Chapter 5 - Tabloid Sabotage
1207 Words
The auction restarted. The next thing came up, but I barely heard. My phone buzzed on the table. A new text: Meet me in the east hall if you want to live.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
He saw it. “What now?”
I showed him.
He shook his head. “Don’t go.”
“I have to,” I said.
“It’s a trap,” he hissed.
“Then why do they want me there?”
“Because they know I’ll follow,” he said.
“I don’t need you to follow,” I said. “I can handle myself.”
“You can’t handle a bullet,” he responded.
“Neither can you,” I said.
Something flashed in his eyes, fear or desire, I couldn’t tell. “Stay here,” he ordered.
“Don’t order me.”
“Then promise me,” he said.
“I promise nothing,” I whispered, and stood.
He caught my wrist. “Isabella”
“Let go.”
His hand shook. “Please.”
The word shocked me. He had never begged before.
I pulled free and walked toward the east room.
The hallway was lined with gold-framed pictures of dead nobles. Their painted eyes seemed to follow me. My heels clicked against the marble like a clock counting down.
Behind me I heard his footsteps anyway, low and steady.
“You followed,” I said without turning.
“I always do,” he answered.
“You didn’t three years ago.”
“That’s not fair,” he said.
“Life isn’t fair,” I said.
We reached the gallery door. It stood ajar, a faint air moving the velvet curtains inside.
“Wait,” he said.
I pushed it open anyway.
The room had guests, no guards, only a single flashlight on a glass display case. Inside lay a diamond choker shaped like a snake.
On the stand a note: Put it on.
I stared. “What is this?”
He cursed softly. “A message.”
“From who?”
“From someone who knows exactly how to play you,” he said.
I stepped closer to the case. “Why a choker?”
“Because they’re telling me they own you,” he said grimly.
“They don’t,” I said.
“They think they do,” he answered.
I lifted the glass, fingers touching the cold jewel.
“Don’t,” he warned.
“I’m not afraid,” I said.
“You should be,” he whispered.
As I held the choker, a memory surfaced of the night three years ago when he had pressed a similar necklace into my hand, saying “Trust me” before leaving.
I dropped it back into the case. “Enough games,” I said.
He moved beside me, voice low. “This isn’t a game. This is a warning. They’re saying you’re next.”
“Next for what?”
He looked at me. “To disappear.”
I backed away. “Then tell me everything now.”
He breathed slowly. “If I do, you’ll never look at me the same way.”
“Too late,” I said.
He took a step closer, shadows cutting across his face. “I wasn’t your betrayer. I was your shield. And now the people I protected you from know you’re back.”
“Then help me,” I said.
He nodded once. “I will. But you have to trust me.”
“Trust,” I repeated sadly.
He reached for my hand. “Start with this. Leave Milan tonight.”
“I can’t,” I said. “The contract”
“The contract is worthless if you’re dead,” he snapped.
I looked at him. “Are you really afraid for me?”
“Yes,” he said simply.
The honesty cut deeper than any threat.
My phone buzzed again. Another message appeared, bright against the screen: Too late. Check the stage.
I looked at him, dread rising. “The stage?”
We ran back toward the sale hall. The lights burned, the crowd still bidding. But on the big screen above the platform was a live feed of me in the gallery holding the choker broadcast to every guest.
A voice crackled over the speakers: “Ladies and gentlemen, meet the thief among you.”
Gasps spread through the hall. Security guards turned toward the gallery doors.
I froze. “What did you do?” I whispered.
He stared at the screen, face gone pale. “This isn’t me,” he said.
The guards started moving.
He grabbed my hand. “Run.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere,” he said. “They’ve just made you their scapegoat.”
Flashes burst across the hall like gunfire. Guests turned their phones toward me, their faces a mix of shock and hunger. On the huge screen above the stage a photo showed my face, my body pressed against Adrian’s on a balcony from years ago. My dress was half off my shoulder. The title flashed beneath: “Heiress seduces rival to steal empire.”
I could not breathe.
He appeared at my side, voice a low blade. “They’re faster than I thought.”
I hissed through my teeth. “Turn it off. Make it go away.”
“I can’t,” he said. “We have to move.”
He caught my wrist and pulled me from the hall.
“Let go,” I whispered.
“You’re trending on every screen in the building,” he said. “You don’t have the luxury of pride right now.”
We moved past stunned guests and whispered. I heard words like “scandal” and “thief” rise and fall as we pushed through.
“You set me up,” I said under my breath.
“No,” he said, not stopping. “Someone else did. And they just declared war on both of us.”
He shoved open a side door. A private lift waited, glass walls glinting. We stepped inside. The doors closed with a hiss, blocking out the noise.
For a moment it was just the two of us, our mirrors looking back. My heartbeat thudded in my ears.
“Look at me,” he said.
“No,” I said. “Not after that.”
“Then listen,” he said. “This photo's real, but the timing is deliberate. They’re trying to burn your reputation before you can use that brand you won.”
“I already lost it,” I said. “Everything is gone.”
“No,” he said softly. “Not if you work with me.”
I turned, eyes burning. “Work with you? You’re the one I’ve been fighting.”
“And yet I’m the only one who can keep you alive,” he responded.
“That sounds like blackmail,” I said.
“It’s survival,” he said. “Yours and mine.”
“Why mine?” I asked.
“Because they don’t want to just ruin you,” he said. “They want to own you. The brand. Your name. And they’ll use me to do it if I don’t move first.”
- Writer
