THE SECRET FAMILY INHERITANCE

chapter 4

Chapter 4

Inside the secret room, the glowing monitors cast a cold blue light over my face. My mind was completely frozen as the security video played on the screen. A dark van pulled up next to Adrian's car in the late-night darkness. Two masked men in tactical gear jumped out and went into Adrian's house. The men dragged Adrian's limp body into the back of the van. But just before the doors slammed shut, a third person stepped out of Adrian's house.

The figure slowly turned toward the hidden camera, adjusting his coat. It was Lucas.

"Lucas..." I whispered, my voice trembling in the dark room.

It was Lucas all along. Adrian’s most trusted assistant—the very man who had called me on the phone just an hour ago pretending to be worried and confused—was the person behind the kidnapping. He had set the entire thing up.

A sudden wave of panic hit me like a ton of bricks. My breath came in short, jagged gasps as the terrible truth connected in my head.

Was Lucas the one who sneaked into my apartment? Was he the person who followed me to the clinic and took pictures of me?

“If Lucas knew about my baby, then I was in terrible danger. If he was powerful enough to bring down a billionaire like Adrian, did he have someone even more powerful backing him?” He wasn't just trying to destroy Adrian; he's after something.

"I have to get out of here," I gasped out loud, terror surging through my body.

I backed away from the glowing screens, turned around, and ran out of the secret room. I rushed past the dark study, sprinted down the grand marble staircase, and burst through the heavy front doors of the estate. I didn't look back once. I ran all the way down the long driveway, flagged down a passing taxi on the main road, and scrambled inside.

"Take me home! Please, hurry!" I cried out to the driver, checking behind us every two seconds to make sure no dark vans were following us.

When the taxi finally pulled up to my apartment building thirty minutes later, I threw some cash at the driver and bolted up the concrete stairs to my floor. My heart was pounding so loudly in my ears that I could barely hear my own frantic breathing. I reached my front door and reached into my pocket for my house keys.

Then I stopped dead in my tracks.

Taped right to the center of my apartment door was a single printed photograph.

I slowly walked closer, my hands shaking so violently I dropped my keys onto the floor. I looked at the picture. It was a terrifying image of Adrian, slumped unconscious against a dark concrete wall. He was dressed in black.

I flipped the photo over with cold, numb fingers. Written on the back in jagged red ink were two dark words:

YOU'RE NEXT.

A sharp scream tore from my throat. I dropped the picture, unlocked my door in a frantic rush, and threw myself inside, slamming the door shut and shoving the deadbolt into place.

I slid down against the wooden door, burying my face in my hands as heavy tears spilled down my cheeks. Adrian was really gone. The man I had loved for three years, the father of the child growing inside me, was likely dead in some dark corner of the city. And whoever did this was watching my every move.

“I can't stay here,” I sobbed to the empty room, looking over at my small suitcase in the corner. “I have to protect my baby.” I packed a single bag and decided to return to my mother's hometown, a place Adrian didn't know about.

Adrian's POV

I opened my eyes.

A sharp, throbbing pain shot through the back of my skull, making my vision blur into a gray haze. I was lying flat on a cold, damp concrete floor, the air around me smelling heavily of rust, river water, and old gasoline.

I tried to lift my arm, but a slight pain shot through it.

I closed my eyes and groaned quietly, taking a deep breath to fight off the dizziness pounding in my head. As the pain slowly settled into a dull ache, the memory of what happened last night came flooding back to my mind.

Flashback

It was late last night, right after Lily threw the broken watch at my feet and walked out of the hotel room forever. Every word she said had burned into my chest, but I had no time to process the heartbreak. I had a job to finish.

I drove straight to my private residence, bringing Lucas along with me. Lucas wasn't just my personal assistant; he had been my closest friend for nearly ten years. I trusted him with my business, my money, and my life.

We sat out on the second-floor balcony overlooking the dark forest. The air was cool and silent.

"I'll go grab us some drinks to take the edge off the night, boss," Lucas had said softly, patting my shoulder before stepping inside toward the kitchen.

As he walked away, he left his personal phone sitting open on the glass coffee table next to my chair.

A few seconds later, the phone vibrated quietly on the glass. Then it vibrated again, and again. A steady stream of alerts kept flashing on the screen.

I glanced down, intending to ignore it, but a preview of a text message caught my eye. The sender's name was hidden, but the dark words printed on the glass made my blood instantly run cold:

Make sure he dies tonight. No mistakes.

My mind went completely blank. I stared at the screen, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. Who is dying tonight? I thought, my brain struggling to connect the dots. What is going on with Lucas? Is he... is he trying to kill me?

Before I could digest the horrifying message, I heard footsteps approaching from the hallway. I quickly leaned back in my chair, staring out at the trees and pretending I hadn't seen a thing.

Lucas stepped back onto the balcony carrying a silver tray with two glass cups filled with dark amber liquid.

"Here you go, Adrian," he said smoothly, offering me a gentle, friendly smile as he set a glass down in front of me. "You look exhausted."

"Thanks, Lucas," I said, forcing a calm smile onto my face, though every nerve in my body was screaming in alarm.

"I just need to step inside to make a quick work call," Lucas said, nodding toward his phone. He picked it up from the table, slid it into his pocket, and walked back into the dark living room.

The moment his back was turned, I tiptoed silently behind him, staying low in the shadows of the doorway.

I watched through the slight crack in the door as Lucas raised the phone to his ear. A harsh, quiet voice came through the speaker.

"Is it done?" the voice asked.

Lucas looked around the empty hallway and lowered his voice to a dark whisper. "Not yet. But I just spiked his drink with the poison. In less than ten minutes, he'll be completely gone."

I froze in the shadows. A cold shock ran down my spine. Lucas—the man I had treated like a brother, the man I gave everything to—was poisoning me.

My mind raced at lightning speed. I didn't have time to mourn the betrayal. If I fought him right now, his partners waiting outside would just shoot me. I needed to survive. I needed to know who was pulling his strings.

I silently backed away into the balcony, picked up the glass of poisoned drink, and poured every single drop into the potted plant beside my chair.

Then, I took a deep breath, raised the heavy glass cup, and slammed it down onto the stone floor.

CRASH!

The glass shattered into a hundred glittering pieces. I threw myself onto the floor beside the shards, letting out a loud, ragged cough as I clutched my throat, pretending to struggle for breath.

Lucas came bursting through the balcony doors, his eyes wide. He didn't rush to help me. He didn't call an ambulance. He just stood over me, his hands in his pockets, watching with a cold, lifeless expression as I pretended to gasp for air.

I let my head roll to the side, closed my eyes, and went completely limp on the cold stone.

Lucas stepped closer, nudged my shoulder with the toe of his shoe, and pulled out his phone. He dialed a number and brought it to his ear.

"It's done," Lucas said coldly to the caller. "He's out."

A dark voice answered from the speaker: “Make sure you dispose of him properly. Leave no traces."

They thought that I had fallen right into their trap. They didn't know I was wide awake, listening to every word.

A quiet, dangerous smile touched the corners of my lips in the dark.

"If a fake death is what they want..." I whispered to myself, my voice laced with steel, "...then Adrian Blackwood is officially dead."