Chapter 1On the last afternoon of my business trip, my fiancé suddenly texted me.
[Isla wants that merman from your lab as a pet. I sent you $5 million. Consider him sold.]
What?!! My blood ran cold. I called him immediately.
"I never agreed to sell him! And that merman is—"
He cut me off cold.
"Ugh. Just an animal. If she wants him, give him to her. I'm in a meeting. Gotta go."
He hung up and turned off his phone.
I had no choice but to call Isla.
I called her over and over until she finally picked up.
"What is your problem, Lucy? You're so annoying! Didn't Aiden already pay you?"
"I'm already at your lab! Don't even bother trying to stop me."
"Don't go in!" I shouted. "It's dangerous!"
She didn't even listen.
"I heard merman blood is amazing for your skin... I'm totally gonna use his blood in face masks every day. Hehe!"
"Don't! He's—"
She hung up before I could finish and blocked me.
I stared at my phone in silence.
Why the hell does nobody ever let me finish a sentence?!
That merman... he eats people!
...
Six months ago, I was on a national research team in the South Pacific.
That's where we found him—an injured merman, floating in the open water.
We pulled him onboard.
Big mistake.
He went absolutely feral. Three people got hurt.
One guy almost had his heart ripped straight out of his chest.
Then I showed up and he calmed right down.
The team figured it out pretty fast—I was the only one he wouldn't attack.
So they put him under my care at the lab.
And now?
I'm halfway across the country while Isla's about to walk right into that room.
This is going to be a disaster.
I booked the next flight out.
On my way to the airport, it hit me—the lab has cameras.
I pulled up the feed on my phone.
There she was.
Isla, with a whole squad of bodyguards in black suits.
Aiden must've sent them.
She was already at the entrance when the door suddenly opened.
A man stepped out.
The second he saw the crowd, his whole body tensed.
"Who the hell are you people?!"
Thank God—it's Mason. My colleague.
Before I left town, I'd asked him to check on Lir every day. That's the name I gave the merman.
Mason usually goes in the mornings. Must be running behind.
I grabbed my backup phone and called him.
On the feed, I watched him pick up.
I told him everything fast. His face went hard.
"I've got this. They're not getting in."
"Lir's dangerous as hell. If he gets loose, there's no telling what he'll do."
He hung up and slammed the lab door shut.
"Sorry. No one's going in!"
Isla folded her arms and laughed in his face.
"Excuse me?! Do you have any idea I just dropped fifty million on that merman?!
"He's mine now. Move!"
Mason's voice turned to ice.
"That merman is federal property! He's protected by the National Research Institute.
"You take him, you're committing a felony!"
Isla actually burst out laughing.
"Oh please. You think I'm scared?"
"If that thing's so precious, why's he stuck in Lucy's sad little lab?"
"Lucy's always trying to act like she's some big deal. She went on one expedition and now thinks she's God's gift to science."
"I don't fucking care who gets in my way! I'm taking him. End of story."
Before Mason could get another word out, two bodyguards rushed him and slammed him into the ground.
"LET GO! You CAN'T go in there! Lir will KILL you—"
My heart stopped.
Then it got worse.
The lab door needs a passcode. Only my team knows it.
I never even gave it to Aiden.
But Isla walked straight up to the keypad and started typing like she already knew.
Next second—
Click.
The door swung open.
Chapter 2
My eyes went wide.
Then I remembered—one of my researchers had quit recently.
The guy was broke his whole life, then suddenly he's posting pictures of a brand new Mercedes.
Someone bought that passcode!
But right now, that didn't matter. I had to stop them.
I switched the camera feed to the interior.
Isla was already inside, strutting through my lab like she owned it.
She touched everything—equipment, samples, documents. Didn't care what any of it was.
My jaw clenched.
Some of those samples belonged to the National Research Institute.
If she broke anything, this wasn't just about money anymore. This was federal.
She wandered into the specimen room.
Shelves lined with glass jars, each one containing preserved biological tissue.
Rare. Irreplaceable.
She picked up one of the jars and held it up to the light, squinting at what was inside.
The specimen twitched.
Isla screamed and hurled the jar across the room.
It exploded against the wall, glass and preservative fluid spraying everywhere.
She frantically wiped her hands on a handkerchief, face twisted in disgust.
"Ew! THIS is what Lucy's been doing? Playing with dead things in jars?"
She made a retching sound.
"I actually feel sorry for Aiden. All that money, straight into the trash."
My nails dug into my palms.
She just destroyed a classified national specimen!
Cataloged. Irreplaceable. Years of research, gone!
Willful destruction of federal property is a felony.
