One night with Mr Blackwell

Chapter 14

Darkness wasn’t silent.

It buzzed.

It echoed.

It felt like someone had stuffed my head with cotton and set the world on mute. My ears rang, my vision flickered somewhere between shadows and half-formed shapes, and my body refused to keep up with whatever chaos was happening around me.

I tried to breathe.

Nothing happened.

Then suddenly

Air.

Sharp, cold air filled my lungs like I’d forgotten how to inhale.

Something warm pressed against my cheek.

“Ava. Ava, open your eyes.”

That voice again.

Low. Controlled. Breaking at the edges.

Adrian.

My eyes fluttered, vision blurry, and all I saw at first was movement, trees shaking, the night sky spinning, and Adrian kneeling beside me.

Not angry.

Not furious.

Not intense.

Something worse.

He looked… afraid.

“Are you okay?” he demanded, too fast, too rough, like fear had wrapped itself around his throat.

I didn’t answer because my brain was still trying to reconnect its wires.

“What… happened?” I croaked.

“You fainted,” he said and I felt his muscles relax against my arm. He must have been scared.

Fainted?

Fainted?!

“Someone literally hit me on the head, and you think I fainted?” I snapped, trying to sit up.

He pressed one hand gently to my shoulder to keep me still. “You weren’t hit.”

“How do you know? Did you scan me with your rich-people X-ray vision?”

“Ava,” he warned.

I blinked at him again, more awake now. My chest ached from the impact of fear, but nothing else hurt. No burning. No numbness. No injury.

I pushed his hand aside and sat up fully.

That’s when I saw it.

Near a tree trunk, about ten meters away, a metal object lay half-buried in leaves.

a bullet? I wasn't sure.

Someone heartlessly brought a gun to a sword fight. Those bandits are worse than evil

I pointed weakly. “What’s that?”

Adrian didn’t look. His eyes were still on me, like I was the only thing that existed in the entire forest.

“Don’t worry about it.”

His voice dropped, darker.

“I’m handling it.”

“No.”

I pushed myself to my feet, wobbling a little. “I saw someone hit me. You can’t just act like..”

“Ava.”

I froze again.

His voice wasn’t harsh.

Wasn’t threatening.

It was quiet.

““There are things you don’t know,” he said. “Things you should have been told. Things I should have told you.”

My stomach twisted.

The forest suddenly felt colder.

“Told me what?” I whispered.

Adrian looked at me like he was about to drop the world's most devastating truth.

Not dramatic.

Not teasing.

Real.

Serious.

He stepped closer, lowering his voice as if the trees were listening.

“Ava… this didn’t happen randomly. Those men weren’t just criminals. Someone came here for you.”

My breath hitched.

“No,” I whispered quickly, shaking my head. “No no no. That’s impossible. I’m not important. I’m not rich. My bank account is basically a crime scene. Why would anyone…”

“Ava,” he said, softer now. “Listen.”

He crouched in front of me, eyes locked on mine.

Something in his expression made my skin prickle,

a strange mix of regret and determination.

“You’re not nobody,” he murmured.

“You never were.”

I pulled my knees to my chest, heart pounding so loudly I could feel it echoing in my head.

“Adrian… what are you saying?”

He inhaled slowly.

“Ava… brace yourself,” he said gently. “Because what I’m about to tell you… might change everything. Your parents…your real parents, must have been too scared to tell you.”

My entire body froze.

Real parents?

Scared?

Was this about Dad’s behavior?

Was this why he treated us that way?

Was I the reason Mum and Lily suffered?

My throat tightened. Tears burned behind my eyes.

“What… truth?” I whispered.

There was a heavy pause.

A dramatic, ominous silence that felt like the universe holding its breath.

Adrian’s shoulders lifted with a deep breath, like he was preparing to carry the weight of the entire universe

Then Adrian spoke with absolute seriousness:

“Ava… you’re the lost princess of this forest tribe.”

My soul left my body.

He continued solemnly, “To protect you from your evil uncle who wants the throne, your real parents hid you with the family you grew up with.”

Silence.

My head was spinning so fast I was sure my brain disconnected from my skull.

Lost princess?

Evil uncle??

Forest tribe???

Everything inside me twisted.

“Mum and Lily… aren’t related to me?” I whispered, stunned.

“And Dad… he’s not…? I never belonged? I…”

Then I finally met Adrian’s eyes.

Something was off.

His expression… twitched.

Just a little.

A tiny crack in the perfect seriousness.

My stomach dropped.

“Adrian,” I whispered slowly, “why are you looking like that?”

His lips pressed together, like he was fighting something.

Then it happened.

He broke.

He burst into laughter.

Actual, uncontrollable laughter.

He doubled over, hand on his knee, wiping tears from his eyes.

“I can’t…” he choked out, gasping, “Ava, you actually… you believed…”

I sat there, frozen, feeling the weight of all human embarrassment fall directly on my soul.

The shame hit me like a bus with no brakes.

“I hate you,” I muttered, face burning.

He laughed harder.

“Dave let's get out of here” he said trying to hold himself back from laughing

“Dave? Mr Dave, when did you get here?” I asked really surprised.

“Dave has been following us since we left that building, he's the one who shot the gun and scared those men away” Adrain explained

So my life saver was the one who brought the gun. I take back what I said about that.

