Chapter 5: The Enemy in the Shadows
942 Words
Chapter 5: The Enemy in the Shadows
The nightmare started before breakfast.
Her phone vibrated endlessly on the nightstand.
Half asleep, Lyra reached for it.
The moment the screen lit up, her stomach dropped.
Hundreds of notifications.
Messages.
Tags.
News alerts.
Missed calls.
Confused, she opened the first article.
Then the second, then the third.
Every headline featured the same photograph.
Her and Axton, on the balcony.
The moment after Vivian's humiliation, the moment she'd looked at him with hurt in her eyes.
The moment he'd looked at her with something dangerously close to concern.
The image was everywhere.
'BLACKWELL'S REVENGE BRIDE MELTS THE BILLIONAIRE'S HEART?'
'EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS REVEAL INTIMATE MOMENT BETWEEN NEWLYWEDS.'
'LOVE AFTER BETRAYAL?'
Lyra stared at the screen.
Someone had captured a single second.
A single glance.
And turned it into a story, one that wasn't true.
A knock sounded.
Before she could answer, Mrs. Avery entered carrying a breakfast tray.
The older woman's expression was troubled. "You've seen the news."
It wasn't a question.
Lyra nodded.
Mrs. Avery sighed. "The entire city has."
Wonderful.
Exactly what she needed.
More attention. More judgment.
More reasons for strangers to hate her.
She set the phone down.
Then it vibrated again.
A new article.
This one wasn't discussing romance.
This one was discussing the scandal.
Lyra's blood ran cold.
Five years ago, Axton Blackwell's company had suffered a devastating leak. Confidential information had somehow reached a rival corporation.
Millions were lost. Reputations destroyed. Partnerships collapsed.
The media had blamed Lyra, and now, thanks to the wedding, every outlet was digging the story back up.
Every ugly rumor, every accusation, every lie.
The comments beneath the articles were worse, much worse.
'She trapped him.'
'Gold-digger.'
'Axton deserves better.'
'She should have disappeared years ago.'
'Once a traitor, always a traitor.'
Lyra quickly locked her phone.
Her hands were shaking,
Mrs. Avery noticed.
"Don't read them." Too late.
The words were already lodged in her mind.
A few minutes later, she forced herself downstairs.
The manor was unusually quiet.
Until she entered the dining room. Axton sat at the table.
A tablet rested in front of him.
Judging by the dark expression on his face, he had seen the articles too.
For several moments neither spoke, finally, Lyra broke the silence.
"The media is having fun."
Axton looked up.
His eyes were unreadable. "They always do."
That was it.
No reassurance, no apology.
Nothing.
A familiar ache settled in her chest.
"The old rumors are everywhere again."
Axton's jaw tightened. "Ignore them."
Lyra laughed bitterly.
"That's easy for you to say."
His gaze sharpened.
For a second, she thought he might argue.
Instead, he returned his attention to the tablet.
Conversation over.
Just like that.
The dismissal hurt more than she expected.
So she left.
If he wasn't interested in talking, neither was she.
The rest of the morning passed slowly.
By noon, the internet had become a battlefield.
Half the city believed the balcony photograph proved Axton still cared about her.
The other half believed she had manipulated him again. Neither version was true.
And nobody seemed interested in the facts, by evening Lyra's headache was unbearable.
She escaped to one of the manor's gardens.
It was the only place that felt remotely peaceful.
The flowers swayed gently in the breeze.
Birds sang somewhere in the distance.
For the first time all day, she could breathe.
Then her phone vibrated.
A text message.
Unknown number.
At first, she assumed it was another reporter.
Then she opened it.
Her blood froze.
You should have stayed gone.
The message was followed by a second.
Some secrets are worth dying for.
The color drained from her face.
A third message appeared.
Keep your mouth shut.
The phone nearly slipped from her fingers.
For several seconds, she simply stared.
Unable to move.
Unable to think.
Five years.
Five years had passed since the scandal.
Nobody had contacted her before.
Nobody had threatened her before.
So why now?
Why after the wedding?
Why after the photograph?
A chill ran down her spine.
Because whoever sent those messages wasn't angry about the marriage.
They were afraid.
Afraid of something.
Afraid of what she might know.
Or what she might remember.
Her heart hammered painfully.
She immediately called the number.
No answer.
She tried again.
Disconnected.
The number no longer existed.
As if it had never been there.
Fear settled deep inside her stomach.
Not the fear of public humiliation.
Not the fear of Axton.
Something much worse.
Someone wanted her silent.
Someone was watching.
Someone still cared about what happened five years ago.
A twig snapped behind her.
Lyra spun around.
Nobody.
Only shadows stretching across the garden.
Yet the feeling remained.
That prickling sensation crawling across her skin.
The sensation of being watched.
Suddenly the manor no longer felt like a prison.
It felt like the only safe place she had left.
Her phone vibrated again.
Another message.
This one contained only three words.
Three words that stole the air from her lungs.
Ask Daniel Hartwell.
Lyra's eyes widened.
No.
Impossible.
Daniel Hartwell.
Axton's former business partner.
The man who disappeared shortly after the scandal.
The man everyone believed had left the country.
The man connected to the very night everything fell apart.
A man she hadn't heard mentioned in f
ive years.
A man who was supposed to be gone.
Her hands trembled violently.
Because only a handful of people knew Daniel Hartwell's name.
And if someone was bringing him up now—
Then the truth about what happened five years ago wasn't buried.
It was alive.
And someone was desperate to keep it that way.
- Writer
