Chapter 10: A Dangerous Decision
1269 Words
The city buzzed beneath her as Celestine sat in the back seat of Victor’s black limousine, staring blankly out the window. Every light, every blurred shape of people moving through the streets felt surreal.
Inside her, another life beat quietly, depending on her. Trusting her.
And for the first time in months, Celestine realized she couldn’t keep pretending.
She couldn’t stay by Victor’s side.
She couldn’t let this world be the one her baby was born into.
She had to leave.
The thought terrified her.
Victor wasn’t the kind of man you simply walked away from.
People who tried... disappeared.
But staying would be worse.
It would destroy her.
It would destroy her child before it even had a chance to live.
Her heart pounded as she rehearsed her plan over and over in her head. She would gather what she needed — documents, money, the few valuable things she could take. She would find a way to disappear, to start over somewhere no one knew her name.
No more contracts.
No more revenge.
No more pretending to be someone she wasn’t.
---
Later that night, she lay in Victor’s bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the sound of the city outside. Victor slept beside her, his breathing deep and even.
She turned her head slightly to look at him.
He was beautiful in a way that scared her — sharp edges hidden beneath charm, a heart frozen by ambition.
There had been a time when she thought she could love him.
That maybe, in some twisted way, he loved her too.
But Victor didn’t love.
He possessed.
He conquered.
And she was just another prize he had claimed.
Slowly, carefully, Celestine slid out of bed, pulling on her clothes without a sound. She moved through the penthouse like a shadow, her bare feet silent on the cold marble floors.
In the study, she found the safe behind a painting — just like she had seen Victor do a hundred times before.
Her hands trembled as she entered the code: 0418.
The date of his mother’s death — the only person he had ever truly cared about.
The safe clicked open.
Inside were stacks of cash, important documents, hard drives filled with information Victor would kill to protect.
She grabbed what she could, shoving it into a small bag.
Not too much.
Just enough to survive.
Her heart raced wildly in her chest. Every second felt like a lifetime.
---
She was almost at the door when a voice broke the silence.
"Where are you going, Celestine?"
She froze, the bag slipping from her fingers and landing with a dull thud on the floor.
Victor stood in the shadows of the hallway, wearing only dark slacks, his chest bare, his eyes glinting like a wolf who had caught his prey.
"I was just—" she began, but her voice broke.
"Don’t lie to me," Victor said quietly. "You were running."
Celestine lifted her chin. "I have to leave."
Victor stepped closer. "No. You belong here. With me."
"I don’t," she said, her voice stronger now. "I never did."
Victor’s face darkened. "Is this about him? About Kenji?"
"This is about me," she snapped. "And the life inside me."
For a second, the words seemed to hang frozen in the air.
Victor’s expression shifted — shock, confusion, then something cold and dangerous.
"You’re pregnant," he said flatly.
Celestine nodded. "Yes."
"And you didn’t tell me?"
"I was going to," she lied. "But I realized it doesn’t change anything."
Victor’s jaw tightened. "It changes everything."
"No," she said. "It doesn’t. I’m still leaving."
"You won’t make it out the door," he said, his voice soft and deadly.
Celestine swallowed hard. She had known this would happen. She had prepared for it.
But nothing could have prepared her for the look in his eyes.
Like he owned her. Like he owned the life growing inside her, too.
---
For a long, heavy moment, they just stared at each other.
Then Victor took a slow step forward.
Instinct took over. Celestine grabbed the nearest thing she could — a heavy glass vase — and hurled it at him.
Victor ducked, cursing, and she bolted for the door, grabbing the bag on the way.
She ran barefoot through the halls, the cold marble biting into her feet.
Behind her, she heard Victor shouting orders — to the guards, to the staff.
But she didn’t stop.
She couldn’t stop.
Every step she took was a step toward freedom.
Toward life.
---
The elevator doors slid closed just as Victor’s guards reached her.
She slumped against the wall, breathing hard, her hand protectively cradling her stomach.
When the elevator reached the ground floor, she sprinted through the lobby and out into the night.
The cold air hit her like a slap, but she welcomed it. It cleared her head, sharpened her focus.
She flagged down a cab, jumping inside before the driver could even ask where she was going.
"Anywhere but here," she gasped.
The driver, sensing the urgency in her voice, nodded and pulled away from the curb.
As the city lights blurred past, Celestine allowed herself a single, broken sob.
She was free.
For now.
But Victor wouldn’t give up easily.
She knew that.
This was only the beginning.
---
She ended up at a cheap motel on the edge of the city. It was the kind of place no one asked questions, and that was exactly what she needed.
She paid cash for the room and bolted the door behind her.
Inside, the room was small and smelled faintly of mildew, but it was safe.
Safe enough.
Celestine sat on the edge of the bed, clutching her bag to her chest, feeling the full weight of what she had done.
She had walked away from everything — money, security, power.
She had betrayed Victor.
And somewhere out there, he was already hunting her.
But for the first time in a long time, she didn’t feel trapped.
She felt... alive.
Terrified, yes.
Alone, absolutely.
But alive.
---
The next morning, she woke early, her body aching from the tension and fear of the night before.
She needed a plan.
She couldn’t stay in one place for too long. Victor would find her eventually if she did.
She needed to disappear completely — change her name, her appearance, everything.
And she needed help.
There was only one person she could think of.
Someone who had once offered her a way out.
Someone who might still be willing to help, even after everything that had happened.
Kenji.
The idea filled her with shame and fear.
After everything she had done to him... would he even listen?
Would he even care?
But she didn’t have a choice.
For the baby.
For herself.
She had to try.
---
She found a payphone a few blocks from the motel and dialed the only number she still remembered by heart.
It rang three times.
Then a voice answered — wary, guarded.
"Hello?"
Celestine closed her eyes, took a deep breath.
"Kenji," she said. "It’s me. I need your help."
There was a long, heavy pause.
Then, finally, he spoke.
"Where are you?"
Her heart shattered at the sound of his voice — familiar, broken, still full of anger and hurt.
"Please," she whispered. "I don’t have anywhere else to go."
Another pause.
A sigh.
"Tell me where you are," Kenji said.
And just like that, a tiny spark of hope lit inside her.
Maybe it wasn’t too late.
Maybe she could still save herself — and her baby.
- Writer
