chapter 10
1654 Words
Enemies Watching
The message stayed on the screen like a threat carved into stone.
YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED WITH HIM.
TELL BLACKWOOD THE GAME HAS STARTED.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The room felt colder.
Smaller.
Dangerously quiet.
Then Sebastian slammed the laptop shut so hard the sound made me jump.
“Sebastian—”
“We’re leaving.”
His voice was sharp.
Controlled.
But beneath the control...
Rage.
The kind of rage that simmered beneath the surface and waited for the perfect moment to explode.
He grabbed his phone immediately.
“I want every system in this building checked now,” he ordered into the line. “Nobody gets access without going through my people first.”
A pause.
“And find out how that message got through.”
Another pause.
His expression darkened.
“I don't care how long it takes. I want answers.”
He ended the call without another word.
I stared at him carefully.
“You look worried.”
His jaw tightened.
“I am worried.”
The honesty surprised me.
Sebastian rarely admitted weakness.
Or fear.
For a man who always seemed in control, hearing those words felt unsettling.
“They hacked directly into your system,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
“That means they're close.”
His eyes lifted slowly to mine.
“Closer than I thought.”
Fear settled heavily in my stomach.
Every time we uncovered something, the danger multiplied.
Like someone was always watching.
Waiting.
Listening.
The thought made me glance instinctively toward the dark windows.
For a moment, I imagined someone standing outside, staring in.
Watching us.
I quickly looked away.
“Who are these people?” I asked quietly. “Really.”
Sebastian looked away briefly before answering.
“They call themselves The Circle.”
The name sent a chill through me.
“What do they do?”
“They own people.”
I frowned.
“What does that even mean?”
His expression darkened.
“It means politicians, judges, CEOs, police commissioners, business leaders... they control them using secrets.”
My chest tightened.
“Blackmail.”
“Yes.”
“And Liam stole evidence against them.”
Sebastian nodded once.
“That’s why they killed him.”
The finality in his voice made my stomach turn painfully.
I sat slowly on the edge of the desk, trying to process everything.
Liam hadn’t just been hiding secrets.
He had been trapped inside something monstrous.
Something bigger than either of us.
“Did he ever try to leave?” I asked softly.
Sebastian’s expression shifted slightly.
“Yes.”
The answer came without hesitation.
“He wanted out months before he died.”
“Then why stay?”
“Because once The Circle owns you...” Sebastian’s voice lowered dangerously, “they don’t let go.”
Silence followed.
Heavy silence.
I thought about Liam.
The late-night phone calls he used to take outside.
The unexplained trips.
The fear I occasionally caught in his eyes before he quickly hid it.
How many signs had I missed?
How much had he been carrying alone?
Then I looked at Sebastian carefully.
“How do you know so much about them?”
That question changed the atmosphere instantly.
Sebastian went still.
Too still.
“Sebastian.”
His gaze met mine slowly.
“Because my father helped create it.”
The words hit like ice water.
“What?”
“My father was one of the founding members.”
I stared at him.
“No...”
“Yes.”
Pain flickered across his face.
“Blackwood Holdings became powerful because of them.”
Everything suddenly made horrible sense.
The corruption.
The hidden files.
The fear.
The secrecy.
“Are you part of it?” I whispered.
The question clearly hit him harder than I expected.
His jaw tightened sharply.
“No.”
“But you benefit from it.”
Silence.
That silence hurt more than an answer.
I stood quickly, emotions crashing through me again.
“So what? You just stayed around these people while they destroyed lives?”
“You think it's that simple?” he snapped.
“Yes!”
The anger in my voice echoed through the office.
“You had power. Money. Influence. And Liam died trying to expose them while you—”
“While I spent years trying to dismantle them from the inside?”
The fury in Sebastian’s voice silenced me instantly.
The room went still.
For the first time since meeting him...
Sebastian looked genuinely angry.
Not cold.
Not controlled.
Angry.
“You think I don't know what they are?” he asked sharply.
“You think I don't know what they've done?”
His breathing became uneven.
Rare.
Dangerous.
“They destroyed my family too.”
The words stunned me.
Sebastian turned away abruptly, running a hand through his hair.
Like he already regretted saying too much.
But it was too late.
Because I had finally seen beneath the armor.
“What happened?” I asked softly.
He stayed silent.
