Chapter 2 -- No Survivors
1827 Words
“It exploded thirty minutes ago.”
Serena couldn't control her breathed.
The words struck into her so hard even more than a second, everything around her lost. The music playing downstairs, the city lights outside the penthouse windows couldn't be seen, even the sound of her own heartbeat vanished into the thin air in silence.
Her fingers were seen trembling violently around the phone.
“No…” she whispered weakly and faintly.
The room froze beneath her feet.
Across from her, Damien finally looked up sharply, and unbelievably shocked.
For the first time in the long night, his full attention was drawn to her.
“What happened?” he asked surprisingly.
But Serena hardly could hear him.
The trembling voice on the line continued quickly.
“The jet just disappeared from the radar before the explosion took place. The Emergency rescue teams are still searching around the ocean now.”
Serena couldn't feel her kneel anymore.
Her father.
No.No,
No, this shouldn't be happening.
Only hours ago Richard Vale had hugged her so tightly assuming it was gonna be the last time to see each other before leaving for the airport. She could still remember the warmth of his hand against her little cheek.
“If Damien ever breaks your heart,” he told her softly, “come home to me, my little Angel.”
A broken tears escaped her throat.
Her sight blurred instantly filling up with tears.
She looked toward Damien desperately like somehow he could fix this, or she could run to him for consoles.
“We need to go,” she whispered still being frightened. “Right now.”
But Damien didn’t move, not even a remorse or reaction from him.
Didn’t react.
His gray eyes were a bit slightly darkened instead.
“Who else was on the plane?”was all that could be heard from him.
Serena surprisedly looked at him in disbelief.
For a moment she tried figuring out if she heard him wrong.
“My father’s jet just exploded,” she said, her voice cracking badly, “and that’s your most emotional words and very first question to me at this moment?”
His jaw was tightened, and lose words.
“It matters.”
Something cold and freezing slipped down her joint.
The tone in his voice got her more upset.
Too calm.
Too controlled.
Did he already know something she didn’t?
Vanessa had crossed her arms with an annoyed sigh and disbelief.
“Honestly, Serena, rich men most times fake deaths. Maybe your father just wants attention.”
The words hit Serena like gasoline was added into a fire.
Slowly, she turned toward her sister, Vennessa.
For one long second, neither bother women moved.
Then
SLAP.
The sound could be felt so violently through the luxury suite.
Vanessa couldn't help but stumbled backward in shock, holding her cheek.
“You dare hit me?!”
Serena’s chest filled strongly with rage.
“You deserve worse, than that,”
Vanessa rushed toward her angrily.
“You stinky b***h!”
Before she could touch Serena, Damien had held Vanessa’s wrist hard enough to stop her instantly.
“Enough.”
His cold voice froze the entire room.
Vanessa looked shocked.
“You’re defending her?Vennessa asked”
Damien slowly released her hand, but his eyes never left Serena, even for a second.
“She just found out her father might be dead.”
Might.
Not is.
Not dead.
Serena grabbed the word instantly.
A strange feeling flooded painfully inside her chest.
Why did Damien sound so careful and caring at this moment?
So certain?
Her phone rang again.
This time her hands shook so furiously that she almost dropped it while answering.
“Hello? Still trembling”
“Miss Vale…” the rescue officer’s voice sounded calm and different now. Lower. Grim. “We recovered debris from the ocean.”
Serena pressed her eyes shut.
“And my father?”
A little Silence.
A horrible silence.
Then the sentence that shattered her world completely.
“There were no survivors.”
The pain hit instantly and brutally,
Brutally.
It felt like someone stole the air from her lungs with bare hands.
A loud scream tore from Serena’s throat as she collapsed onto the marble floor.
“No—”
Tears wrecked her body violently.
Her father couldn’t be gone.
He couldn’t.
Richard Vale was more than her father. He was her safe abode. The only person who loved her without terms and conditions. Without manipulation., without sentiments Without games.
The only person who protected her.
Memories flooded into her mind all at once.
Her father taught her how to dance in their living room when she was six years old.
Holding her after scary nightmares.
Sneaking her ice cream after her mother died.
Walking her down the aisle only hours ago with tears shining in his eyes.
“You deserve all happiness, sweetheart.”
Now he is gone forever.
And Damien stood there watching her cry with that same unpredictable and unreadable expression.
Something inside Serena suddenly broke.
Three weeks ago, she overheard Damien and her father strongly arguing behind closed doors inside Richard Vale’s office.
A mafia alliance deal.
Her father hated it passionately.
He called it a dangerous blood money that would destroy everything their family had ever built.
Damien wanted expansion.
Power.
Control.
The argument became so strong and fierce.
Serena remembered hearing glass split and scattering.
Then her father shouting:
“If you go through with this, people will die.”
And now Richard Vale was dead.
Serena slowly lifted her tear-stained face toward Damien.
“So you know.”
The room became deathly and quiet.
Damien’s eyes became so hardened instantly.
“Careful.”
