chapter 11
1377 Words
The Other Woman
The words didn’t make sense.
Not at first.
They just hung in the air—heavy, impossible, unreal.
“Liam died trying to save you.”
My mind rejected it immediately.
“No…” I whispered, shaking my head slowly. “That’s not—no, you’re wrong.”
The woman in the hospital bed winced, her breathing uneven as the monitor beside her beeped faster.
“I’m not,” she said weakly. “He… he told me everything.”
My chest tightened painfully.
Everything?
---
Sebastian stepped slightly in front of me, his presence instantly shifting the atmosphere in the room.
Protective.
Dangerous.
Controlled.
“Who are you?” he asked coldly.
The woman’s eyes flickered toward him, fear flashing across her face.
“You’re… Blackwood.”
Not a question.
A statement.
“Yes,” he said.
Her grip tightened weakly around the hospital sheet.
“Then we don’t have much time.”
That didn’t sound good.
I stepped forward, my voice softer but urgent.
“What do you mean? Who are you?”
She looked at me again, something almost like guilt in her expression.
“My name is Ava.”
The name meant nothing to me.
But the way she said it…
Like it should.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “Why would Liam try to save me? From what?”
Ava swallowed painfully.
“From them.”
The word sent a chill through me.
“The Circle?” Sebastian asked sharply.
Her eyes widened slightly.
“You know about them.”
“I know enough,” he replied.
“Then you know they don’t leave loose ends.”
Silence filled the room.
Cold.
Sharp.
Terrifying.
“I’m not a loose end,” I said quietly.
Ava looked at me like I had just said something tragic.
“You are now.”
My stomach dropped.
Sebastian stepped closer to the bed, his expression dark.
“What did Liam tell you?”
Ava hesitated.
Her eyes moved between us nervously.
Like she was trying to decide how much to say.
---
“He didn’t trust anyone anymore,” she whispered. “Not even the people he worked with.”
“That includes me?” Sebastian asked.
Ava didn’t answer immediately.
Which was answer enough.
---
My chest tightened again.
Because that meant Liam had been alone.
Completely alone.
---
“He found something,” Ava continued weakly. “Something bigger than just blackmail.”
“What?” I asked urgently.
Her breathing became uneven again.
“They weren’t just controlling people…”
Her voice dropped.
“They were eliminating them.”
---
The words hit like a punch.
“What do you mean eliminating?” I asked.
Ava’s eyes filled with fear.
“People who refused to cooperate… people who tried to leave…”
Her voice shook.
“They disappear.”
A cold wave of horror ran through me.
“That’s what happened to your mother,” I whispered to Sebastian.
His jaw tightened.
He didn’t respond.
But his silence confirmed everything.
“Liam found proof,” Ava said.
My heart pounded harder.
“What kind of proof?”
She shook her head weakly.
“I don’t know everything… he didn’t tell me everything.”
“Then why were you with him that night?” Sebastian asked sharply.
The question cut through the room instantly.
Ava flinched.
“I wasn’t supposed to be,” she admitted quietly.
My stomach twisted painfully.
“What does that mean?”
Her eyes met mine.
Full of guilt.
“I was sent to watch him.”
The words hit like a slap.
“Watch him?” I repeated slowly.
Ava nodded weakly.
“I worked for one of the companies connected to The Circle.”
Rage flickered through me.
“So you were spying on him?”
“Yes.”
“And you expect me to believe anything you say?”
Ava winced.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
Sebastian’s voice cut in coldly.
“There’s always a choice.”
Ava looked at him sharply.
“Not when they own your family.”
That shut him up instantly.
Silence followed again.
Heavier this time.
Because now it wasn’t just Liam who had been trapped.
Ava had been too.
“What happened the night of the accident?” I asked quietly.
My heart pounded so loudly I could barely hear my own voice.
Ava’s expression shifted instantly.
Fear.
Real fear.
“They found out,” she whispered.
“Who?” Sebastian asked.
“The Circle.”
Her breathing became faster.
“They knew Liam took the files. They knew he was planning to expose them.”
My chest tightened.
“So they came after him?”
Ava nodded.
“We were trying to leave the city when they found us.”
My pulse spiked.
“You were running together?”
“Yes.”
The answer hurt more than I expected.
But I ignored it.
Focused on what mattered.
“What happened next?” I asked.
Ava closed her eyes briefly.
Like she was reliving it.
“They forced us off the road,” she whispered.
My breath caught.
“There were two cars. Blocking every direction.”
Sebastian’s expression darkened.
“A planned hit.”
“Yes.”
Ava’s voice trembled.
“They didn’t want him alive.”
My chest tightened painfully.
“And me?” I asked quietly. “Where do I come into this?”
Ava’s eyes opened slowly.
“He kept saying your name.”
My heart stopped.
“He said if anything happened…” she continued weakly, “I should find you.”
“Why?” I whispered.
Ava swallowed hard.
“Because you were the reason he did it.”
Confusion crashed through me.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does,” she said softly.
“You were the only person he wanted to protect.”
Tears burned behind my eyes.
Because suddenly…
Everything hurt more.
Not less.
“He knew they would come after you eventually,” Ava added.
My hands trembled slightly.
“Then why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because you would’ve been in danger sooner.”
That answer shattered me completely.
Because for the first time…
Liam’s lies didn’t feel like betrayal.
They felt like protection.
“What happened after they forced you off the road?” Sebastian asked, pulling the focus back.
Ava’s face went pale.
“They opened fire.”
My breath caught again.
“Liam tried to fight back,” she continued.
“But there were too many of them.”
Her voice broke slightly.
“He told me to run.”
Silence filled the room.
Painful silence.
“I didn’t want to leave him,” Ava whispered. “But he pushed me out of the car.”
My chest tightened.
“And then?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I heard the explosion.”
The world felt like it tilted.
“That’s how he died,” I whispered.
Ava nodded slowly.
But something didn’t feel right.
Something was missing.
Wait,” Sebastian said suddenly.
Ava looked at him nervously.
“You said they opened fire. But the official report said it was a crash.”
Ava’s eyes widened slightly.
“They covered it up.”
“How?”
“They have people everywhere.”
Sebastian’s expression turned cold again.
Dangerous.
Then suddenly—
The monitor beside Ava beeped rapidly.
Her breathing became uneven.
Faster.
Shallow.
“Hey—stay with us,” I said quickly, stepping closer.
Ava’s eyes darted toward the door.
Fear filled them instantly.
“They’re here,” she whispered.
My heart slammed violently.
“What?”
“They don’t want me talking.”
Before anyone could react—
The hospital lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then went out completely.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Again.
My breath caught.
“No… not again…”
Sebastian moved instantly, pulling me back toward him.
“Stay close.”
Footsteps echoed faintly in the hallway.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Getting closer.
Ava’s weak voice trembled in the darkness.
“They’re coming for me…”
Then suddenly—
A loud crash echoed from outside the room.
Followed by a scream.
My entire body froze.
Because deep down…
I already knew.
This wasn’t over.
- Writer
