Chapter 6: The chase Begins
858 Words
The room fell into complete silence after Victor’s warning. Ava’s eyes remained fixed on the closed curtains while her mind struggled to keep up with everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Only yesterday she had been a bride surrounded by laughter, music, and endless congratulations. Now she was hiding inside her apartment, holding a mysterious key in one hand while strangers watched her from outside. It felt impossible that her entire life had changed so quickly.
Mia slowly walked toward the window before Victor gently caught her wrist. “Don’t,” he said in a firm but calm voice. “If they’re watching this apartment, we don’t want them to know we’ve seen them.” Mia immediately stepped back, her expression growing serious. She had always been fearless, but this situation was unlike anything either of them had imagined. The danger no longer felt like a distant possibility. It was waiting outside their front door.
Ava tightened her grip around the brass key until it almost hurt. “Tell me everything,” she said, looking directly at Victor. “No more protecting me. No more half-truths. If my life is already in danger, then I deserve to know exactly what Ethan was trying to protect.” Her voice remained steady despite the fear building inside her. She had spent enough time crying. Now she wanted answers.
Victor lowered himself back into the armchair and removed his glasses. For a long moment, he rubbed his forehead as though choosing the wrong words could make everything even worse. “I’ve worked for the Blackwood family for twenty-two years,” he began quietly. “I’ve seen things that never reached the newspapers. Ethan inherited far more than his father’s fortune. He inherited enemies.” Ava and Mia exchanged a worried glance, but neither interrupted him.
“When Ethan’s father died,” Victor continued, “everyone believed the company passed peacefully into Ethan’s hands. That wasn’t the whole story. Several powerful investors believed they deserved control of the Blackwood empire. They weren’t interested in legal battles. They wanted complete control, no matter what it cost.” He paused, allowing his words to settle over the room. “People have disappeared over far less.”
Ava felt a chill spread through her body. Ethan had always insisted that business was stressful, but he never mentioned anything this dangerous. She remembered the nights he came home exhausted, claiming another meeting had gone badly. She remembered the mysterious phone calls he always answered in private. At the time, she had assumed it was simply the life of a billionaire. Now every memory seemed to carry a different meaning.
“So this is about money?” Mia asked.
Victor shook his head immediately. “If it were only money, Ethan would have walked away years ago. There’s something else. Something hidden long before Ethan became CEO.” His eyes drifted toward the brass key resting in Ava’s hand. “I believe the answer is inside that safety deposit box.”
Ava looked down at the key again. The tiny engraving—317—seemed almost insignificant, yet it now felt like the most important object she owned. She remembered how carefully Ethan handled it whenever he took it from his desk. She had asked about it once, and he had smiled before changing the subject. Back then, she never imagined the answer could determine whether they lived or died.
“We’re going to the bank,” Ava said.
Victor immediately stood. “Absolutely not today.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’re expecting you to.”
His answer caught her off guard.
“They know Ethan left something behind,” Victor explained. “If I were trying to find it, the first place I’d watch would be the bank. The moment you walk through those doors, you’ll tell them exactly where to look.” Ava hated admitting that he was right. Every instinct told her to run straight to the deposit box, but Ethan had survived this long by thinking several steps ahead.
Just then, Mia’s phone buzzed loudly on the coffee table. The unexpected sound made all three of them jump. She glanced at the screen and frowned. “It’s an unknown number,” she said. “Should I answer?” Victor immediately shook his head, but before Mia could decline the call, the phone stopped ringing. A second later, a text message appeared.
Mia opened it.
Her face instantly turned pale.
“What is it?” Ava asked, her heartbeat quickening.
Without speaking, Mia handed her the phone.
The message contained only one sentence.
Stop digging… or you’ll lose him forever.
Attached beneath the message was a photograph.
Ava’s hands began to shake before she had even opened it.
She tapped the image.
The photograph slowly filled the screen.
It was Ethan.
His hands were tied behind a chair.
There was fresh blood running down the side of his face.
But what terrified Ava the most…
…was that he was looking directly at the camera.
As if whoever had taken the picture wanted her to know he was still alive.
- Writer
