression-cold, calculated. My mind raced with possibilities, but before I could piece it together, the world slipped away.

In the fading moments of consciousness, one word echoed in my mind-*Bado.* What did it mean? What connection did it have to all of this? And why was it the last word I remembered before everything went black?

My voice trailed off as the implications of that last thought gripped me. I replayed the scene in my mind, trying to piece together what I had witnessed before I blacked out. The memory of Dr. Frank's lips moving, forming those unsettling words, gnawed at me.

"Recharge... they needed to recharge..."

My heart pounded as a terrifying possibility began to form in my mind. Could it be true? Could we-Killian and I-be clones too? The thought was absurd, and yet, everything I had seen, everything I had uncovered, pointed to something far more sinister than I had ever imagined

As we descended into the unknown, I realized that whatever was waiting for us on the other side wasn't going to be merciful. This was just the beginning of a nightmare from which we might never wake.