LOGINCHAPTER 5
The unknown number
Vanessa POV
Phone ringing
Hi Adrian?”
My voice came out softer and sweeter than I intended.
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone
Then I heard him breathe
“Vanessa”. He responded
Just hearing my name from his lips made my heart melt
“I miss you," I whispered softly
I closed my eyes and held the phone tighter against my ear.
“I know I shouldn't be calling you, but I can't stop thinking about you.”
Another silence.
I could almost picture his face, the tired eyes, the tight jaw. That cold expression he wore whenever he was trying to hide what he was feeling.
“Vanessa, i miss you too he answered quickly
“I know.”
My voice cracked
“I wanted to hear your voice
I waited for him to say something
Am here baby “i want us to see”
My heart jumped i wanted to see you because i miss the way you always look at me
I missed the way you used to make me feel important
I missed the feeling of having you close.
But most of all, I want to know if there is still something between us.
“I just want to talk,” I said.
“You know what come over to the house”
Vivian travel she is not around
Wow i didnt know tho she didnt tell me
Okay give me thirty minute you will see
A small smile touched my lips
“Okay.” then we both ended the call
I lowered the phone slowly.
My heart was beating so fast that I could almost hear it.
I stood in front of the mirror and looked at myself.
A small smile appeared on my face
I quickly changed my clothes and left.
Thirty minutes later I was at the doorstep of his house i knock at the door and Adrian open the door before I could knock twice
The moment I saw him, my smile faded.
He looked exhausted.
His shirt was slightly wrinkled, and his hair was messy like he had been running his hands through it all night
“Adrian…” come in
His voice was cold i stepped inside
The house was quiet. Too quiet
I looked around nothing changed
He closed the door behind me you care for anything “he asked”
“What did you want to talk about?”
I turned toward him.
“You could at least ask how I'm doing.”
“How are you doing?”
His voice was flat.
I frowned
“Adrian…”
He looked at me.
I swallowed hard.
“There is something I haven't told you Adrian”
His eyebrows pulled together.
What?
I looked down at my hands.
An unknown number has been calling me.”
His expression changed immediately.
“Who?” he asked
“I don't know”
“What do you mean you don't know?
“It's an unknown number.”
“How many times?” I hesitated
“Too many” his jaw tightened
“When did it start?” he asked
Few days ago “ i replied”
“And you didn't tell me?” I was afraid
He stepped closer afraid of what ?
“What did they say?” nothing
His brows furrowed.
“They never said anything?”
I shook my head.
“They just call. Sometimes they stay silent. Sometimes they hang up the moment I answer.”
Adrian stared at me.
“Why didn't you block the number?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“They called again.” His face went pale
I could see the fear spreading across his features.
“You should have told me”
“I didn't know what to think”
“Vanessa”
His voice softened, but there was still tension in it.
“Have they sent you any messages?”
I looked away.
He immediately noticed “Vanessa”
I took a shaky breath.
“Yes.”
His eyes widened “what did they send?”
I pulled out my phone.
My fingers trembled as I unlocked it.
“I didn't understand what they meant.”
I handed him the phone he read the message
His entire body went still
His eyes lifted slowly, "Why didn't you tell me this ?”
