Betrayal
1078 Words
Mansion had never felt this quiet.
Jane sat alone in the library, a book resting open on her lap. She wasn’t reading it. Her eyes kept drifting toward the large windows that overlooked the garden.
For the first time in weeks, Richard wasn’t in the mansion.
He had left earlier that afternoon for an important business meeting and had promised to return before nightfall.
“Stay inside,” he had told her before leaving.
Jane had rolled her eyes at the warning.
“I always stay inside.”
Richard had stared at her for a moment.
“Just be careful.”
The memory made her smile slightly.
Lately, things between them had changed.
The cold, distant man she had once feared was slowly disappearing. He still acted tough and emotionless most of the time, but she had begun seeing another side of him.
A side that worried about her.
Protected her.
A side that cared.
The sound of footsteps pulled her from her thoughts.
She looked up and saw Michael entering the library.
Richard’s head of security.
Jane smiled.
“Still working?”
Michael returned the smile.
“Always.”
Something about his expression seemed strange tonight. His shoulders looked stiff, and there was a nervousness in his eyes that she had never noticed before.
Jane frowned.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” he answered quickly.
Too quickly.
Before Jane could say anything else, his phone rang.
Michael glanced at the screen.
For a brief second, panic flashed across his face.
Then it disappeared.
“I need to take this,” he said.
Jane nodded.
“Go ahead.”
Michael turned and walked out.
The moment the door closed, his smile vanished.
He answered the call immediately.
“They know nothing,” he whispered.
The voice on the other end laughed.
“You’ve done well.”
Michael’s jaw tightened.
“I kept my part of the deal.”
“And you’ll get your money.”
Michael swallowed hard.
The money.
That was why he had done it.
Months ago, gambling debts had buried him alive.
He owed dangerous people millions.
When Victor Black approached him with an offer, he had accepted.
All he needed to do was provide information about Richard’s security system.
Nothing more.
At least, that was what he had told himself.
But now things have gone too far.
Victor wanted Jane.
And Michael had already opened the door.
“Tonight,” Victor said. “We take the girl.”
The call ended.
Michael stared at the phone.
Guilt twisted inside him.
But it was too late.
Far too late.
Night settled over the mansion.
Security guards patrolled the grounds as usual.
Everything appeared normal.
Exactly as Michael had planned.
At nine o’clock, the power suddenly went out.
The entire mansion fell into darkness.
Jane jumped from her seat.
“What happened?”
A few distant voices echoed through the hallways.
Then silence.
An uncomfortable silence.
Jane stepped into the corridor.
“Hello?”
No answer.
Her heart began beating faster.
Something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
She reached for her phone.
There is no signal.
The emergency backup lights failed to activate.
The mansion remained completely dark.
Jane took a step backwards.
Then another.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed her arm.
She gasped.
“Jane.”
It was Michael.
Relief washed through her.
“Michael! What is happening?”
“We have to move.”
His voice sounded urgent.
“Dangerous men broke through the security gate.”
Jane’s eyes widened.
“What?”
“No time to explain.”
He pulled her forward.
“We need to get you somewhere safe.”
Fear rushed through her.
Without thinking, she followed him.
They hurried through several hallways before reaching a side exit.
The moment they stepped outside, Jane froze.
Three black SUVs were waiting near the garden.
Armed men stood beside them.
Her stomach dropped.
“No...”
The men weren’t attacking.
They were waiting.
For her.
Slowly, Jane turned toward Michael.
The truth hit her like a truck.
“You...”
Michael looked away, unable to meet her gaze. Shame was written all over his face. “I am sorry, Jane,” he said quietly. “ I never wanted it to happen this way.”
Jane felt her heart shatter.
“You betrayed us?” Jane whispered, unable to believe what she was seeing, her chest hardened painfully. Of all people, she had trust Michael.
His silence was all the answer she needed.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Richard trusted you.”
Michael lowered his head.
“I know.”
“You were family.”
“Jane-“
“How could you?”
Pain flashed across his face.
For a moment, he looked like a man drowning in regret.
Then, one of the armed men stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Before Jane could run, one of the men lunged forward and grabbed her. She fought desperately, kicking and struggling, but another man forced a clothes over her mouth. Panic exploded her as the strange smell filled her nose.
She struggled instantly.
Her screams were muffled.
The world began spinning.
Everything blurred.
The last thing she saw was Michael standing motionless beneath the garden lights.
Watching.
Unable to look away.
Then darkness swallowed her completely.
Several miles away, Richard’s phone rang.
He answered without looking.
“What is it?”
The terrified voice of a guard exploded through the speaker.
“Sir!”
Richard immediately stopped walking.
“What happened?”
The guard sounded close to panic.
“The mansion was attacked.”
A cold feeling spread through Richard’s chest.
His grip tightened around the phone.
“Jane?”
Silence.
A terrible silence.
Then the answer came.
“They took her.”
For a moment, the world seemed to stop.
Richard’s face became expressionless.
Dangerously expressionless.
The people around him stepped back instinctively.
Because they knew that look.
They knew what it meant.
Someone had touched the one person he cared about.
And whoever was responsible had just signed their own death sentence.
“Find out who did it,” Richard said quietly.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“I want every name.”
The guard swallowed.
“Yes, sir.”
Richard ended the call.
Richard stared into the darkness, his jaw clenched tightly, it hurt. Every instinct inside him screamed for violence. Whoever had taken Jane had made the biggest mistake of their lives.
“They’re going to pay.” He said coldly.
- Writer
