Chapter 8: The Thing Her Mother Hid
1417 Words
The hospital room became deathly silent.
Amara stared at Selena, her heartbeat pounding violently in her chest.
“They think Amara has it.”
The words echoed over and over in her mind.
Selena’s trembling fingers still gripped her wrist tightly while tears streamed down her face.
Amara swallowed hard.
“Has what?”
Selena shook her head frantically.
“I don’t know! They never said exactly what it was.”
Kael stepped closer slowly.
“Who took you?”
The fear in Selena’s expression deepened instantly.
“I didn’t see his face clearly.”
“You saw enough.”
Selena looked away.
Kael’s voice became colder.
“Selena.”
She flinched at the sharpness in his tone.
Amara noticed immediately.
Kael frightened Selena far more than the kidnappers themselves.
Finally, Selena whispered, “He wore gloves… black gloves.”
Kael’s jaw tightened slightly.
“And?”
“He kept asking questions about Amara’s mother.” Selena’s breathing became uneven again. “He said Elena Mensah stole something before she died.”
Amara’s chest tightened painfully hearing her mother’s name spoken like that.
“What kind of thing?” she asked softly.
“I don’t know.”
Selena looked toward Kael again.
“But he knew you.”
The room went still.
Kael’s expression didn’t change.
“How?”
Selena swallowed hard.
“He said you failed once already.”
A dangerous silence followed.
Amara slowly turned toward Kael.
“What does that mean?”
Kael didn’t answer immediately.
That hesitation terrified her.
“Kael.”
His gaze shifted toward Selena instead.
“Did he say anything else?”
Selena nodded shakily.
“He said if you interfere again…” Her voice cracked. “This time he’ll bury everyone you love beside her.”
Amara felt cold all over.
Kael’s face became unreadable.
Not angry.
Not surprised.
Worse.
Prepared.
Like part of him had expected this.
Selena suddenly grabbed Amara’s hand harder.
“You need to run,” she whispered desperately. “These people are insane.”
Amara looked at her cousin carefully.
Selena truly looked terrified.
Not dramatic.
Not manipulative.
Terrified.
Kael glanced toward the doctor standing nervously outside the room.
“She needs rest.”
The doctor immediately nodded. “Of course.”
Before Amara could protest, Kael gently guided her toward the hallway.
The moment the door closed behind them, she pulled away from him.
“You knew this would happen.”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“I suspected it.”
“That’s not the same thing!”
Her voice echoed sharply through the hallway.
Several nurses turned nervously before quickly looking away.
Kael lowered his voice dangerously.
“This is not the place.”
“I don’t care!”
Fear and anger exploded together inside her chest.
“You keep dragging me deeper into this nightmare while refusing to tell me the truth!”
Kael stared at her silently.
Then he spoke quietly.
“My father kept records.”
“What kind of records?”
“Transactions. Bribes. Names.”
Understanding slowly dawned on her face.
“A blacklist.”
“Yes.”
Her stomach twisted.
“And you think my mother took it?”
“I think she copied it.”
Amara stared at him in disbelief.
“That’s what everyone’s hunting me for?”
“They believe you know where she hid it.”
“But I don’t!”
“I know.”
His calmness only frustrated her more.
“You keep saying you know things, but clearly you don’t know enough if people are kidnapping girls by mistake!”
For a brief second, anger flashed behind Kael’s eyes.
Real anger.
The air around him changed instantly.
Dangerously.
“You think I don’t understand the risk?” he asked quietly.
The softness in his voice somehow felt more threatening than shouting.
Amara’s breath caught slightly.
Kael stepped closer.
“I have spent years trying to keep you away from this world.”
Her pulse stumbled.
“What?”
The hallway suddenly felt too small.
Too quiet.
“You knew about me all along?” she whispered.
“Yes.”
Shock froze her completely.
“All these years?”
Kael looked away briefly.
“Your mother made me promise.”
