Chapter 12
800 Words
Rain poured heavily outside the massive glass windows of the penthouse.
The city lights reflected against the dark room while silence filled the expensive space.
A man sat alone near the window, one hand lazily holding a glass of whiskey.
Adrian vale.
Cold. Rich. Dangerous.
And currently—
In a very bad mood.
“You still haven’t found her?”
His calm voice alone was enough to make the men standing in front of him nervous.
One of them lowered his head carefully.
“We’ve been searching everywhere, sir.”
Adrian slowly swirled the whiskey inside his glass.
“Everywhere?” he repeated softly.
The atmosphere instantly grew heavier.
“She disappeared too quickly,” another man explained nervously. “It’s like someone is hiding her.”
Silence.
Then suddenly—
Crash!!
The whiskey glass shattered violently against the wall beside them.
The men immediately flinched.
Adrian slowly stood up from his seat, his expression terrifyingly calm.
“She ran away from me,” he muttered darkly.
His sharp eyes slowly lifted toward them.
“And somehow, all of you still failed to bring her back.”
Nobody dared to answer.
Because everyone in the room knew one thing very clearly—
Adrian Vale was not a patient man.
Slowly, Adrian loosened the cuffs of his expensive black shirt before walking toward the large desk nearby.
Several photographs of Elena were scattered across the table.
Smiling.
Laughing.
Looking happy.
A dangerous look slowly appeared in Adrian’s eyes as his fingers gently touched one of the photographs.
“You should’ve listened to me, Elena.” He murmured quietly.
At first, everything between them had been perfect.
At least-
That was what Elena believed.
Adrian had given her everything.
Luxury.
Expensive gifts.
Attention.
But slowly—
That love became control.
He decided who she could meet.
What she could wear.
Where she could go.
And whenever Elena tried to fight back—
His temper became worse.
A cold silence filled the penthouse again before one of the men suddenly spoke carefully.
“We did find something”
Adrian’s eyes slowly shifted toward him.
“The girl was last seen near Hell’s Throttle.”
The atmosphere instantly changed.
Hell’s Throttle.
Adrian’s expression darkened immediately.
Because there was only one person in the city connected to that place strongly enough to become a problem.
“….Ryder Kane.”
The room suddenly felt colder after that name was spoken.
One of the men hesitated before speaking again.
“There are rumors she might be hiding somewhere connected to him.”
Silence.
Then suddenly—
Adrian laughed softly.
Not amused.
Dangerous.
“So that’s where you ran to…”
His eyes slowly lowered toward Elena’s photograph again.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
One of the men carefully stepped forward.
“Should we leave this alone for now?”
For a moment, Adrian stayed silent.
Then slowly—
A faint smirk appeared across his face.
“Let her enjoy her freedom for now,” he replied calmly.
The men exchanged uneasy looks.
Adrian slowly lowered his eyes toward Elena’s photograph again before continuing softly,
“Sooner or later…”
His fingers brushed gently against the edge of the picture.
“We’ll bring her back.”
A dangerous silence filled the room.
Because the terrifying thing about Adrian wasn’t his anger.
It was how calm he became when he wanted something.
His smirk deepened slightly.
“No matter how far she ran…” he murmured quietly. “I’ll still find her."
His sharp eyes slowly darkened.
“Because Elena belongs to me.”
“There’s no one who can replace her.”
His grip around the photograph tightened slightly.
“And no one can take her away from me.”
Silence filled the room again.
Then suddenly—
Adrian reached for his phone.
One of the men frowned slightly.
“Sir?”
A dangerous smile slowly appeared on Adrian’s face.
“I think it’s time I introduced myself to Ryder Kane.”
Meanwhile…
Across the city, inside the private room at Hell’s Throttle—
Ryder’s phone suddenly vibrated.
Unknown number.
Ryder’s expression immediately darkened.
Slowly, he picked up the call.
“... Who is this?”
Silence.
Then—
A low chuckle echoed softly from the other side of the line.
Ryder’s eyes instantly hardened.
“Stay away from her.”
The voice sounded calm.
Almost amused.
The atmosphere inside the room immediately turned dangerous.
Ryder slowly stood up from the couch.
“Who are you?” he asked coldly.
Another quiet laugh echoed through the phone.
Then—
“Too late.”
Click.
The line disconnected instantly.
Silence.
Cold.
Heavy silence.
For the first time that night, something dark slowly flickered across Ryder’s expression.
Because somehow—
Someone else knew exactly where Elena was.
To be continued
- Writer
