Chapter 2 The Betrayal

AMARA

“What?”

“Runaway with me.” He repeated, voice filled with a certainty that chilled me to the core.

I bit my lip, letting the thought roll in my head over and over again. Run away with him? The idea sounded interesting, but it wasn’t so easy. My father’s web stretched to each and every part of the city. And what if I did manage to escape by some miracle? He could easily find me with the flick of a finger.

“Amara?” Philip’s voice broke through my thoughts.

“Sorry. Zoned out a little there.” I mumbled. “I—I don’t know. You really think we can pull it off?”

Philip blew out a breath. “It won’t be easy. But I know we can pull it off.”

“My father—You know connected he is. I don’t know if we can do this.” I bit my lip. Thoughts of how my father’s goons would easily close in on us already filling my head.

“Hey, hey.” His voice was always grounding. “Don’t let all that fear seep into your head. We can do it, okay? Action is the only way to combat fear. What I need you to do for me is grab everything you think you’re going to need now and meet me at the airport. I’ll text you the address.”

My eyes widened. “Tonight?”

“Yes, tonight. No doubt your father’s going to tighten his hold on you after tonight. We won’t have a better chance.”

I bit my lip, heart thundering at the thought of what Philip was asking me to do. Could I really do it? What if my father found out? Or my brothers. Each thought only sent a wave of anxiety through my chest.

“I don’t know. I—What if we get caught?” I asked, anxiety bleeding into my tone.

There was a small pause before Philip spoke again. “Do you trust me, Amara?”

It took me a few seconds but I managed to regain my voice again. “Yes.”

“Good,” He let out a breath. “I’m not going to lose you. Not now. Meet me at the airport in an hour. Grab only the essentials. Leave the tickets to me.”

“Okay…I’ll do that. I’ll see you then.” I sucked in some air.

“Okay.” There was another pause. “Take care, alright?”

A smile tugged at my lips despite the tears. “Okay.”

Then the call ended. I wiped the tears off my cheeks and quickly began packing. It had to be fast. None of my brothers had bothered coming to my door to check on me. Not like that. I grabbed a small bag and packed all the things I needed, passport included.

When I was sure I’d grabbed all my stuff, I took one final glance at my room. This was for the best. I couldn’t marry Sevro. Even if I wasn’t able to escape, I’d gladly die trying. I made my way to the window, carefully watching the guards do their normal patrol.

I waited till I was sure the coast was clear before using the tree as a ledge to jump down. The thud that came was soft as I hit the ground. My heart was thundering hard against my chest. I had to act fast, and smart too.

At one moment, I was almost caught by one of the guards. When he asked where I planned on heading to so late at night, I sent him a glare.

“And how is that your problem?”

He bowed his head. “My apologies, La Rosa.”

I made sure to glare some more before walking out of the gate. It was hard to miss how his eyes had lingered on my bag. He must have caught on.

I didn’t bother taking my car. My father would easily track it down. I had to act quick. Philip had already sent the address. It wasn’t hard to hail a taxi that would eventually take me there. The airport was a thirty minutes’ drive away.

As soon as I arrived at the airport, I hurriedly made my way to the sequence. My skin crawled and every single one of my senses was on alert. There was no one there but I couldn’t shake off the feeling of being watched.

Philip’s phone went to voicemail for the tenth time. “Where are you?”

I bit my lip, heart pounding hard against my chest. Our flight would be taking off in a couple of minutes. He should be here already. I dialed his number once more, about to call again. Then a notification came in.

I frowned. It was from Philip. Why was he texting me? I’d been calling all this while, trying to reach him. And here he was texting me.

My stomach dropped as soon as I opened the message.

At that moment, it felt like my heart came to a stop. My lips parted but no words could come out. With how hard my hands were trembling, it was a surprise that my phone hadn’t fallen yet.

It was a picture. A picture of Philip’s body; his corpse. Unmoving, with his face matted in blood. If the whole world could have come to a standstill, it would have right then.

“No,” I shook my head, the tears already choking me. “No, no, no. No. Please no!”

Eyes were on me now but I didn’t care. I wanted to claw at my throat, scream out the pain eating at my heart. He killed him. My father killed him.

How? How did he even manage to know? Philip. This was Philip’s dead body. I killed him. I told him everything. He tried to help me and I—

I let out a scream that tore right through to my stomach. One of the attendants at the sequence tried to reach out to me but I pushed her away.

“Is—Is everything okay, ma’am?”

I had to get out of this place. This city. There was barely any time to grieve now. Philip knew what he’d been saying when he wanted us to leave here. I couldn’t fail him not now.

Wiping away my tears, I picked up my bag again, about to hurry over to the terminal. Where was the damn passport again? I could have sworn I had it in my pocket. Philip had sent emailed me the tickets. I should get them out right away.

“There!”

My blood ran cold. I turned back to find three of my father’s men by the entrance. They’d found me already.

“Fuck.”