Emotion tightened painfully in Amara’s chest.
“She knew she was going to die.”
It wasn’t a question anymore.
Kael’s silence confirmed it.
Amara covered her mouth briefly as the realization shattered something inside her.
Her mother had known.
Known she was being hunted.
Known danger was coming.
And somehow she still left Amara behind alone.
Tears burned behind her eyes instantly.
“She should’ve taken me with her,” she whispered brokenly.
Kael’s expression shifted slightly.
“She tried.”
Amara looked up sharply.
“What?”
“She planned to leave the country with you.”
“Then what happened?”
Pain darkened his eyes.
“We ran out of time.”
The words hit harder than she expected.
For a second, neither of them spoke.
Then Kael reached into his coat pocket slowly.
“There’s something else.”
Amara frowned through her tears.
He handed her a small silver key.
Old-fashioned.
Worn.
Confusion crossed her face.
“What is this?”
“Your mother gave it to me the night before she died.”
Amara’s fingers trembled slightly as she took it.
“She told me if anything happened to her…” Kael paused briefly. “I was supposed to give this to you when you were old enough.”
Emotion clogged her throat.
“She left this for me?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled instantly.
For years, all she’d had were faded photographs and memories.
Now suddenly pieces of her mother kept appearing everywhere.
“What does it open?”
“I don’t know.”
Amara stared down at the key carefully.
Then suddenly,
A memory surfaced.
Faint.
Old.
A little girl was sitting on her mother’s lap while soft music played nearby.
“Elena,” a woman’s voice whispered gently in her memory, “never lose the silver key, okay?”
Amara’s breath caught sharply.
She remembered.
Not clearly.
But enough.
“There was a music box,” she whispered.
Kael’s eyes sharpened instantly.
“What?”
“My mother had a music box.” She looked up quickly. “She never let anyone touch it.”
“Where is it now?”
Amara froze.
Then realization slowly spread across her face.
“The apartment.”
Kael immediately understood.
“Your mother’s old apartment.”
Amara nodded slowly.
Fear returned instantly afterward.
“The same apartment someone broke into.”
Kael’s expression darkened.
“Yes.”
He pulled out his phone immediately.
“We’re going there.”
Amara’s pulse jumped.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“Kael, what if they’re still watching the place?”
“They probably are.”
The calmness in his answer stunned her.
“You say things like that too casually.”
“Because panic won’t help you survive.”
Before she could respond, his phone vibrated again.
Kael answered instantly.
“What?”
Silence followed.
Then his eyes hardened dangerously.
“When?”
Amara’s stomach tightened again.
Another problem.
Always another problem.
Kael ended the call slowly.
“What happened now?” she asked.
His jaw tightened.
“The press found this clinic.”
Her heart dropped.
“What?”
“They’re already outside.”
As if proving his words, loud voices suddenly echoed faintly from downstairs.
Camera flashes reflected through the hallway windows.
Chaos.
Kael grabbed Amara’s wrist immediately.
“We’re leaving through the back.”
“What about Selena?”
“She’ll be moved somewhere secure.”
Fear climbed rapidly through her chest as security guards suddenly filled the hallway.
Everything moved fast after that.
Too fast.
Kael kept one hand firmly against Amara’s back while leading her through private hallways behind the clinic.
Voices echoed behind them.
Reporters shouting questions.
Security yelling commands.
The atmosphere turned chaotic within seconds.
“How do they even know where I am?” Amara whispered fearfully.
Kael’s expression darkened.
“Because someone keeps leaking information.”
The realization hit instantly.
Someone close.
Someone watching.
Someone is feeding details to the people hunting her.
They reached the underground parking area moments later.
Several black vehicles already waited nearby.
Kael opened the nearest door for her quickly.
“Get inside.”
Amara obeyed immediately this time.
Because now she finally understood something terrifying.
This wasn’t temporary chaos anymore.
This was war.
- Writer
