CHAPTER4
1455 Words
Chapter 4: Questions and Quiet Threats
Maya was completely oblivious of the ride down.
By the time the elevator stopped and she stepped onto the cracked sidewalk outside
Jordan's building, her limbs felt hollow. Like someone had sucked her soul out of her and
had scooped the bones right out of her and left her upright on willpower alone.
The offer circled in her mind like a never-ending rollercoaster.
“All you have to do is belong to me”
.
Her stomach twisted.
She had no tears left to cry. She just took a deep breath. Then she just kept walking.
By the time she got home, her best friend was already waiting outside the apartment
building.
She blinked at him,
“Dane?”
He just stood, brushing off the dust on his shirt with one hand while holding her coffee cup
with the other.
“I thought you had work today”
, she asked out of curiosity.
“What's wrong?”
.
“Nothing love. Wrapped up early. Wanted to check in on you. I was worried, you haven't said
much after you rushed out of the party”
. He handed her the coffee.
“You look like someone
dropped a building on you”
.
“I feel like it,
” she muttered, taking the cup.
“Thanks, Dane”
.
They both sat on the front steps. Maya took a sip of her drink. It felt warm. It felt familiar.
They were both silent for a while.
Dane nudged her knee gently,
“Wanna tell me what's going on with you?”
She shook her head,
“Not really,
”
.
“Maya… What's wrong? Please talk to me.
”
“I'm fine, Dane”
.
“I don't believe you. Your eyes are swollen up like you've been crying, you're shaking and
you look pale”
.
She looked down at her hands. Her hands were trembling slightly. She forces them to stay
still.
“It's just cold, you don't need to be dramatic”
.
He probed further,
“No, it's not.
”
He didn't say it unkindly, just honestly and sharply. Just the way Dane is.
She leaned back against the steps,
“I received another letter”
.
His expression shifted,
“From who this time?”
“I don't know exactly.
”
“Well that's reassuring”
, Dane said sarcastically.
She gave a soft, humorless laugh.
“It wasn't meant to be. It was an interesting one. It came
with an offer.
”
“What kind of offer?”
, he asks.
“The kind that doesn't feel real. Or legal. Or human. Or fair. The kind that's about to ruin my
life.
”
He frowned,
“What kind of offer? What does it say”
.
Maya hesitated. She started thinking to herself. If she told Dane about Jordan and the
contract, he's going to lose it completely. She started thinking of all the things he could do-
he'd report Jordan, drag him through the courts, protect her with everything he had. He was
a good friend. Both loyal and stubborn.
But this battle wasn't one she could win with lawyers, it was one she had to deal with on her
own. And must win at all costs.
Dane had always been a good friend to her over the years. From their childhood days, to
their high school days to their university days. He always helped her forget her problems and
tried to put a smile on her face. He took her out of the house every time her parents started
their fights. He settled bills for her when she couldn't tell her parents about them because
they couldn't afford it. He stayed with her till dawn when she had a part-time job and the
customers were harassing her. He also paid her college fees on time without fail. There are
a lot of things he has already done for her. He was more than a friend, he was family to her.
The best family she could ever ask for.
“It's complicated”
, she said finally.
“I've known you all your life, Maya. I've seen you at your worst and best. You don't get this
quiet unless something is wrong. So stop being weird and tell me what it is”
, Dane said.
“I'm handling it, Dane”
.
“No, you're not”
.
She finally took a look at him. She looked religiously.
He wasn't angry, just sad and worried.
“Please Maya, let me in. Tell me what's going on with you”
.
“I can't tell you everything right now”
, she said quietly.
“But I promise once I handle it all or if
it gets worse, you will be the first person to know”
.
“That's not enough”
, Dane argued.
“It has to be”
.
They sat in silence for a while.
Finally, he asked,
“Does this have anything to do with that guy I tried to introduce you to last
week? Jordan?”
Her head snapped towards him.
Dane caught it,
“It is, isn't it?”
Maya looked away, becoming very pale and flushed.
She then remembered where she first noticed him. She didn't know his name at the time but
Dane introduced her to him as his boss at work and also his best friend. It was a company
dinner and he wanted to bring a date so he invited Maya.
She remembered the dinner being very lovely, had wonderful food and beautiful people.
Dane attempted to introduce Maya to Jordan out of pleasantries but at the moment she was
about to see him, she got a disturbing phone call from the hospital that her mother had
collapsed at her workplace. She had to leave immediately so she didn't see him but Jordan
had a good look at her and recognized she was the one he had been waiting for his whole
life.
“He sent the letter?”
Dane sat forward,
“Maya…
”
“I said I'm handling it”
, she finally snapped.
Dane’s jaw tightened, but he couldn't push further. He just stared out into the street, voice
low.
“I wish you saw that all I'm trying to do is help”
.
She reached out and squeezed his hand,
“You're not the reason any of this is happening.
Please don't blame yourself”
.
Dane didn't look convinced.
After a few minutes, he said,
“Just be careful and promise to let me know if it's something
you can't handle further”
.
“I know. I promise.
”
That night after Dane left, Maya lay in bed wide awake, unable to stop thinking about her
conversation with Jordan.
The apartment was dark, except for the soft light of her laptop screen, and the only things
she could hear were the soft hum of the refrigerator. She was also the only one at home, her
mother left earlier for her part-time night shift.
She searched for everything she could about Jordan Hale. His company. His family. The
collapse of Hale Industries nearly fifteen years ago.
There were articles. Discrepancies. Nothing solid.
Something wasn't adding up.
She thought to herself, What does this have to do with me and my family?"
Her father's name wasn't mentioned anywhere. Not once. No lawsuits. No fraud claims. Just
silence.
And yet Jordan looked and spoke to her like her name was poison.
She opened the scanned contract attached to the letter once more. Pages and pages of
legal gibberish signed with a legal seal. All she had to do was add her signature. Just one
click.
It wasn't just a contract, she thought to herself. It was a cage.
But it was also the only thing standing between her family and the edge.
Maya closed the laptop.
She stared at the ceiling, looking for answers. Her heart was pounding in the dark.
The silence was louder now because something didn't add up.
“But would he lie?”
, she said quietly.
“Unless…
”
She opened her laptop again. She clicked through one last search result- and froze.
There, at the bottom of a buried news forum thread in very tiny print was a comment from
over a decade ago.
“ Everyone blames the wrong man. The real snake signs the deals in secret. M.H. just
needed a scapegoat.
”
Maya stared back at the screen.
The comment was from a deleted user. No follow-up. No context. Just these words.
Her chest tightened.
Suddenly the contract felt deeper than revenge.
It felt like a cover-up.
- Writer
