Chapter 11: The Threat Returns
1544 Words
A year after Alya was born, Aria and Adrian’s life felt perfect.
Alya was 1 year and 3 months old—lively, talkative, and the center of the penthouse on the 50th floor.
Richard Hartono had moved to the apartment next door, healthy, spending every day playing with his granddaughter.
Aria’s studio was thriving, and Adrian barely yelled at work anymore.
No Damian. No threats. No contract binding them.
Just a small family that had truly chosen each other.
Until that Tuesday.
At 7 AM, Adrian received a package on his desk. No sender’s name. Just a small black box with a red ribbon.
He opened it.
Inside: a photo of Alya playing in the garden below the penthouse.
On the back, handwritten: _She’s beautiful. A shame if something happened to her._
Adrian’s blood ran cold.
He immediately called security, checked CCTV, sent everyone out. But there was no trace. The sender was like a ghost.
At 9 AM, Aria walked into Adrian’s office holding Alya.
“Why do you look like you’re about to go to war?” Aria asked.
Adrian closed the box quickly.
“Nothing. Work stuff.”
Aria wasn’t stupid. She saw Adrian’s hands trembling.
That night, Adrian didn’t let Aria take Alya out.
“I’ll pick you up from the studio. Don’t come home late,” he said firmly.
Aria felt something was off.
“What’s going on?”
Adrian looked at her for a long time.
“Someone sent a threat. About Alya.”
Aria’s world stopped.
The following days became a small hell.
The threats kept coming. Through email. Through letters. Through black flowers sent to Aria’s studio.
_“Don’t take Alya out at 5 PM. It’s dangerous.”_
_“Aria, you’re beautiful when you cry.”_
_“Adrian, you can’t protect her forever.”_
Adrian mobilized his entire security team. He changed cars, changed routes, even hired 24/7 bodyguards for Aria and Alya.
But the person never showed up. Just messages. Like playing cat and mouse.
Aria couldn’t sleep anymore. Every small sound made her jump.
She didn’t want Alya to leave the room. She didn’t want to let Alya go for even a second.
Adrian saw it and his heart broke.
“Aria, you can’t live like this,” he said one night.
“Then what should I do?! If something happens to Alya, I’ll die, Adrian!” Aria shouted, her eyes red.
Adrian pulled her into his arms.
“It won’t happen. I won’t let it.”
But deep down, Adrian was scared.
Because he recognized how this person thought.
Two weeks after the first threat, Adrian got a call from an unknown number.
“Hello, Mr. Blackwood,” an old man’s voice, hoarse, cold.
“Good to talk to you again.”
Adrian froze.
“Who is this?”
“Call me Uncle. We met three years ago, when I helped you arrange that contract.”
Adrian clenched his fist.
“Victor Kessler.”
“Smart,” the voice said. “My son Damian was stupid. He got caught because he was impatient. But I’m different. I’m patient. I waited for the right time.”
Adrian paced his office.
“What do you want?”
“I want you to pay,” Victor said. “You ruined my son’s life. You destroyed the Kessler family. Now it’s the Blackwood family’s turn.”
Adrian held his breath.
“If you touch Alya, I’ll kill you.”
Victor chuckled softly.
“Try. But remember, Adrian. You can’t protect her 24/7. And I have a lifetime.”
The call ended.
Adrian threw his phone against the wall.
Aria found Adrian that night in his office, sitting in the dark, drinking whiskey.
“Who was it?” Aria asked quietly.
Adrian didn’t answer right away. He walked to the window.
“Victor Kessler. Damian’s father. He helped me make that contract back then. He taught me how to destroy people slowly.”
Aria felt nauseous.
“He’s the one sending the threats?”
Adrian nodded.
“He wants revenge. He wants to destroy us. Through Alya.”
Aria sat down weakly on the sofa.
“Why didn’t you tell me from the start?”
“Because I didn’t want you to be scared,” Adrian said quietly. “But now I can’t hide it anymore.”
Aria looked at him.
“So what do we do?”
Adrian walked over to Aria, knelt in front of her, holding her hands.
“We run. For now. Until I deal with him.”
Aria shook her head.
“No. We’re not running again. I ran before, and nothing changed. This time, we fight.”
