EPISODE 2:The Man Who Was Watching
1916 Words
The hallway suddenly felt too small.
Too crowded.
Too loud.
Yet all I could hear was the pounding of my own heart.
I stared at the place where the man in the black suit had been standing.
Gone.
Completely gone.
“Miss Vale?”
The older police officer's voice pulled me back.
I turned toward him.
“Yes?”
“We need you to come with us.”
My mother's fingers tightened around mine.
“She isn't going anywhere.”
The officer looked at her.
“Mrs. Vale, I understand that this is a difficult day, but your husband is wanted for questioning. We need to establish Miss Vale's whereabouts and speak with her about the company's financial records.”
“My daughter knows nothing about her father's business.”
“That is for us to determine.”
I looked at my phone again.
The three messages from the unknown number were still there.
Your father didn't betray anyone. He was betrayed.
And you're next.
Leave the hotel immediately.
My eyes moved to the officers.
Then to the entrance.
Then back to my phone.
Don't trust the police.
Whoever had sent those messages knew something.
But why?
And how?
“Mom,” I whispered.
She looked at me.
“I need to leave.”
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
“I need to leave now.”
The officer stepped forward.
“Miss Vale...”
I took a step back.
“I said I need to leave.”
The officer's expression changed.
“Why?”
I didn't answer.
I couldn't tell him about the messages.
Something inside me screamed that I shouldn't.
Not yet.
My mother looked at me.
“Elena, what's wrong?”
I showed her my phone.
Her face went pale.
She read the messages twice.
Then she looked toward the officers.
“Who sent these?”
“I don't know.”
The older officer held out his hand.
“Let me see.”
I pulled the phone against my chest.
“No.”
His eyebrows rose.
“Miss Vale, if someone is threatening you, we need to know.”
“I said no.”
For the first time, his expression hardened.
“You're making this unnecessarily difficult.”
My mother's face tightened.
“She's frightened.”
“So am I,” I whispered.
The officer looked at me.
“What did you say?”
I swallowed.
“My father told my mother not to trust anyone.”
Silence.
The officer's eyes narrowed.
“Your father was under investigation.”
“My father was innocent.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know my father.”
He stared at me for a moment.
Then his radio crackled.
He turned away to answer it.
I immediately looked at my mother.
“We're leaving.”
“How?”
I looked toward the hotel entrance.
“Through the back.”
My mother hesitated.
“Elena—”
“Please.”
Something in my voice made her stop arguing.
We turned.
I lifted the edge of my wedding dress and began walking.
Every step felt unreal.
A few hours ago, I had been a bride.
Now I was running from the police.
My father was missing.
My fiancé had betrayed me.
My family had lost everything.
And a stranger was warning me that I was next.
What had happened to my life?
---
We reached the service corridor behind the kitchen.
The noise from the wedding reception faded behind us.
My heels slipped against the polished floor.
I kicked them off.
My mother stared at me.
“What are you doing?”
“I can't run in these.”
I picked them up and kept walking barefoot.
We passed kitchen staff who stared at us.
One of them whispered something.
Another looked away.
I didn't care.
For the first time in my life, I understood what it meant to be hunted.
We reached the emergency exit.
My mother pushed the door open.
Cold air hit my face.
Outside, the sky was gray.
Rain had started falling.
I stepped into it.
Within seconds, my wedding dress was wet.
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Elena, we need a car.”
“Our cars are probably being watched.”
“How do you know?”
“I don't.”
I looked back at the hotel.
“But I don't know who to trust anymore.”
A black SUV was parked across the street.
My heart stopped.
The windows were tinted.
I couldn't see inside.
“Mom.”
She followed my gaze.
“What?”
“Don't look directly at it.”
She immediately lowered her eyes.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
The SUV remained still.
Then—
The driver's door opened.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
A man stepped out.
Black suit.
Black tie.
Tall.
My breath caught.
It was him.
The man from the hallway.
He stood beneath the rain without an umbrella.
His dark hair was slightly damp.
His expression was unreadable.
He looked directly at me.
I couldn't move.
He started walking toward us.
My mother whispered, “Who is that?”
“I don't know.”
The man stopped several feet away.
His eyes remained on mine.
“Miss Vale.”
I stiffened.
“How do you know my name?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at my mother.
“Mrs. Vale.”
My mother stepped closer to me.
“Who are you?”
The man reached inside his jacket.
I immediately stepped back.
But he only pulled out a phone.
He held it toward me.
“Your phone.”
I stared at him.
“What about it?”
“Check your messages.”