“My father had always opposed your deal,” Serena whispered shakily and trembling. “And suddenly his plane explodes?”
Vanessa laughed harshly.
“Oh my God. She’s actually so insane.”
But Serena couldn’t stop but kept staring at Damien.
Every instinct inside her screamed something was not right.
This wasn’t grief talking anymore.
This was fear.
Damien took a step toward her slowly.
Every step makes, sense danger.
Power flowed from him naturally. Cold. Dominant. Controlled.
Trembling.
He crouched in front of her and gripped her chin firmly.
Too firmly.
“You’re emotional right now,” he said quietly. “Don’t accuse me of things you certainly can’t prove.”
Serena’s heartbeat shook painfully.
Not because of his words.
Because despite everything… her body still reacted to him.
Even now.
Even after betrayal.
Even after seeing another woman in his arms.
She hated it.
Hated him.
Hated herself more for still loving him.
Damien’s thumb brushed lightly against her jaw.
The movement was brief.
Almost gentle.
And somehow that made him even more dangerous.
Because this cruel man still looked at her like losing her would destroy him.
Serena’s breathing turned unusual.
“You don’t even care,” she whispered brokenly.
Damien’s look darkened instantly.
“That’s not true.”
“Then why do you look so calm?”
For the first time that night, something finally crippled inside his expression.
Pain.
Real pain.
Deep enough to make Serena freeze.
But it vanished almost swiftly and immediately.
“You don’t understand everything yet,” he said softly.
The words soften her.
Before she could answer, another violent wave of envelopes her.
Her stomach twisted painfully.
She grabbed the edge of the table for support.
Damien caught her arm immediately.
Affection flashed across his face so fast that it startled everyone in the room.
“What’s wrong with you?”
The intensity in his voice shocked even Vanessa.
Serena pressed a trembling hand against her stomach.
The nausea.
The weakness.
The exhaustion lately.
Her missed cycle.
Oh God.
Vanessa’s eyes widened fast.
“Wait…”
Her face twisted instantly.
“Are you pregnant?”
Silence blew across the suite.
Damien was completely still.
Even Serena breathing ceases.
Slowly, she looked up at him.
For the first time all night, Damien Ashford looked shaken.
Actually shaken.
His grip was tightened around her arm unconsciously.
“When were you going to tell me?” he asked quietly.
The question devastated her.
Because she had imagined this moment a hundred thousand ways.
She bought tiny baby shoes two weeks ago.
Wrote him a letter she never gave him.
Dreamed about his reaction while falling asleep beside him.
She imagined him smiling.
Touching her stomach.
Maybe even crying.
Instead of a dream coming through, another woman stood beside him while he smelled like betrayal and another woman’s perfume.
Fresh tears filled Serena’s eyes.
“You don’t deserve to know.”
Something dark flashed across Damien’s face.
Possessiveness.
Raw and dangerous.
Vanessa noticed it instantly.
And panic felt across her expression.
“She’s lying,” Vanessa snapped quickly. “She’s trying to trap you down.”
Damien ignored her completely.
His attention remained fully locked toward Serena now.
Heavy.
Strongly.
Intense enough to suffocate her.
Like nobody else existed anymore.
A loud knock suddenly interrupted the tension.
Everyone turned sharply.
A security guard suddenly rushed inside looking so pale and nervous.
“Mr. Ashford…”
Damien stood up immediately.
“What is it?”
The guard swallowed his breath so hard.
“There are federal investigators downstairs regarding Mr. Vale’s plane explosion.”
Serena’s heart starts pounding so violently again.
Then the guard delivered the final blow.
“They believe the crash may have been caused by some sabotage.”
The entire room became so frozen.
Vanessa’s face lost her color instantly.
Serena felt cold all over.
But Damien…
Damien didn’t look surprised either.
That terrified her even more than anything.
The guard was caught trying to hesitate nervously before continuing.
“They’re asking specifically for you, sir.”
Damien’s expression darkened suddenly.
“Who’s leading the investigation?”
“Agent Carter.”
For the first time all night, real tension entered Damien’s face.
Small.
Brief.
But only Serena saw it.
And she suddenly remembered her father’s final words echoed so loudly inside her mind.
“If anything ever feels wrong… don’t trust anyone.”
Anyone.
Her pulse began racing sharply and painfully.
The investigators believed the crash was sabotaged.
Her father opposed Damien’s deal.
Damien already had seemed prepared for the news before anyone else.
And now federal agents were downstairs asking for him directly.
Fear crawled slowly through Serena’s chest.
Not grief anymore.
Not heartbreak.
Something worse.
Because deep down, a terrifying thought was beginning to form.
What if her father’s death wasn’t an accident but a sabotage?
And what if she had married the man responsible only hours before he was killed?
Damien suddenly turned toward her again.
His eyes locked onto hers with dangerous intensity and thought.
“Serena,” he said quietly, “whatever happens next… stay beside me.”
Her stomach dropped.
Not because of what he said.
Because it sounded less like a request—
And more like a warning.
- Writer
