HIS NAME ON HER RUIN. Episode 7: Ten Seconds
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“Step away from the cabinet, Mr. Blackwell.”
The voice came from behind them.
Victoria froze.
Adrian didn’t.
He slowly raised his hands, positioning himself between Victoria and the doorway.
“Ten seconds,” the man said. “Then she dies.”
Victoria’s heart slammed against her ribs.
She looked at Adrian.
For the first time since she had met him, she saw something dangerously close to fear in his eyes.
Not for himself.
For her.
“Who are you?” Adrian asked.
“Eight seconds.”
A shadow moved beyond the doorway.
Adrian’s gaze flicked toward the cabinet.
Then to Victoria.
“Take the envelope,” he whispered.
“What?”
“Take it.”
Victoria reached into the cabinet and grabbed the sealed envelope.
“Six seconds.”
Adrian suddenly kicked the metal cabinet door shut.
The lights went out.
A gunshot exploded through the darkness.
Victoria screamed.
Adrian grabbed her wrist.
“Run.”
They raced through the underground room as another shot struck the wall behind them.
Victoria could barely see.
Adrian pulled her toward a narrow passage.
“How do you know where you’re going?”
“My father built this place.”
“You’ve been here before?”
“No.”
“Then how—”
“I’ve studied every property he ever owned.”
Another gunshot echoed.
Victoria stumbled.
Adrian caught her around the waist before she hit the floor.
For one breath, they were pressed against each other.
His face was inches from hers.
“You okay?”
Victoria nodded.
His hand remained on her waist.
Neither moved.
Then the sound of footsteps snapped them back to reality.
“Move.”
They continued running.
The passage opened into a small stone room.
Adrian slammed the door behind them and locked it.
Silence.
Victoria leaned against the wall, breathing hard.
“Whoever that was,” she whispered, “they knew about the cabinet.”
Adrian stared at the envelope in her hand.
“They knew about everything.”
Victoria looked down.
There was no name on it.
Only one sentence written across the front.
OPEN THIS ONLY IF YOU ARE READY TO KNOW WHY YOUR FATHER CHOSE HER.
Victoria’s stomach tightened.
“Her?”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Open it.”
She hesitated.
“What if this is exactly what they want us to do?”
“Then we find out why.”
Victoria tore the envelope open.
Inside was a single photograph.
Her mother.
Her father.
And another man.
Victoria stared at the third person.
She knew him.
But she couldn’t remember from where.
“Adrian…”
He took the photograph.
His expression changed immediately.
“That’s impossible.”
“Who is he?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
“Adrian.”
“My father’s former attorney.”
Victoria frowned.
“Daniel?”
“No.”
Adrian turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
THE MAN WHO SAVED YOUR FATHER IS THE MAN WHO DESTROYED YOUR FAMILY.
Victoria’s blood ran cold.
Then something slipped from inside the envelope.
A birth certificate.
She picked it up.
Her eyes moved across the page.
Her name.
Her date of birth.
Her mother’s name.
And beneath it—
Father: Unknown.
Victoria stopped breathing.
“No.”
Adrian reached for the document.
She pulled it away.
“No.”
“Victoria—”
“My father was Samuel Sloane.”
“I know.”
“This has to be fake.”
Adrian studied her face.
“Your father may have raised you without being your biological father.”
The words cut deeper than she expected.
Victoria shook her head.
“My mother never said that.”
“Your mother has lied to you for fourteen years.”
Victoria looked away.
Then she remembered the recording.
There’s something I never told you about your father.
Her fingers tightened around the birth certificate.
“Why would my father hide this?”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Because whatever happened eighteen years ago wasn’t just about money.”
A sound came from the other side of the door.
Both of them froze.
Someone was there.
Victoria lowered her voice.
“Could it be my mother?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because whoever is outside just locked the passage.”
Adrian moved closer.
Victoria’s heart began racing again.
“What are we going to do?”
He looked at her.
“We find another way out.”
“There isn’t one.”
“There is always one.”
“That’s what rich men tell themselves before they get killed.”
A faint smile touched his mouth.
“Are you worried about me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
“Good.”
He leaned closer.
“Because I’m not planning to die tonight.”
A metallic sound echoed outside.
Someone was trying to open the door.
Adrian grabbed Victoria’s hand.
“Whatever happens, stay behind me.”
“I’m not hiding behind you.”
“Victoria.”
“I said I’m not—”
The door suddenly burst open.
Adrian pushed Victoria aside.
A man in black rushed into the room.
Adrian tackled him.
They crashed against the wall.
Victoria backed away.
Then she saw the man’s face.
Her breath caught.
She knew him.
He was one of the men she had seen around Blackwell International.
One of Adrian’s own security contractors.
“Adrian!”
The man pulled a knife.
Victoria grabbed a metal lamp and struck his arm.
The knife fell.
Adrian pinned him to the floor.
“Who sent you?”
The man laughed.
“You really don’t understand, do you?”
Adrian pressed harder.
“Talk.”
The man looked at Victoria.
“Your mother was never supposed to come back.”
Victoria’s blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?”
The man’s smile disappeared.
“She wasn’t the only one who survived that night.”
Adrian went still.
“Who else?”
The man stared directly at him.
“Your father.”
Silence.
Victoria looked at Adrian.
For eighteen years, Adrian had believed his father was dead.
Now someone had just confirmed that he was alive.
But before Adrian could ask another question, the man’s expression changed.
He swallowed.
Then collapsed.
A small black capsule rolled from his mouth.
Victoria covered hers.
Adrian checked his pulse.
Nothing.
Dead.
Victoria stared at the body.
“Someone killed him before he could talk.”
Adrian stood slowly.
His eyes were dark.
“Then we’re getting closer.”
Victoria looked at the birth certificate still clutched in her hand.
“No.”
She looked toward the sealed passage.
“We’re getting closer to the truth.”
Her phone suddenly vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
STOP LOOKING FOR ADRIAN’S FATHER.
Another message appeared.
OR WE’LL SHOW YOU WHO YOUR REAL FATHER IS.
Victoria’s blood turned cold.
Then a final message arrived.
ASK YOUR MOTHER ABOUT THE NAME: ELIAS BLACKWELL.
Adrian saw the screen.
His face went pale.
“That’s my father’s name.”
Victoria looked at him.
“Why would they tell me to ask my mother about him?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Because somewhere upstairs, a woman’s voice suddenly echoed through the old Blackwell residence.
Victoria recognized it immediately.
Her mother’s voice.
“Victoria…”
Then came the words that made Adrian’s entire body go rigid.
“Don’t trust him.”
The lights came back on.
And Victoria realized they were no longer alone.
To be continued…
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