Then finally—
“My mother tried to leave The Circle when I was seventeen.”
A cold chill ran through me.
“She disappeared two weeks later.”
My breath caught.
Images flooded my mind.
A frightened woman trying to escape.
Looking over her shoulder.
Knowing someone was following her.
Knowing danger was getting closer every day.
“Oh my God...”
“They called it suicide.”
His voice became dangerously quiet.
“But I know better.”
Pain settled heavily between us.
Not fresh pain.
Old pain.
Buried pain.
The kind that changes a person forever.
“Did they ever find her body?” I asked carefully.
Sebastian looked away.
“No.”
The single word somehow made the story even worse.
Because that meant he never got answers.
Never got closure.
Never got justice.
“That’s why you hate them,” I whispered.
Sebastian laughed bitterly.
“Hate isn't a strong enough word.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then slowly...
I walked closer to him.
Not because I planned to.
Because something inside me pulled me there.
Because for the first time, I wasn't looking at the billionaire everyone feared.
I was looking at a son who lost his mother.
A man carrying wounds nobody could see.
“You should've told me,” I said quietly.
His eyes lifted to mine.
“And watched you run?”
“Maybe.”
A faint shadow of sadness crossed his face.
“That’s exactly what I was afraid of.”
The honesty in his voice affected me more than it should have.
Because Sebastian Blackwood—cold, untouchable Sebastian—was afraid of losing me.
The realization sent an unfamiliar warmth through my chest.
And that scared me.
A loud knock interrupted the moment.
One of his security men entered quickly.
“Sir.”
Sebastian’s expression hardened immediately.
“What?”
“We found the source of the breach.”
“And?”
The guard hesitated.
Then—
“It came from inside the company.”
The room instantly shifted again.
Danger returned full force.
Sebastian’s eyes darkened.
“Who?”
“We’re still tracing it.”
“That’s not good enough.”
The deadly calm in his voice made even the guard nervous.
“It means someone close to you is helping them,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
Sebastian looked furious now.
Controlled fury.
The most dangerous kind.
Then suddenly his phone rang again.
He answered immediately.
“What?”
Silence.
Then his entire expression changed.
Sharp.
Focused.
“What hospital?”
My stomach tightened instantly.
Hospital?
Sebastian listened for several more seconds before ending the call.
“What happened?” I asked quickly.
He looked at me slowly.
“They found the woman from the accident.”
My heart nearly stopped.
“The woman who was with Liam?”
“Yes.”
Hope surged violently through me.
“She’s alive?”
“For now.”
Everything inside me tightened instantly.
“She can tell us what happened.”
“Maybe.”
“Then let's go.”
Sebastian hesitated.
And that terrified me.
“What?”
His jaw clenched slightly.
“She’s in critical condition.”
The hope inside me dimmed slightly.
“But she asked for you specifically.”
I froze.
“What?”
His eyes locked onto mine carefully.
“Before she lost consciousness... she said your name.”
Shock crashed through me instantly.
“That’s impossible.”
“She knew who you were.”
“But how?”
Sebastian’s expression remained unreadable.
“That’s what we’re going to find out.”
An hour later, we arrived at a private hospital surrounded by security.
The atmosphere felt tense the moment we entered.
Too tense.
Like danger was already waiting inside.
Armed guards stood near every entrance.
Nurses moved quickly through the halls.
Even the air felt heavy.
Sebastian stayed close beside me as we moved through the hallway.
Protective.
Alert.
Watching everything.
And somehow, that only made me more nervous.
“What if she knows the truth?” I whispered.
Sebastian glanced at me briefly.
“Then tonight changes everything.”
We stopped outside a guarded hospital room.
One of Sebastian’s men nodded toward the door.
“She regained consciousness five minutes ago.”
My pulse became painfully uneven.
This was it.
The first real answer.
Sebastian opened the door slowly.
The room was dimly lit and quiet except for the sound of medical machines.
A woman lay weakly in the hospital bed.
Bruised.
Pale.
Fragile.
For a second, I wondered how she was still alive.
Then her eyes slowly opened.
And the moment she saw me—
Terror flooded her face.
“You...” she whispered weakly.
Confusion twisted inside me.
“Do I know you?”
Tears filled the woman’s eyes instantly.
Then she said the words that shattered everything again.
“Liam died trying to save you.”
- Writer