Adrian stared at her for a long time.
“You sure?”
Aria nodded.
“Yes. Because I’m not scared anymore when you’re by my side.”
Adrian took a deep breath, then kissed Aria’s forehead.
“Alright. We fight.”
The next week became the busiest week of their lives.
Adrian used every contact he had. He found out where Victor was hiding. He reinforced security at home, at the office, at Aria’s studio. He even hired a former intelligence agent to guard Alya.
Aria didn’t sit still either. She reopened the old Hartono Corp case. She looked for legal loopholes to sue Victor back.
They became a team. A real team.
But the pressure was heavy. Alya became fussy because she felt her mother’s tension. Aria started having nightmares again.
One night, after Alya was asleep, Aria found Adrian on the balcony again.
She sat beside him without saying anything.
Adrian looked at her.
“You’re tired, huh?”
Aria nodded.
“Yeah. But I don’t regret choosing you. Even if our life is like this.”
Adrian gave a faint smile.
“I don’t regret it either. Even if I have to fight the devil, as long as it’s with you.”
Aria leaned on Adrian’s shoulder.
“Promise me… we’ll get through this together?”
Adrian hugged her tightly.
“Promise. Until death.”
Three days later, the threat became real.
At 5 PM, when the bodyguard was distracted for 30 seconds, Alya disappeared from the garden below the penthouse.
Aria screamed. Adrian went insane.
The CCTV was dead. Victor’s call came through.
“See you again, Adrian,” the hoarse voice said.
“Alya’s safe. For now. Come alone to the old warehouse at the port at midnight. Don’t bring the police. If you don’t… you know.”
The call ended.
Adrian looked at Aria, who was already limp on the floor, crying hysterically.
“Aria, listen to me. I’ll bring Alya home. I promise.”
Aria gripped his shirt.
“Don’t die, Adrian. Please.”
Adrian kissed her forehead.
“I’m not going to die. I have to come home to you.”
He left with a gun, with three years of suppressed rage.
And Aria stayed in the penthouse, praying while clutching Alya’s toy.
Midnight. The old warehouse at the port was pitch black.
Adrian walked in alone.
In the middle of the room, Victor stood. Beside him, Alya was tied to a chair, blindfolded.
“Alya!” Adrian ran.
Victor raised his gun.
“Stop right there.”
Adrian stopped.
“Let her go, Victor.”
Victor smiled crookedly.
“You think you can still control me, Adrian? You’re weak now. You have a family. You have something to lose.”
Adrian looked at him coldly.
“And you have something I can destroy.”
Victor raised the gun to Alya’s head.
Time stopped.
“Adrian… please,” Aria’s voice suddenly came from behind.
Adrian turned, shocked.
“Aria?! What are you doing here?!”
Aria walked slowly to the center, hands empty.
“Because if I don’t come, you’ll die saving us. And I don’t want that.”
Victor laughed.
“What a touching family drama. Finish it quickly, Adrian. Choose. Wife or daughter.”
Adrian looked at Aria, then at Alya. His heart tore apart.
Aria looked back at him, calm.
“Choose me, Adrian. I trust you.”
Adrian nodded slowly.
_BANG!_
The bullet fired.
But not at Alya.
At Victor.
Victor fell. The police, who’d been staking out the place, rushed in and arrested his men.
Adrian ran to Alya and untied her.
“Alya! Daddy’s here, baby!”
Alya cried and hugged him.
Aria sat limp on the floor, crying in relief.
Adrian came and hugged both of them.
“We’re safe. We’re safe.”
Aria nodded against his chest.
“We’re safe.”
That night, Victor Kessler was arrested. The old case was reopened. He got life in prison.
The threats stopped.
But the wounds remained.
Two weeks later, Aria, Adrian, and Alya sat on the penthouse balcony.
The city below was quiet. No threats. No fear.
Alya slept in Aria’s lap.
Adrian hugged them both.
“We got through it, huh.”
Aria nodded.
“We got through it.”
Adrian kissed Aria’s forehead.
“I promise… there won’t be another.”
Aria smiled.
“I believe you.”
They sat there until late, holding each other, protecting each other.
Because they knew,
as long as they were together,
no threat could defeat them.
- Writer
