chapter 7
962 Words
Chapter 7; Leverage.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Nora stared at it for three full seconds before she answered. The air in the room felt too still, suffocating after the storm of Adrian's departure.
“Hello?” Her voice came out hoarse.
The reply wasn’t human. It was metallic. Flat. Distorted, like someone had run their voice through a digital scrambler.
“Nora Voss.”
She gripped the phone tighter, her knuckles turning white. “Who is this?”
“It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is that you don’t survive this marriage.”
Nora’s pulse jumped. “What do you mean?”
“Adrian Voss doesn’t keep people. He uses them. Then he discards them. You’re next.” The voice was calm, precise, digging into her deepest fears. “You felt it this morning, didn’t you? Cold. Empty. That’s who he really is.”
Nora swallowed hard. The hollow ache in her chest whispered that the voice was entirely right.
“The only way out is to destroy him before he destroys you.”
“That’s not an option,” Nora said, desperate to protect her family. “My brother—”
“Your brother is leverage. The same way you are.” The voice paused, letting the words sink in. “There’s something behind the black door. Use it. Make him pay. That’s the only way you walk out of this alive.”
The line went dead.
Nora stood there, the phone still pressed to her ear, the dull dial tone buzzing sharply in her skull.
Destroy him.
She didn’t want to. She told herself that. She simply wanted to leave—to walk away with her brother’s debt paid and her dignity intact. But Adrian had made it brutally clear this morning that she had no choice, no voice, and no freedom.
And now, a stranger was handing her a weapon.
Nora stepped out of her room. The penthouse was silent. There was no sign of Ryker in the hall, and no staff in sight. Just the faint, distant hum of the city eighty floors below.
She walked straight to the black door.
She reached out and grasped the knob. It didn’t turn. Locked. Solid. There was no give at all.
She tried again, twisting harder until her wrist ached. Nothing. The door remained a mocking barrier.
Nora pressed her forehead against the cold wood, listening intently. What was behind here that Adrian was so desperate to hide? If she wanted real answers, she needed a key.
Adrian’s private study was down the hall. Glass walls, a massive dark wood desk, and locked filing cabinets. He’d made it clear on day one that she was never to enter.
But when she reached the door, she found it wasn’t locked. It was slightly ajar.
Nora slipped inside. The room smelled richly of leather and his expensive cologne. The desk was immaculate. No papers out of place. No pen out of line.
She opened the top drawer. Empty. Second drawer. Empty.
The third drawer stuck halfway. She had to use both hands, tugging firmly until it finally rolled open.
Inside, buried beneath a stack of routine legal folders, was a single, heavy manila envelope. It had no label, no markings.
Nora pulled it out, her hands shaking. She flipped it open.
EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT – VOSS HOLDINGS
Employee: Elias Hale
Position: Financial Auditor – Subsidiary Operations
Termination: Classified – 2018
Elias Hale.
Her father.
Nora’s knees nearly gave out beneath her. She sank onto the edge of Adrian’s desk, her eyes locked onto the name.
Her father had worked for Voss Holdings.
She’d been told he disappeared completely on a routine business trip in 2018. No body. No explanation. Just gone. Her mother had spent years chasing hollow rumors, getting absolutely nothing until the day she died.
Now, here was concrete proof. He wasn’t just gone. He’d been employed by Adrian's company.
Nora flipped to the next page. It was heavily redacted—blacked out completely in places. Salary, location, and the true termination reason were all sealed under a strict confidentiality clause stamped with Adrian’s personal signature.
At the bottom, in small print: All personal belongings and case files sealed under Voss Holdings jurisdiction.
Sealed. Classified. Hidden.
Her father hadn’t just disappeared.
Nora quickly folded the document and tucked it securely under her shirt. Her heart was pounding so hard she was terrified Adrian would hear it from down the hall.
She didn’t go back to the black door. Not yet. She went straight to her room and locked the door behind her.
The unknown caller had told her to use whatever was behind the black door as leverage. But this document was better. This was personal. This was the reason her father vanished. If Adrian thought he could control her with contracts and threats, he was completely wrong.
Nora laid the document on her bed and stared at it. She needed to find out what Adrian was hiding, and the best way to do that was through Ryker. He’d been with Adrian for years. He stood guard at that door. He had to know what happened to Elias Hale.
She would start with him.
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A few hours later, Nora found Ryker standing vigil by the elevator bay. She stepped up beside him, her voice low. “What’s your relationship with Adrian?”
He didn’t look at her, keeping his eyes fixed forward. “Professional.”
“Just professional?”
Ryker finally turned his head, his cold gaze pinning her. “Be careful, Nora. Some questions get people hurt.”
She stepped closer, refusing to back down. “Is that a threat?”
“No,” Ryker said flatly. “It’s advice. Mind your business, Mrs. Voss.”
- Writer
