Chapter 4
1126 Words
The walk back to the city was harder than Aceline expected.
At first, she convinced herself it was manageable. She kept a steady jog, careful not to waste energy too quickly, her boots striking against the lonely road cutting through the mountain.
Then thunder cracked across the sky.
Sharp and violent.
The sound rolled through the hills like an explosion.
Aceline looked up immediately.
Rain…
She increased her pace, longer strides eating up the distance as darkness slowly swallowed the road ahead. She just needed to reach civilization. One gas station. One porch. One place to stay dry.
But the farther she went, the more ridiculous everything felt.
Coming up here had been stupid.
What exactly did she expect?
That she would walk into a billionaire’s mansion, ask politely for her garage keys, and leave peacefully?
She almost laughed at herself.
She should have broken the lock and disappeared.
Instead, she involved the housing agency, only to discover her name had somehow vanished from ownership entirely.
Macan.
Her jaw tightened instantly.
The next time she saw him, she was going to break his nose herself.
That's If she ever saw him again. Knowing him, he was probably halfway across another city already, sleeping beside another woman without a single ounce of guilt.
And Gloria? Aceline scoffed quietly. Those two deserved each other.
The wind picked up harder.
Cold air swept through the road as another flash of lightning split the sky.
Then…
Headlights.
Aceline slowed immediately.
A car was approaching from behind.
For a second, instinct told her to disappear into the shrubs lining the road.
But another part of her… the exhausted, desperate part… wanted help.
Taylor Spencer definitely wouldn’t send help.
Maybe it was another worker from the mansion.
She kept jogging, pretending she didn’t notice the vehicle behind her. Pretending she didn’t need saving.
The headlights grew brighter.
Closer.
Then the driver flashed her twice.
Aceline finally stopped.
The driver’s window rolled down slowly.
It was the male guard from the gate.
The one who laughed during the search.
“Need a ride?” he asked casually.
Though his face looked anything but casual.
He looked angry.
Aceline said nothing.
Every instinct in her body warned her not to trust him.
What if Taylor had ordered him to bring her back?
The guard clearly lost patience.
Without another word, he rolled the window back up.
Thunder exploded again overhead, louder this time.
Rain began falling in thick drops.
“Wait!” Aceline called out quickly.
The truck door unlocked instantly.
She climbed in.
The silence inside was unbearable.
Rain hammered against the roof while the windshield wipers fought helplessly against the storm.
Aceline stared ahead, guilt crawling under her skin.
“I… I’m sorry,” she said quietly.
The guard glanced at her briefly before returning his eyes to the road.
“It’s too late,” he replied flatly. “I’ve been laid off.”
Aceline turned toward him sharply.
“What?”
She genuinely sounded horrified.
That fast?
Now she understood the fear surrounding Taylor Spencer a little better.
The man wasn’t just powerful.
He was ruthless.
One mistake and people disappeared.
“I’m really sorry,” she said again, softer this time. “I was just trying to get my key.”
The guard nodded once.
He clearly didn’t care enough to continue the conversation.
Aceline leaned back into the seat slowly.
Her conscience gnawed at her.
She had just ruined someone’s livelihood.
But her own life wasn’t much better right now.
She had nowhere to stay.
No home.
No money outside whatever was left in her accounts.
The car trapped inside that garage was her only real option.
At least she could sleep in it.
“Where are you going?” the guard suddenly asked, cutting through her thoughts.
Aceline hesitated.
“Uh… I don’t know. Madison.”
He didn’t reply again.
The truck continued through the rain-soaked roads in silence while Aceline secretly wondered why he was helping her at all.
She didn’t deserve it.
Not after what she had done today.
Eventually, the truck rolled into Madison.
Rain poured heavily now, turning the streets glossy beneath the streetlights.
The car stopped in front of the house.
Aceline quickly climbed out.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely before shutting the door.
No response.
The truck pulled away immediately.
She stood there for a second in the rain before rushing toward the porch. Water soaked through her clothes while she struggled out of her wet boots.
Then she reached for the doorknob.
And froze.
Locked.
Aceline frowned deeply.
Slowly, realization settled into her chest.
Her bag was still inside.
.
Aceline was cornered.
Completely cornered.
But she had survived worse.
Far worse.
She was a soldier.
Pain, exhaustion, fear… those things were familiar territory to her. She had slept in deserts with bullets flying over her head. She had gone days without food during operations nobody would ever know existed. Compared to that, one cold night on a porch shouldn’t have broken her.
At least that was what she kept telling herself.
Nothing lasted forever.
Not the battlefield.
Not the endless screaming orders from superiors.
Not her marriage.
Not even heartbreak.
Aceline slowly sat down against the porch wall, pulling her knees closer to her chest. Her muscles ached from the walk back from the mountain, and the cold rain had soaked so deeply into her clothes that her skin burned beneath it.
She pulled out her phone.
A new message flashed across the screen.
Unknown Number.
“550, Stace Street. 8AM.”
Aceline stared at it silently.
The security job.
Under normal circumstances, she would have ignored it immediately. The entire thing screamed suspicious. Random call. Confidential source. No details.
But these weren’t normal circumstances anymore.
She was desperate.
Desperate enough to listen.
Whoever this client was had to be important. Nobody hired private security with this level of secrecy unless they had enemies, money, or both.
And people like that paid well. Very well.
Enough to help her disappear from this city forever.
Enough to start over somewhere quiet.
Somewhere safe.
A place where she could finally breathe without feeling like danger was waiting around every corner.
No more guns.
No more panic attacks waking her up at night.
No more PTSD clawing at her brain every time she heard loud noises.
No more pretending she was still okay.
Aceline tucked her arms tighter around her legs as the cold deepened.
Rainwater dripped steadily from the edge of the roof while thunder rumbled faintly in the distance.
Her body was exhausted.
Her life was falling apart.
But one thing remained true.
She was a survivor.
And survivors kept moving, even when there was nowhere left to go.
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