I looked down.
Another message had arrived.
Get in the car.
My eyes widened.
I looked back at him.
“You sent them.”
“Yes.”
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Elena, we're leaving.”
The man didn't react.
“You can leave,” he said calmly.
“But if you stay here for another five minutes, the people coming for you won't be as polite as I am.”
My stomach twisted.
“What people?”
He looked toward the hotel.
“Your father's enemies.”
“You know my father?”
His eyes returned to mine.
“I knew him.”
Past tense.
My throat tightened.
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
His expression didn't change.
“You're right.”
My mother stepped between us.
“Who are you?”
The man finally looked at her.
“Damian Blackwood.”
The name meant nothing to me.
But the reaction on my mother's face did.
She froze.
“Blackwood?”
Damian's eyes narrowed slightly.
“You've heard of me.”
My mother didn't answer.
I looked at her.
“Mom?”
She whispered one word.
“Run.”
Damian's expression changed.
Not much.
Just enough for me to notice.
He looked past us.
Then he said quietly:
“She's right.”
I turned.
Two black cars had just entered the hotel parking area.
Men stepped out.
They weren't police.
They wore dark clothes.
One of them pointed toward us.
Damian moved instantly.
He grabbed my wrist.
“Get in the car.”
I pulled away.
“Don't touch me!”
His jaw tightened.
“I'm trying to keep you alive.”
“I don't know you!”
“You don't have time to know me.”
A gunshot cracked through the air.
My mother screamed.
I froze.
Damian pulled me against him and pushed me behind the SUV.
Another shot hit the concrete wall beside us.
Everything happened at once.
People screamed inside the hotel.
Car doors slammed.
My mother crouched beside me.
Damian stood in front of us.
He didn't panic.
He didn't hesitate.
He pulled a gun from beneath his jacket.
My breath caught.
He looked like a completely different man.
Cold.
Focused.
Dangerous.
He fired once.
A man across the parking lot dropped behind a car.
“Stay here,” Damian ordered.
I grabbed his sleeve.
“Where are you going?”
“To make sure they don't get closer.”
“You have a gun!”
“So do they.”
He pulled his arm free.
Then he looked directly into my eyes.
“Whatever happens, don't leave this car.”
And he disappeared into the rain.
I stared after him.
My mother grabbed my shoulder.
“Elena.”
I turned.
“Who is he?”
“I don't know.”
But even as I said it, I knew that wasn't completely true.
I knew his name.
Damian Blackwood.
And somehow, my mother was terrified of him.
---
The gunshots stopped.
Silence returned.
I waited.
One minute.
Two.
Three.
My hands were shaking.
“Where is he?”
My mother didn't answer.
“Mom?”
She looked toward the hotel.
Then toward the road.
“He's dangerous.”
“You know him.”
“No.”
“You reacted when he said his name.”
She looked away.
“Mom.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Your father once told me never to trust a Blackwood.”
My stomach dropped.
“What does that mean?”
Before she could answer, Damian returned.
There was blood on his sleeve.
I jumped out of the car.
“Are you hurt?”
He looked down at his arm.
“Not mine.”
I stared at him.
He opened the driver's door.
“Get in.”
I didn't move.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“I need answers.”
“So do I.”
“About my father?”
His eyes hardened.
“About everything.”
I stepped closer.
“What do you know?”
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
“Your father didn't disappear because of the fraud investigation.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“He disappeared because someone wanted him dead.”
My mother's hand covered her mouth.
Damian continued.
“And if they realize you're still alive, they'll come for you next.”
I felt my knees weaken.
“Why are you helping me?”
For the first time, something flickered in his eyes.
Something I couldn't understand.
“Because your father asked me to.”
My breath caught.
“My father?”
Damian nodded.
“He contacted me last night.”
“When?”
“2:13 a.m.”
“What did he say?”
Damian opened the car door.
“He said one thing.”
I waited.
He looked at me.
“He told me that if anything happened to him, I was to protect you.”
My heart pounded.
“Why would my father ask you?”
Damian didn't answer.
“Damian.”
He looked away.
“Get in the car, Elena.”
I didn't move.
“How did you know I would be at this hotel today?”
Silence.
“How did you know about my father?”
Nothing.
“How did you know I would receive those messages?”
His jaw tightened.
I took another step toward him.
“You've been watching me.”
He looked directly at me.
“Yes.”
The word landed like a slap.
My stomach twisted.
“For how long?”
He didn't answer.
“Damian.”
His eyes darkened.
“Long enough.”
I stared at him.
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