CHAPTER 74 THE ASHES OF MERCERVivianThe red LED on the detonator pulsed like a tiny, bleeding heart in Julian’s hand.I couldn't move. My lungs felt packed with wet sand, every instinct in my body screaming at me to run, to scramble back into the dark, but my limbs refused to obey. The man standing ten feet away had carried me on his shoulders when I was five years old. He had sat at my father’s dinner table every Sunday evening, breaking bread, laughing, drinking dark red wine, and promising my dying mother that he would always keep our family safe.It was all blood money. It had always been blood money."You monster," I rasped, my voice barely a whisper against the low, rhythmic hum of the basement boilers.Julian didn't flinch. His expression didn't harden into a sneer or twist into rage. That was the most terrifying part of him—the absolute, soul-crushing absence of malice. He looked at me with the detached, mild sympathy of a banker reading a foreclosure notice."Monster
CHAPTER 73 THE CLEANUP PROTOCOLVivianThe officer’s hand moved to his side holster before the radio static even faded from the air.Every drop of warmth vanished from my blood. The relief that had briefly filled my chest split wide open, replaced by a cold, sickening horror. The flashing blue lights washing over the terrace weren't a rescue. They were a execution squad dressed in kevlar and badges."Adrian!" I screamed.Adrian reacted before the words fully left my lips.He didn't try to stand. From his knees, he lunged forward, throwing his full weight against the officer’s thighs just as the man pulled his weapon clear of the tactical holster. The officer gasped as his legs buckled, his heavy frame crashing sideways into the rain-slicked balustrade. The gun went off—a deafening blast that shattered what was left of the decorative glass doorframe above my head, showering us in tiny, glittering shards."Get behind me!" Adrian roared, scrambling over the slick floor to push him
CHAPTER 72THE EDGE OF THE ABYSSVivianMy fingers locked around Adrian’s wrist a fraction of a second before his grip completely gave out on the wet stone.The weight of his body pulled me flat against the rain-slicked balustrade with a violence that knocked the air entirely out of my lungs. The sharp edge of the masonry bit viciously into my ribs, but I didn't care. I couldn't care. I dug my toes into the cracks between the wet floor tiles, my left hand clinging to his forearm while my right squeezed the hard plastic of the master drive so tightly against my ribs that my knuckles burned white."Vivian... let go!" Adrian’s voice rose through the roaring wind, strained and hollowed out by exertion. He hung in the open air, four stories above the jagged slate courtyard, his boots kicking uselessly against the sheer, vertical face of the stone wall. "You can't hold me! You'll pull yourself over!""Shut up!" I screamed, the rain lashing my face, stinging my eyes until I could barely
CHAPTER 71THE STRUGGLE ON THE TERRACEVivianThe glass doors shattered outward into the freezing night, showering the upper terrace in a sharp hail of crystal.I didn't even have time to scream before the impact hit. Adrian’s body threw itself across mine, shoving me back into the safety of the interior archway just as Matteo’s arm swung wild with the heavy brass lamp he had ripped from the wall. The blow missed my temple by inches, glancing off the doorframe with a sickening thud that sent sparks into the dark."Run, Vivian!" Adrian roared, but there was nowhere left to run.Matteo was already moving. His dark coat whipped in the mountain wind as he stumbled out onto the slick, wet tile of the terrace. Clutched against his ribs was the hard plastic casing of the master drive—the single piece of evidence that held the truth about my father's death, about the corporate syndicate, about every lie that had kept me running for three agonizing years.He was heading for the spiral iro
Chapter 70Lorenzo Steps InAdrianThere is a specific kind of silence that fills a room right before a life is ruined.It was heavy and thick, choking the air out of my lungs. I stood frozen in the center of the study, my chest rising and falling in ragged, shallow breaths. Three feet away stood Matteo. In his left hand, the small silver flash drive caught the dim light of the chandelier, the only proof we had left. The key to ending all of this.But my eyes weren’t on the drive. They were on the dark, heavy steel of the gun in his right hand.And the barrel was pointed directly at Vivian.She was backed against the heavy mahogany desk, her hands gripping the edge so hard her knuckles were bone-white. She was terrified, but she didn’t scream. She just looked at me. In her wide, dark eyes, I saw everything I had spent the last two years fighting for. I saw the quiet mornings we were supposed to have. I saw a future that didn’t involve looking over our shoulders."Don't do it,
Chapter 69Lorenzo Steps InVivianLorenzo had told me to sleep. He had kissed my forehead, wrapped a thick blanket around my shoulders, and promised he would be back before the sun came up.But sleep was a luxury I couldn't afford tonight.I sat alone in his massive, dimly lit study. Outside, the rain was coming down in sheets, violently lashing against the floor-to-ceiling windows. The storm swallowed the city, leaving only the sound of water beating against the glass and the low, steady hum of the central heating. Down the hall, just outside the heavy oak doors, six armed security guards stood in total silence. Lorenzo had placed them there to make me feel safe.But I didn't feel safe. I felt a deep, crawling sense of dread that I couldn't shake.I pulled my legs up into the leather chair, pulling the blanket tighter around myself. On the grand mahogany desk in front of me sat a thick, black binder. Lorenzo had brought it from the Dominion archives a few days ago. It was the







