💼 Chapter 10: The Setup
832 Words
The next morning, the city woke in silence — but for Ethan and Amara, the storm had only just begun.
They were back inside her small downtown office, the folder Lucas had thrown now spread open on the desk between them. Each page was perfectly forged — her signature, her company logo, even old approval stamps from the Velasco archives.
Amara stared at it, trembling.
“He’s good. Too good,” she whispered.
Ethan leaned closer, tracing a corner of the page. “He didn’t do this alone. This level of access means someone on the inside helped him.”
“Vivian,” she said immediately. “It has to be her.”
He nodded grimly. “And now he’s setting you up again — leaking these files to make you look like you’re sabotaging your own company.”
Amara clenched her fists. “He wants to destroy what’s left of my name.”
“No,” Ethan said quietly. “He wants to destroy us.”
Their eyes met. That unspoken truth — that they were tied together by both guilt and fate — hung in the air like smoke.
---
Hours later, Ethan drove across the city, trying to trace where the forged documents came from. He didn’t notice the small blinking red light beneath his dashboard.
Back in her office, Amara worked restlessly, unaware that her every keystroke was being mirrored on another screen — miles away.
Vivian leaned back in her chair, eyes cold and calculating.
“She’s panicking,” she said to Lucas, who stood behind her.
Lucas smirked. “Good. Fear makes people desperate. Desperate people make mistakes.”
Vivian crossed her arms. “And Ethan?”
Lucas’s expression darkened. “He’ll do what he always does — try to play hero. And when he does, we’ll let him hang himself with his own choices.”
Vivian hesitated. “You still trust me to handle her?”
He turned to her, a hint of threat in his tone. “Don’t let your feelings get in the way, Vivian. You wanted revenge — now’s your chance.”
She smiled faintly, though her eyes flickered. “Don’t worry, Lucas. I know exactly how to make her fall.”
---
Later that night, Amara received an encrypted message.
> “Evidence of Lucas Tan’s fraud. Meet at Pier 7. Alone.”
Her pulse quickened. She knew it was risky — but it was the lead she needed.
And after everything, she couldn’t just sit and wait.
She grabbed her coat and headed out, ignoring the buzzing phone on her desk — Ethan’s name flashing on the screen.
---
Meanwhile, Ethan had discovered the tracker under his car. His gut twisted.
“They’re watching us,” he muttered.
He tried calling Amara again. No answer.
Then his heart dropped when he saw the message on her monitor — still glowing in the dark office.
> Pier 7. Alone.
“Damn it,” he hissed, running for his car.
---
At the pier, the air was cold and heavy.
Waves crashed against the old wooden dock as Amara stepped cautiously forward, her flashlight cutting through the darkness.
“Hello?” she called. “Who sent the message?”
Silence.
Then — footsteps.
She turned sharply, only to see Vivian step out of the shadows, her expression calm, almost amused.
“Vivian…” Amara’s voice shook. “It was you.”
“Always so sharp,” Vivian said, her heels clicking on the wet wood. “You should’ve stayed away, Amara. You never learn when to stop.”
“Why are you doing this?”
Vivian smiled coldly. “Because you took everything from me — my job, my name, and the man I loved.”
Ethan’s voice suddenly echoed behind them. “Vivian, stop!”
He ran toward them, rain pouring down in sheets now. “This isn’t you.”
Vivian turned, her eyes flashing with anger. “Don’t you dare talk like you know me. You chose her. You always did.”
Amara looked between them, realization dawning. “You were in love with him.”
Vivian’s lips trembled for a second — then hardened again. “I was. Until I realized love isn’t enough to survive in your world.”
Lightning struck in the distance. For a moment, all three stood frozen — past and present colliding in the storm.
Then Lucas’s voice rang out from the shadows:
“Beautiful, isn’t it? Watching loyalty turn into a weapon.”
He stepped forward, holding a gun aimed at Ethan.
“You should’ve stayed out of my way, Alcaraz.”
Ethan instinctively pulled Amara behind him. “If you want to finish this, you’ll have to go through me.”
Lucas smirked. “Gladly.”
The sound of the gun c*****g echoed across the pier.
And just before the shot fired — Vivian screamed, “No!”
---
Bang.
The shot rang out.
Someone fell.
The rain drowned out everything else.
- Writer