But Isla clearly had no clue what she'd just done.
Her eyes landed on another row of jars and she waved dismissively at the bodyguards.
"These things are disgusting. I don't want to see them. Throw them ALL out."
The bodyguards moved toward the shelves.
Just then, Mason came crashing through the door.
He saw the shattered glass on the floor.
The samples—irreplaceable, years of work—being dumped into a trash can like garbage.
His face went ghost white.
"Are you out of your MIND?! You can't just touch these things! Do you have ANY idea what you're destroying?!"
Isla glanced at him, arms crossed, completely unbothered.
"What? Aiden built this lab. Everything here belongs to him! And what's his is mine!
"Who the hell are YOU to tell me what to do? Get out!"
I almost laughed.
Is that what Aiden told her?
Yeah, he invested a few million.
But it barely enough for one room!
The real value was in the research.
That jar she just smashed? Worth more than his entire net worth!
Mason tried to push past the bodyguards, but they beat him back.
He doubled over, gasping.
All he could do was watch helplessly as they dumped specimen after specimen into the trash.
Suddenly a bodyguard rushed in, breathing hard.
"Miss Isla—we found him!"
Mason went rigid.
I stared at the screen, my hands trembling so badly I could barely hold the phone.
Isla's face lit up. "Take me there!"
She followed the bodyguard and shoved open a door.
The second she saw what was inside, she froze.
My eyes locked onto the screen.
Inside a massive glass tank, Lir lay at the bottom.
His dark blue hair floated in the water like seaweed, and his silver tail shimmered under the lights, almost hypnotic.
Isla stared, completely mesmerized.
She walked closer and pressed her palm against the glass.
Then she shouted, "Take the lid off! I want to touch my new pet!"
"NO!" I yelled out loud in the car.
My mind flashed back to the South Pacific—
Lir tackling that researcher, his claws punching straight through the man's chest.
If we hadn't pulled him off in time, he would've ripped that heart right out!
Lir looks gentle. Beautiful, even.
That's the trap!
Chapter 3
I watched the bodyguards lift the tank lid.
My breath caught in my throat.
One second. Two seconds. Ten seconds.
Lir didn't move.
Even when Isla reached into the water and touched his hair, he stayed completely still.
I zoomed in on his face. His eyes were still closed.
I checked the monitor next to the tank.
Oh thank God.
He's in dormancy.
When mermen go dormant, they're completely shut down—can't hear, can't feel anything.
Lasts anywhere from four to eight hours.
Isla just got insanely lucky.
Because if he'd been awake?
The second that lid came off, she'd be dead. Heart ripped straight out of her chest.
I checked the time.
It would take me at least six hours to get there. Maybe more.
Please. Just don't wake him up.
Isla had her people transfer Lir into a massive tank she'd brought with her.
Then they loaded him onto a truck.
Within minutes, he was gone from the camera's view.
I tried calling Mason again. No answer.
They must've tied him up somewhere.
Merman research is classified.
I couldn't report this to regular police.
All I could do was message the research team.
But they were still in lockdown. No idea when they'd see it.
I'd lost track of Lir. My chest felt tight.
Then my phone buzzed.
[Your followed account "Isla's Princess Diary" has posted an update!]
I clicked it and my stomach dropped.
She'd just posted photos of Lir.
[Showing off my new pet merman!]
The photos were blurred out, but one of them clearly showed part of his tail.
The comments were full of people thinking it was fake.
[No way that's real]
[Probably just a guy in a costume lol]
Isla replied in the comments:
[Going live at 7 PM tonight. Come see for yourselves!]
My jaw clenched.
She wasn't just stealing a federal specimen.
She was about to livestream him to the entire internet.
I did the math. Aiden's meeting should be over by now.
I called him.
He picked up, but his voice was full of irritation.
"What NOW, Lucy? Think I have nothing better to do than answer your calls?"
"Aiden." My voice came out cold. "Do you have ANY idea what Isla just did?"
"She broke into my lab. Destroyed federal specimens. And now she's kidnapped Lir."
"Every single thing I just said is a FELONY."
"If you stop her now, there's still time—"
"Oh, here we go again."
He actually laughed.
"Lucy, who do you think paid for all your little experiments?"
"And if that fish was so damn important, why the hell is he in YOUR lab?"
"Because I'm the only one he doesn't—"
"Enough! I get it. You want more money. Fine. I'll wire you another twenty million. Happy?"
"This isn't about MONEY!"
"I'm telling you, Lir is dangerous. He's going to KILL her!"
"If you care about Isla at all, you'll stop her right now!"
