CHAPTER 4 : THE POISON IN THE NEWS
1512 Words
The tablet smashed against the wall, glass exploding everywhere. The screen was just gone—shattered pieces everywhere.
“How did they find out?” I screamed. My voice was shaking so much I almost lost my balance. “Caden, look at the news! Everyone knows!”
Caden didn’t budge. He stood by the window, still as a statue, staring out like he didn’t even hear me. “Sit down, Ivy. You’re freaking out over a gossip site.”
“Gossip site?” I rushed over, grabbed his arm, made him face me. “It’s not just a website! Every news channel in the country has it. There’s a photo of us from the party. The headline’s everywhere: ‘The Dead Princess Is Alive: Is Ivy Vance Pregnant with the Sterling Heir?’”
That got his attention. Suddenly, his eyes weren’t cold anymore. They burned. “I told you to stay away from the windows. I told you to keep your phone off.”
“I did! But my father—he must’ve leaked it! He’s pushing us out of hiding!”
“Or,” Caden’s voice dropped, sharp and low, “maybe you told someone. Maybe you thought attention would protect you from me.”
I staggered back, heart pounding. “You think this was me? I’m a ghost, Caden! If people know I’m alive, the same men who tried to kill me will come back. Why would I want that?”
“Because you’re a Vance,” he snapped, stepping closer until my back hit the wall. “Vances crave attention. Power. And nothing’s more powerful than a woman carrying a Sterling baby during a war.”
“I’m carrying your baby!” I shouted. “Our baby! Why can’t you see I’m on your side?”
“Because every time I trust a Vance, I get burned!”
Before I could answer, the front door burst open. Two of Caden’s guards rushed in, pale and tense.
“Boss, we’ve got a problem,” Jax, the head guard, said. “Perimeter’s broken. It’s not killers—it’s the press. Hundreds of them. And behind them, there’s a police motorcade.”
Caden pulled his gun from his belt. “Whose motorcade?”
“Police,” Jax said. “They have a warrant. They’re charging you with kidnapping and assaulting Ivy Vance.”
I gasped, pressing my hand to my mouth.
“Assaulting me? Caden, I never said that! I haven’t spoken to anyone!”
“Of course not,” Caden said, his eyes full of hurt and anger. “Your father did it for you. He’s using the cops to drag you back. If they ‘rescue’ you, you go straight to him. I go to jail, and I won’t make it to trial.”
“I won’t let that happen!” I grabbed his hand. “I’ll tell them the truth—you saved me from the people who wanted me dead!”
“And who’s going to believe you?” Caden’s laugh was bitter. “To them, I’m the monster who stole the rich girl. The pregnancy just makes it juicier for the news.”
“Caden, back door’s blocked too,” Jax called. “We’ve got maybe two minutes before they’re inside.”
“Grab the bags,” Caden barked. “Ivy, get to the basement. Now.”
“The basement? No! If I stay, they’ll find me and take me away from you!”
“That’s the point, Ivy!” He grabbed my shoulders, his grip almost painful. “If you’re with me when they arrest me, they’ll take the baby. They’ll put you in a hospital ‘for your safety,’ and your father takes control again. If you hide, I can draw them away. I’ll buy us time.”
“I’m not leaving you!” Tears ran down my face. I clung to his shirt. “Don’t make me do this.”
“Listen to me!” He shook me, not hard, but enough so I’d look at him. “This is just a game. I already sent my dad’s secret book to my lawyers. By tomorrow, your father’s the one in trouble. I just have to make it through tonight. Do you trust me?”
I searched his face, saw the man who’d held me in the garden, the one who jumped off a building to save me.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I trust you.”
“Then hide. No matter what you hear, don’t come out until Jax gets you. Got it?”
“I got it.”
He kissed my forehead—quick, desperate—then pushed me toward the trapdoor. I slipped down into the basement, pulling the rug over me just as I heard glass shatter upstairs.
“Caden Sterling! Drop the weapon!” someone shouted.
I curled up in the dark, hugging my knees. My breath came in short, frantic bursts. I heard fighting—furniture breaking.
“Where is she?” a new voice barked. Detective Miller. My father’s dirty cop.
“Where’s Ivy Vance?”
“She’s gone,” Caden shot back, his voice strong. “She ran off days ago. I have no idea where she is.”
“Liars go to jail, Caden,” Miller growled. “Search the house! Find the girl!”
Heavy boots pounded above me. I pressed my hand to my stomach, holding my breath. Please stay quiet, I begged my baby. Please, just for a little while, stay hidden.
Boss, we found something! a cop yelled from the other room.
My heart just stopped. Did they find the secret door?
It’s a phone, the cop said. It’s been sending out a GPS signal for three hours. That’s how we tracked down this place.
Whose phone? Miller asked.
It belongs to the girl. Ivy Vance.
I froze. My phone? I’d turned it off. I stuffed it deep in my bag. How could it be sending a signal?
Wait, I whispered, barely making a sound in the dark. I hadn’t touched my phone since the night Caden took me. The only person who even got close to my stuff—the only one who could’ve turned it on—
Caden, I breathed. The realization hit me hard, like a punch in the stomach.
Did he do it? Did he turn on my phone on purpose, so the cops would show up? Did he want to get caught?
Take him away, Miller said. And keep looking for the girl. She’s here somewhere. Her father wants her tonight, or none of us get paid.
I heard them dragging Caden out. The front door slammed. After that, nothing. Just silence.
I waited. A minute. Five. Ten.
Finally, the trapdoor creaked open. A sliver of light cut through the dark.
Ivy? It’s safe. They’re gone, Jax whispered. He reached down for me.
I climbed out, legs shaking. The house looked destroyed. Everything was smashed up.
Where’s Caden? I asked.
They took him to the police station, Jax said. He looked miserable. We need to go. There’s another safe house in New Jersey.
Jax, I said, stopping in the middle of the wrecked room. The phone. They said they found us because of my phone.
Yeah, he said, barely glancing my way. Bad luck.
I didn’t turn it on, Jax. Caden told me to keep it off. He’s the only one who touched my bag this morning.
Jax stopped. He looked at me, and for a second, I saw something like pity in his eyes.
Why would he do that? I could barely get the words out. Why would he bring the cops if he knew he’d get arrested?
Jax sighed and stared at the door. Caden thinks ahead, Ivy. He knew reporters were coming. He knew the police would show up. He needed proof he wasn’t hiding a victim. If he lets himself get arrested and you disappear, he looks like the hero. Your father looks like a madman chasing shadows.
So I was just bait? My voice broke. He used me again?
You’re a Sterling now, Ivy, Jax said, taking my arm and steering me toward the car. In this family, everyone’s just a piece in the game. Even the wife.
We stepped out into the cold. As we drove away, I stared at the empty road. Caden was locked up. My father was after me. And I was alone, carrying a secret that just became a target.
But looking at my reflection in the car window, something clicked. If Caden wanted to play games, fine. I could play, too. He thought I was just a pawn. My father thought I was something to be traded. They were both wrong.
But what happens to the game when the 'weak' girl decides to stop following their rules and starts making her own?
If Caden really betrayed me to save his plan, does he know that I am now the only person who can either set him free or keep him in a cage forever?
- Writer
