chapter8
1362 Words
MIA’S POV
I don’t go home.
Instead, I sit in my car in the parking garage across the street from my apartment building. I stare at the steering wheel like it might give me answers.
Thirty thousand dollars.
That’s what I owe Ethan now. That's ten thousand less than yesterday. I didn’t even know what I had done to earn it.
My phone buzzes.
Mom. I let it ring.
Then it buzzes again. Lily.
Then Jason.
I turn the phone face down on the passenger seat. For the first time since I woke up on my twentieth birthday, I don’t answer any of them.
The silence feels strange. It’s like stepping outside during a storm and realizing the rain stopped hours ago.
I reach my apartment at seven. The hallway outside my door smells like burnt toast.
Inside, the apartment is quiet too quiet. Lily didn’t come back. For a moment, I wonder if she cried in the hallway after she left.
That thought used to destroy me. Now it just sits there, dull and distant.
I lock the door. Then I check the windows, the bathroom, and the bedroom. I don’t know why.
Maybe it’s because the night before I died felt normal too.
My phone lights up again. It’s an unknown number. I stare at it hesitantly for a moment before I answer. “Hello?”
“Mia.” Ethan. Of course.
“You didn’t go straight home.”
“You’re tracking my car now too?”
“Parking garage cameras.” His voice is calm. “You sat there for twenty-three minutes.”
“That’s not creepy at all.”
“You work for me. Your safety is my investment.”
I lean against the kitchen counter. “What do you want?”
A pause. Then he says, “Jason lied to you today.”
My stomach tightens. “About what?”
“About my mother.”
Cold runs down my spine. “He said your father had her committed.”
“He did.”
“So where’s the lie?”
Another pause longer this time.
“When she got out,” Ethan says quietly, “she disappeared.”
My grip tightens on the phone. “What does that mean?”
“It means no one saw her again.”
The words settle in my chest like something heavy. “You think my father”
“I know he did something.” His voice hardens slightly. “The paperwork says she moved overseas. But there are no bank records. No travel documents. No death certificate.”
“So she’s missing.”
“Yes.”
I swallow. “And you think Robert Carter made her disappear.”
“I know he did.”
His certainty makes the air feel thinner. “And Jason knew that?”
“No.”
That answer surprises me. “Then why say he lied?”
“Because he told you I was obsessed.” Ethan’s voice lowers slightly. “And obsession implies irrationality.”
I close my eyes. “You want revenge.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve been planning it for ten years.”
“Correct.”
“That sounds like obsession.”
The phone goes silent.
Then I hear a quiet exhale through the phone. “Maybe it is.”
I walk into the living room and sit on the couch.
“Jason said something else.”
“What?”
“He said I’m standing in the middle of this.”
“You are.”
“And when it explodes?”
Another pause. “I don’t know.”
That answer is honest, which makes it worse.
My phone buzzes again. This time it’s the family group chat.
Mom: Mia where are you?
Dad: You need to call me immediately.
Lily: Please answer. I’m worried.
Ryan: Jesus Christ, just text her privately.
I stare at the messages. Then I type. I’m fine. The typing bubble appears instantly.
Mom: Come to dinner tomorrow. We need to talk.
Dad: You quitting the company is unacceptable.
Lily: Please don’t shut us out.
I feel the old reflex rising, apologize, fix it, make everyone happy.
I type three words. Then I delete them. Then I type again. My fingers tremble slightly.
But I don’t stop.
No.
I hit send before I can change my mind.
I place my phone face down, my heart pounding in my ears.
The silence that follows feels enormous.
It’s like I just threw something fragile off a cliff. My phone rings immediately.
Dad. I stare at it. It keeps ringing. And ringing. And ringing. Then it stops.
Thirty seconds later, my phone buzzes again. Ethan. “You just said no.”
My heart skips. “You saw that?”
“Your father’s office phone is routed through three different corporate exchanges.” His voice is faintly amused. “I monitor one of them.”
“That’s illegal.”
“So is half of what your father does.”
I lean back on the couch. “Does it count toward the contract?”
“Yes.”
My chest tightens. “How much?”
A brief pause. Then, “Twenty-five thousand.”
Five thousand gone just like that. I stare at the ceiling. “I didn’t think it would feel like this.”
“Like what?”
“Like jumping off a building.”
“And surviving?”
“Exactly.”
For a moment, neither of us speaks. Then Ethan says quietly, “You’re learning.”
“I’m terrified.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“Fear means you’re finally paying attention.”
I laugh weakly. “You really are a terrible at motivation.”
“I don’t motivate people.” He pauses. “I corner them.”
There’s a knock on my apartment door sharp and loud. My whole body freezes.
“You expecting someone?” Ethan asks.
“No.”
The knock comes again, harder.
“Mia!” Jason’s voice.
Of course. My heart starts racing. “He’s here,” I whisper.
“I know.”
“You know?”
“Building cameras.”
Right. Of course. Jason knocks again. “Mia, I know you’re inside!”
My fingers tighten around the phone. “What do I do?”
For a moment, Ethan doesn’t answer. Then he asks, “What do you want to do?”
The question catches me off guard. “I….”
Jason pounds on the door. “Mia!”
I stand slowly and walk toward the door. My heart is hammering so hard I can hear it in my ears. On the other side, Jason tries the handle locked. Good.
“Mia, please talk to me.”
I look through the peephole. He’s holding flowers white lilies. My stomach twists. Those were the flowers at my funeral.
“Mia?” Ethan says softly through the phone.
I take a slow breath. Then another. “I think,” I whisper, “I want him to leave.”
“Then tell him.”
My hand rests on the door.
Jason knocks again. “Mia!”
I raise my voice. “Go home, Jason.”
Silence. Then, “What?”
“Go home.”
My heart is pounding, but the words feel solid now. “I’m not opening the door.”
A long pause. Then I hear his footsteps come closer. “Mia, this isn’t like you.”
I close my eyes. “I know.”
More silence. Then his voice drops cold. “You think Ethan Black is on your side?”
My stomach tightens. “Because if you do,” Jason says quietly, “there’s something about him you should really know.”
My hand tightens on the phone. “What?” I ask through the door.
Jason’s voice lowers even more. “So far,” he says, “he hasn’t told you that the FBI has been watching your family for two years.”
My breath stops. “And guess who their inside informant is.”
I slowly lift the phone back to my ear. “Ethan,” I whisper.
But the line is already dead. And suddenly I know exactly who Jason is talking about
David Martinez.
- Writer