I rushed toward Mr Dave immediately, grabbing his hand like my life depended on it.

“Mr Dave,” I said, dramatically placing my other hand on his shoulder, “from today forward, let us be best friends. You saved my life, so I must repay you. Let me buy you a meal, or juice, or…”

Suddenly my feet dangled in the air.

Adrian had picked me up. Again.

“Stop talking nonsense,” he said, carrying me like I weighed nothing. “We need to move before they come back.”

What's wrong with this guy now? Did he eat something bad while I was passed out? And why is he making those serious expressions like he wants to kill someone.

“What nonsense?!” I protested, kicking my legs like an annoyed toddler. “I’m trying to show gratitude! That’s how humans behave, Adrian!”

“Yeah,” he said dryly, “and that, Mr Dave would respectfully decline.”

“You are NOT Mr Dave and you cannot answer for him!” I snapped, twisting until he was forced to set me down.

I stomped in front of Dave, arms spread protectively like I was shielding him from Adrian’s bullying.

“Mr Dave,” I declared, “you don’t have to let him pressure you. You are free. You can choose. Tell him.”

Adrian raised a brow and looked at Dave.

“You were going to decline Miss Collins’ offer, because you’re very busy. Isn’t that right?” he asked, tone dripping with obvious manipulation.

“Hey!” I shouted. “You can’t ask him like that! It sounds like you’re reading out the answer and he just has to fill in the blank.”

Dave finally spoke, expression blank as ever.

“Mr Blackwell is correct. I am too busy to accept your offer,” he said, walking past me without sparing a glance.

I stared after him, betrayed.

This was emotional treason.

“I swear,” I muttered under my breath, “most of the time he’s like a… a walking concrete block. I pity the person that ends up with that expressionless rock of a human being.”

Behind me, Adrian chuckled.

“Let’s go, princess.”

I glared.

“Don’t call me that. Ever again.”

He smirked.

“Too late.”

Just stick to one already! I mentally screamed at him.

By the time we reached the place where the car was parked, I was already too exhausted to argue. I just turned to face Adrian, waiting for whatever impossible thing he was about to say next.

“We’re going to New York, Ava.”

His tone wasn’t a suggestion. It wasn’t even a command.

It was a warning.

I blinked. “Sure. But I need to stop home to get my things.”

From the way his jaw tightened, I already knew he wasn’t going to like that.

“We can buy you new clothes in New York,” he said confidently, like he was doing me a favor.

I stared at him.

Hard.

Did Adrian Blackwell temporarily lose his brain cells?

“Sorry to burst your billionaire bubbles," I said, "but I’m just an average human trying to survive life. I can’t afford the kind of things you call ‘new clothes.’”

“No one said you’d be using your money.”

There it was. That smirk.

The smirk that screamed Checkmate.

I groaned. “Just take me home. I promise I won’t take long.”

He exhaled through his nose, like I was the inconvenience, not the bandits that tried to murder me.

“Fine. I’ll drop you home.”

That was… surprisingly easy.

Suspiciously easy.

Maybe he’s tired.

Or maybe, just for a moment, he decided to behave like a normal human being.

Which made him feel soft, warm, and honestly… dangerously close to a freshly baked strawberry cake.

Ugh. Now I want cake.

“Get in, Princess,” he said, opening the door for me.

“Oh, thank you, little prince,” I mocked sweetly.

“Little?” He scoffed. “Anyone would agree I’m more of a king.”

I rolled my eyes so hard I almost saw my brain.

The drive was quiet. Calm. Peaceful enough that sleep tugged at me.

“Adrian, I’m going to sleep for a bit. Wake me when we get to my house.”

He didn’t respond, just nodded once, eyes on the road.

Maybe he wasn’t the talk-while-driving type.

I didn’t know how long I slept…

But when I opened my eyes,

I was in my room.

Or… what looked like my room.

For a moment, I just blinked at the ceiling, confused. Adrian must’ve carried me in and left.

Figures.

Cause chaos and vanish.

Classic playboy behavior.

But something felt… off.

Too quiet.

Too still.

I sat up, rubbed my eyes, and stepped outside the room

and froze.

This wasn’t my house.

At all.

The walls, the floors, the air itself felt different. Bigger. Richer.

My heart started pounding as I walked through the hallway, eyes wide.

“What the hell…” I whispered.

Was I dreaming?

Because unless my mother suddenly won the lottery while I was asleep, there was no universe where this mansion was my home.

“I didn’t expect you to wake up so soon,” Adrian’s voice came from behind.

I turned sharply. “Adrian? What is this? I thought you took me home!”

“Oh, that.”

He waved his hand casually, like we were talking about changing restaurant plans.

“I changed my mind. I figured you’d cause a scene if you woke up in a strange place, so I just had people redesign the room to look like yours.”

He smiled proudly.

“Pretty identical, right? Saves us the whole ‘I want to go home’ argument. Your room here is basically home now.”

I stared at him, mouth open, words refusing to form.

Finally, I managed:

“Adrian… did you hit your head somewhere?”

“Not really,” he said calmly.

“As long as you’re here, I don’t have to worry about you running off into danger again.”

I blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Yup. Confirmed.

Adrian Blackwell had officially lost his mind.

At that time, I just didn’t know yet… My real problem was just starting.