Chapter 4: The Photograph
1492 Words
The darkness swallowed the ballroom.
For a few seconds, nobody moved.
Then the room erupted.
People screamed.
Chairs scraped against the floor.
Someone knocked over a table, sending glasses crashing onto the carpet.
“Mia!”
I felt Ethan's hand close around mine.
“Don't let go.”
“I can't see.”
“I know.”
His voice was calm, but his grip was tight.
Too tight.
He pulled me toward him.
“Stay behind me.”
A phone flashlight suddenly appeared several feet away.
Then another.
Emergency lights flickered along the walls, but they were too weak to illuminate the entire room.
I could barely make out Ethan's silhouette.
“What happened?”
“Power failure.”
“You think?”
He ignored my sarcasm.
“Did you still have the photograph?”
I reached into my bag.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Why is that good?”
“Because whoever left it wanted you to find it.”
I stared at him.
“And that's supposed to make me feel better?”
“No.”
At least he was honest.
A loud bang came from the other side of the ballroom.
Ethan immediately pulled me closer.
“Stay here.”
“Where are you going?”
“To check something.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“No?”
“You said someone might be after me. You're not leaving me alone in the dark.”
For a moment, he studied my face.
Then he nodded.
“Fine. Stay beside me.”
We moved slowly through the crowd.
Security guards were trying to control the guests.
Someone shouted that the doors were locked.
Another person claimed they had seen someone running through the service hallway.
Ethan's expression hardened.
“Service hallway.”
“What?”
“That's where the emergency generator is.”
He started walking faster.
I followed.
We reached a narrow corridor behind the ballroom.
The noise from the guests became distant.
Only the sound of our footsteps remained.
Then Ethan stopped.
I almost walked into him.
“What?”
He pointed toward the floor.
There were wet footprints.
Someone had recently walked through the hallway.
Ethan crouched.
He touched one of the prints.
“Fresh.”
My stomach tightened.
“Maybe it's a staff member.”
“Maybe.”
But his tone said he didn't believe it.
We followed the footprints.
They ended at a metal door.
Ethan opened it.
Inside was a small control room.
The emergency generator was still running.
But someone had switched it off manually.
Ethan walked toward the control panel.
“This wasn't an accident.”
“You think someone caused the blackout?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He looked at me.
“To get you alone.”
A shiver ran through me.
“Why would anyone want me alone?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how do you know this has something to do with me?”
He didn't answer.
I folded my arms.
“You know more than you're telling me.”
“I know enough to know you're in danger.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It will have to be.”
“No, it won't.”
I stepped closer.
“You brought me into this.”
“I know.”
“You hired me to pretend to be your girlfriend.”
“I know.”
“And now someone is sending me pictures of my dead mother and shutting off the lights around me.”
His expression tightened.
“So tell me the truth.”
Silence.
Finally, Ethan looked away.
“Your mother was investigating my father.”
I blinked.
“Your father?”
“My father was running Black Enterprises when your mother died.”
“What did she find?”
“I don't know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
“Then why are you so afraid?”
He looked at me.
“Because my father died three months after your mother.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Heart attack.”
“And you think—”
“I think there are too many coincidences.”
Before I could respond, something moved outside the room.
Ethan immediately stepped in front of me.
“Who's there?”
No answer.
He opened the door.
The hallway was empty.
But something lay on the floor.
Another envelope.
My name was written across it.
I stared at it.
“No.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Stay here.”
He picked it up.
This time, the envelope was sealed with black wax.
He opened it carefully.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
He read it.
His expression changed.
“What does it say?”
He handed it to me.
My eyes moved across the words.
THE GIRL WHO KNOWS THE TRUTH WILL NEVER BE SAFE.
My heart pounded.
“What does that mean?”
Ethan took the paper back.
“It means someone is trying to scare you.”
“Or warn me.”
He looked at me.
“Exactly.”
The lights suddenly came back on.
We both looked toward the ceiling.
A second later, the ballroom erupted in cheers.
Ethan didn't smile.
“Come.”
We returned to the ballroom.
People were talking excitedly about the blackout.
Some complained.
Others laughed it off.
But I couldn't.
I kept thinking about the photograph.
My mother.
Ethan's father.
The two deaths.
The warnings.
None of it made sense.
Then I noticed someone standing near the entrance.
The man from earlier.
The one who had been watching me.
Our eyes met.
He turned.
I immediately pointed.
“There.”
Ethan followed my gaze.
The man disappeared through the doors.
“Stay here.”
I grabbed Ethan's sleeve.
“No.”
“Mia.”
“I'm coming with you.”
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
We hurried outside.
The hallway was empty.
“Where did he go?”
Ethan looked around.
“There's another exit.”
We followed the corridor until we reached a set of glass doors.
Outside, rain poured against the pavement.
A black car sped away.
Ethan stopped.
“Too late.”
I stared at the disappearing vehicle.
“Who was he?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying again.”
Ethan turned toward me.
“I've never seen him before.”
I studied his face.
For once, I believed him.
Then I remembered something.
I reached into my bag.
The photograph.
I turned it over.
There was something written beneath the previous message.
I hadn't noticed it before.
A date.
August 17, 2009.
And beneath it, a location.
I recognized the name immediately.
My mother's old office.
I looked at Ethan.
“This was taken before I was born.”
He nodded.
“Probably.”
“Then why was my mother with your father?”
“I don't know.”
“I'm going there tomorrow.”
“No.”
I frowned.
“No?”
“You're not going anywhere near that office.”
“It's my mother's.”
“It's dangerous.”
“You don't get to decide that.”
“I do if you're my responsibility.”
I stared at him.
“I'm not your responsibility.”
His expression hardened.
“You are now.”
The words hung between us.
Neither of us spoke.
Then Ethan's phone rang.
He answered.
“Black.”
I watched his expression change.
“What?”
He listened.
His face slowly lost all color.
“Are you sure?”
Another pause.
“Don't touch anything. I'll be there.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?”
He looked at me.
“Someone broke into your house.”
My heart dropped.
“My house?”
“Yes.”
“Did they take anything?”
“We don't know.”
I grabbed my bag.
“We have to go.”
Ethan caught my wrist.
“Mia.”
“What?”
“Your house wasn't just broken into.”
He hesitated.
“They left something behind.”
“What?”
His eyes met mine.
“A photograph of your mother.”
I swallowed.
“What's wrong with that?”
Ethan's voice dropped.
“The photograph was taken the night she died.”
My blood ran cold.
“That isn't possible.”
“I know.”
“Then how—”
He didn't let me finish.
“We're going there.”
The rain continued to fall as we hurried toward the car.
Neither of us noticed the figure standing across the street.
He watched Ethan's car disappear.
Then he pulled out his phone.
“She has the photograph,” he said.
A voice answered from the other end.
“Good.”
“And Ethan?”
A pause.
“Let him keep protecting her.”
The man smiled.
“It will make the truth hurt even more.”
He ended the call.
And disappeared into the rain.
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