Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Man Who Refuse To Die

"Keep your mouths covered!" Elias yelled through the smoke.

I buried my face against Silas’s shoulder as he carried me through the collapsing corridors of Level Four. Around us, the alarms were blaring so loud, and now everyone was sincerely running for their lives.⁠

Everything was chaos. Who wants to die? Hell no but at least I’m not the one running, my husband is and so that was my own safety net.

“Hurry!” Elias shouted from ahead, his voice echoing through the concrete wall of level four. “The secondary ventilation system is failing guys!”

Sincerely I had wished that Elias had whispered this danger to our ears so the demons (Julian, Marissa, and Victor) won’t be aware of the danger coming.

"Silas, put me down! I can walk!" I choked out, coughing violently into his shoulder. I was acting up though to see if he would actually put me down.

"Shut up, Vienne," he growled, his voice deep and rough with a raw terror I had never heard from him before. He didn't even slow down.

“We’re almost there,” Lena whispered desperately. “Please don’t die. Please.” She was talking to my Godmother.

I raised my head to see how Julian and his fellows were doing. Right at our back Julian, Victor and Marissa, their terrifying masks of control completely melted away and taking over by the fear of death. The demons were running for their lives just like the rest of us.

"Get in! Move!" Elias barked, shoving Lena and my weak Godmother into a cramped, metal elevator box. Silas threw me in right after them, instantly turning his towering frame around to block the entrance.

Victor moved forward, his face slick with sweat, his hand reaching for the gate. "Let us in, Silas!"

"The weight limit is maxed, Victor," Silas spat, his dark eye flashing with an unbothered coldness as his finger tightened on the trigger. “Take the emergency lift,” Silas said coldly. “And pray it still works.”

"Silas, please!" Marissa shrieked from the dark, her voice was filled with terror.

Silas didn't even blink. He slammed the iron gate shut right in Victor’s face and hit the manual lever. The old elevator groaned, flying from the cables as it violently jerked upward, leaving the screams of my aunt and Victor trapped in the dark below.

Julian? He remained strangely calm. Unlike Victor and Marissa, fear never seemed to touch him.

The silence inside the lift was something else. The only sound was the rhythmic thud of our chests and the mechanical whirring of the lift pulling us up into the Vane Corporate Tower.

I collapsed against the scratched metal wall of the lift, my knees trembling so badly I couldn't stand. Lena dropped beside me, her hands still tightly holding my Godmother’s shivering frame.

"Vienne," Lena whispered, her eyes wide with shock as she stared at me through the dim lift light. "What you said down there... about your parents... Marissa... is it true?"

"It's true," I said, rubbing my aching temples. The thought of what happened there suddenly crowded my mind. The image of my six-year-old self, my father's face, my mother's panic—it was a heavy weight settling into my bones. But at least now I was recovering pieces of my past that has always been hidden.

"Elias," Silas called out, not turning around. "How long until we hit the penthouse?"

"Two minutes," Elias answered, his fingers flying over a small pocket terminal he carried. “We’re here!”

Elias slammed his hand against the biometric panel so he could open the lift.

ACCESS DENIED.

“Oh, come on!” he groaned.

The finally, the lift slowly opened, a polite electronic chime echoing inside the metal box.

The doors slid open.

The heat and smoke of Level Four were instantly replaced by the cool, air-conditioned luxury of the Vane Tower penthouse floor. Thick marble tiles, floor-to-ceiling glass windows showing the glittering city skyline below, and double mahogany doors leading into the main boardroom.

Standing right outside the lift were four heavily armed security guards wearing the Vale corporate crest. The moment they saw Silas standing there—alive, covered in blood which was dripping from his arm—their faces went completely white. Before they could even raise their gun…

"Drop them," Silas commanded, his voice echoing through the corridor.

The authority in his presence made two of them instantly lower their barrels, their hands shaking. Elias stepped up, smoothly disarming the other two before they could even process the shock.

"Stay here with the Godmother," Silas ordered Lena and Elias, his eye shifting down to me. He extended his hand, his large palm waiting for mine. "Vienne. Walk with me."

I blushed to that. “Are we going in there stained like this?” I asked.

He just nodded.

My heart raced violently against my ribs. I looked at his hand, then up at his unreadable face. I didn’t fully trust Silas because all that has been happening but I have to do this with him.

I placed my hand in his. His grip closed around mine.

Together, we walked down the silent, luxurious hallway. Silas didn't knock. He raised his heavy boot and kicked the double mahogany doors right off their hinges.

Inside the boardroom, a dozen powerful investors and board members shrieked, jumping out of their leather chairs. At the head of the table stood Arthur, a fountain pen in his hand, frozen mid-signature over the transition documents.

And right beside him, holding a flute of champagne, was Cassandra Vale.

The moment her eyes landed on Silas, the glass slipped from her manicured fingers, shattering against the marble floor as the golden liquid pooled around her expensive heels. Her elegant face changed into a look of absolute horror.

"Silas..." Cassandra whispered, her voice trembling so hard she could barely form his name. "You... it's impossible."

Silas stepped into the room, dragging me right beside him. He let go of my hand, slowly walking to the head of the table until he was standing directly over Arthur.

He leaned down, placing both his blood stained palms flat on the glass table, his dark eye locking onto Cassandra with a smile that looked so fake and cold.

"Sorry to interrupt the celebration, Cassandra," Silas poured out softly, his voice sending a shiver of terror through the entire room.

“The news said you were dead?” Two board members echoed together.

“But I’m not… it’s was a fake news and now the world would realize that their hero isn’t dead”.

Arthur rolled his eyes in disbelief.

Despite everything that had happened, a small smile found its way to my lips. I was proud of him. I walked toward where he was and held his hands for them to confirm I was his wife.

Cassandra just stared at me with so much hatred. I really don’t know what this feeling was but I had the feeling she has a crush on him.

She started fake weeping and pointed at me. With so much anger and pain in her voice, she said…

“You should have stayed dead,” she said softly.

My blood ran cold.