The Choice
1137 Words
Evelyn stared at the note.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY YOUR FATHER LEFT YOU.
Her fingers trembled.
“Don't.”
Kael's voice was firm.
Evelyn looked up.
“Don't what?”
“Don't even think about going.”
“He's my father.”
“And you don't know who sent that message.”
“My mother just told me he's alive.”
“And Victor knew.”
Kael stepped closer.
“This is exactly what they want.”
Evelyn looked toward Elena.
“Mom?”
Elena's expression was filled with fear.
“Your father wouldn't ask you to come alone.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Adrian knew what they would do to you.”
“Then who sent this?”
Elena looked at Victor.
His expression was unreadable.
Victor slowly walked toward them.
“Perhaps you should ask me.”
Kael immediately stepped between them.
“Stay away from her.”
Victor gave his son a cold look.
“You've become very protective of the Hart girl.”
“Her name is Evelyn.”
Victor's eyes shifted toward her.
“Do you know what your father did to protect you?”
Evelyn stared at him.
“No.”
“He betrayed everyone.”
Kael's expression hardened.
“That's enough.”
Victor ignored him.
“Adrian Cross wasn't simply running from me. He was running from the people he betrayed.”
“Who?”
Victor looked directly at Evelyn.
“The people who wanted to use you.”
Evelyn frowned.
“Use me for what?”
Victor smiled faintly.
“That is something your mother should have told you.”
Elena stepped forward.
“Don't listen to him.”
Victor turned toward her.
“You disappeared for seven years, Elena. You don't get to decide what she deserves to know.”
“I disappeared to protect her.”
“You disappeared because you were afraid.”
Elena's face tightened.
“Afraid of what you would do to her.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“And yet she's standing here because of me.”
Evelyn looked between them.
“What did you do?”
Victor didn't answer.
Kael suddenly grabbed Evelyn's hand.
“We're leaving.”
Victor's voice followed them.
“Kael.”
He stopped.
“If you take her, you will start a war.”
Kael turned.
“Then let it begin.”
---
They escaped through the back of the estate.
Kael's car was waiting beyond the trees.
Evelyn climbed inside.
Her mind was racing.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“I don't want somewhere safe.”
Kael started the engine.
“I want answers.”
“You'll get them.”
“When?”
“When we know who sent that message.”
Evelyn looked down at the pendant in her hand.
The flame-and-ice symbol caught the light.
“Why does this belong to my father?”
Kael glanced at it.
“My father told me that symbol represented an agreement.”
“Between who?”
“The Cross and Vale families.”
Evelyn frowned.
“My father and your father?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of agreement?”
Kael was silent.
“Kael.”
He sighed.
“A business alliance.”
“That doesn't explain why everyone is so afraid of it.”
“It wasn't just business.”
“What was it?”
Kael tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
“It involved power, money and information.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“And me?”
“Yes.”
Her heart sank.
“What did they want from me?”
“I don't know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I wasn't told everything.”
The car suddenly slowed.
Kael looked into the rearview mirror.
A black SUV was following them.
“Someone's behind us.”
Evelyn turned.
The SUV remained several cars behind.
“Are they following us?”
“Yes.”
Kael accelerated.
The SUV followed.
Evelyn's heart raced.
“Where are we going?”
“To a safe house.”
“How far?”
“Ten minutes.”
The SUV suddenly moved into their lane.
Kael turned sharply.
The car behind them followed.
Then another vehicle appeared ahead.
They were being surrounded.
Kael's expression became cold.
“They knew we'd leave.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“What do we do?”
“Hold on.”
He turned the car down a narrow side road.
The vehicles behind them followed.
After several tense minutes, Kael stopped near an abandoned warehouse.
“Get out.”
Evelyn followed him inside.
The warehouse was empty.
Kael locked the door.
“Here?”
“For now.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Whoever is after me won't stop.”
“I know.”
“Then I can't keep running.”
Kael stared at her.
“What are you saying?”
“I want to meet my father.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Evelyn—”
“I've spent seven years wondering why he left me. Now I finally have a chance to ask him.”
Kael stepped closer.
“You don't know what you're walking into.”
“Neither do you.”
He went silent.
Evelyn held up the note.
“Someone wants me to come alone.”
“Exactly.”
“But I won't.”
Kael looked at her.
“What are you planning?”
Evelyn's expression hardened.
“I'll meet my father.”
She paused.
“But I'm not going alone.”
Before Kael could answer, a phone began ringing.
Not his.
Evelyn looked around.
The sound was coming from an old table.
A phone lay there.
She slowly picked it up.
The screen displayed one word.
DAD.
Evelyn's breath caught.
Kael stared at the phone.
“Don't answer it.”
The phone continued ringing.
Evelyn pressed the button.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a man's voice came through.
“Evelyn.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Dad?”
“Yes.”
She couldn't speak.
“I've waited seven years to hear your voice.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because they're listening.”
Evelyn looked at Kael.
“Who?”
Her father's voice became urgent.
“Listen to me carefully. You cannot trust the Vales.”
Kael's expression darkened.
Evelyn swallowed.
“What about Kael?”
There was a long silence.
Then Adrian answered.
“Especially Kael.”
The call ended.
Evelyn stared at the phone.
Kael said nothing.
Then another message appeared on the screen.
NOW YOU KNOW WHO TO FEAR.
Evelyn slowly looked at Kael.
For the first time since meeting him, she wasn't sure whether he was protecting her...
or leading her exactly where someone wanted her to go.
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