CHAPTER 14
1412 Words
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*Chapter 14 - The Decision
*10 Minutes Later. Safehouse.*
The upload bar hit 100%.
`NIGHTFALL FILES - LIVE ON 47 NEWS SITES`
Lila exhaled. “It’s out. There’s no taking it back.”
Damian was by the window. Watching the street. “He’ll know in 60 seconds.”
“Then we do it now,” I said.
Both of them turned to me.
I took a breath. “I turn myself in.”
“No.” Damian’s voice was sharp.
“Hear me out.” I stepped closer. “He wants me. I’m the ‘leaker’. If I walk into a police station and livestream the whole thing, the world watches. While the files spread. He can’t touch me on camera.”
“And then what?” Lila asked. “He lies. He spins it.”
“Let him.” I looked at Damian. “It buys us time. 24 hours. Enough for you and Lila to get to the board. To the government. To people who aren’t paid off.”
Damian grabbed my arms. “He’ll hurt you, Eliza. He’ll—”
“He won’t.” I cut him off. “Not if millions are watching. And I won’t be alone.”
I held up my phone. Livestream app open. “The second I walk in, we go live. To everyone.”
Damian stared at me. His eyes were desperate. “There has to be another way.”
“There isn’t.” I reached up and cupped his face. “Trust me. Please.”
He closed his eyes. Then nodded once. “Fine. But I’m not leaving you.”
“You have to,” I whispered. “That’s the point. He has to think he tore us apart.”
---
*Met Police Station. 30 Minutes Later.*
Cameras. Everywhere.
I walked in with my hands up. Livestream running. 200k viewers. Climbing.
“My name is Ava Reyes,” I said to the camera. “I’m a DJ. And I’m here to turn myself in. But first, you need to see what VexCorp did.”
I held up Ria’s USB.
Vant surrounded me in 5 seconds. Guns down, but hands on them.
“Miss Reyes. You’re under arrest.”
“I know,” I said. “And I’m going to talk. Live.”
They didn’t let me finish. They cuffed me. Took my phone.
But it was too late. The clip was already everywhere.
---
*Interrogation Room. 1 Hour Later.*
Cold table. One chair. One light.
The door opened.
Victor Vex Sr.
No lawyers. No police. Just him. And Director Hayes behind him.
Victor sat down across from me. Smiled.
“Ava,” he said. “The little DJ. How are you?”
I didn’t answer.
He leaned back. “You’re very brave. Coming here. Stupid, but brave.”
“Where’s Damian?”
“Safe,” Victor said. “For now. He’s my son, after all. I can’t let anything happen to him.”
Lie.
“He’s not safe with you,” I said.
Victor laughed. “You don’t know him. Not really. You think he’s some hero? He’s a Vex. It’s in his blood.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to understand something.” He folded his hands. “Damian used you.”
I frowned. “What?”
“He was in your club that night because he was following me. He saw you grab the USB from the bar. He saw you plug it in to see what was on it. And he let you take the fall.”
My chest tightened. “That’s not true.”
“Oh? Then why did he run? Why did he help you escape that night, but leave you to do the interviews and the press?” Victor’s voice was soft. Almost kind. “He’s letting you take the fall, Ava. That’s what Vexes do. We survive.”
“He helped me,” I said. “He didn’t have to.”
“He helped himself,” Victor cut in. “Let me tell you a story. When Damian was 16, he sold out his best friend to the board to get a promotion. When he was 20, he framed his assistant for fraud. He’s done it his whole life. People are tools to him.”
Tears stung my eyes. “Stop.”
“You love him,” Victor said. “That’s sweet. But he doesn’t love you. He loves the DJ who accidentally made him look good. The moment it gets hard, he’ll leave. Like he always does.”
I shook my head. “You’re lying.”
“Am I?” He stood. Walked to the door. “Ask him why he didn’t tell you who he was that first night. Ask him why he kept watching you DJ for 2 hours before he said anything. Ask him.”
He opened the door.
“Think about it, Ava. While you’re in here. While he’s out there. Free.”
The door closed.
---
*Safehouse. Same Time.*
Damian threw a chair across the room.
“They have her!”
Lila was on 3 laptops. “I’m tracking the station. I can get her out but—”
“No.” Damian stopped. “She wanted us to wait. Let the story spread.”
“She’s in there with him,” Damian said. His voice broke. “What if he—”
“He won’t,” Lila said. “Not on camera. Not now.”
Damian sank to the floor. Hands in his hair. “What if he tells her things? About me? About that night?”
“Did you?” Lila asked quietly.
Damian looked up. “What?”
“Did you use her? At the start?”
He didn’t answer for a long time. “I was there to watch my dad. Not her. But then I saw her grab the USB. And I saw Vant moving in. And I... I helped her out the back door because I couldn’t watch an innocent person get arrested for something my family did.”
---
*Interrogation Room. 2 Hours Later.*
The door opened again.
Not Victor.
Damian.
In cuffs. With two Vant.
“Damian,” I breathed.
He sat across from me. Wouldn’t look at me.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered.
“Saving you,” he said quietly. “I turned myself in too. Said I forced you to plug in the USB.”
“Damian no—”
Victor’s voice came over the intercom. “Perfect. Now we have both of them.”
Damian finally looked at me. His eyes were red. “Eliza. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Tell me. Is it true? What he said?”
Damian flinched. “What did he say?”
“That you used me. That you were going to leave me. That you’re a Vex.”
Damian was quiet. Too quiet.
My heart broke. “Damian?”
He looked up. And I saw it. Guilt.
“I did,” he said. Voice barely there. “At the start. In your club. I was watching my dad’s men. Then I saw you grab the USB. And I should’ve stopped you. But I didn’t. I let you plug it in because I wanted the files out.”
The air left my lungs.
“But then,” he rushed. “But then Vant came for you. And I couldn’t let that happen. So I helped you escape out the back. And I kept coming back to the club. To make sure you were okay. And then I fell for you.”
“Damian—”
“I’m in love with you,” he said. Blurted. “I’m in love with you, Ava. The DJ. The girl who plays music like the world isn’t ending. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
Tears were falling now. Mine.
Victor’s voice: “Beautiful. Really. Now, Miss Reyes. Do you still trust him?”
I looked at Damian. Really looked.
At the man who pulled me out the back door. Who took a bullet for me. Who kissed me under a bridge.
“Yes,” I said. Loud. To the camera. To Victor. “I do.”
Victor sighed. “Pity.”
The lights went out.
Gunshots.
The door burst open.
Lila. With a crowbar and 4 news reporters.
“Time’s up, Dad,” she said. “Smile for the cameras.”
---
- Writer
