CHAPTER FIVE
489 Words
Chloe rushed inside before the elevator doors even finished opening. Her breath shaky, hair messy she looked like someone who had run through half of London. She didn’t wait for permission.
She grabbed Ariana arm, carefully looking at her from head to toe, panic all over her face.
Ethan stepped forward , getting between them like a wall.
Chloe tried to push past him but failed.
He didn’t yell, just stared at her , with his cold and commanding eyes.
Ariana broke the tension by pulling Chloe aside.
Her friend wouldn’t let go of her hand, squeezing tight the way she always did when terrified.
Chloe’s phone ranged nonstop in her pocket. She didn’t even check it. Her voice barely audible as she finally spoke.
“Your father collapsed.”
Ariana froze. The air in the room became heavy .
Her fingers went numb, Ariana couldn’t breathe.
Chloe held her, breathing fast, trying not to fall herself.
Ethan stepped closer, his expression shifting for the first time. He was emotionally concerned.
He didn’t wait for permission.
He grabbed his coat, clicked something on his phone, and was already walking toward the private elevator.
His guards surrounded him.Ariana didn’t argue this time. She just followed. Chloe rushed beside her, holding her bag tightly , silently praying under her breath.
The elevator dropped quickly as the three of them made their way out of the mansion to the car park in the compound.
Immediately. the air felt different. Very thick, heavy, wrong. Ethan moved first.
His eyes around . There was someone standing between the rows of cars parked. Face unclear and very motionless like a statue. The unknown person watched them.
Chloe held Ariana’s wrist tightly in fear. “Ariana, who’s that?”. Her voice shaking .
The figure stepped forward slowly. Not rushing but calm.
Ariana felt her whole body freeze, the blood in her veins turning ice.
He stopped a few feet away. No smile , no anger but just a quiet expression that made her stomach twist and turn inside her body uncontrollably. They felt uneasy .
“Ariana?” , he called out her name with his cracked lips. Ariana thought to herself who he was and how he knew her and why his presence felt so wrong yet he looked familiar.
The mans hands pointed at an envelope on the car . “You need to see this before it’s too late”. He said .
Ariana couldn’t hold back her fear because she knew it was another trouble . Ariana’s intuition screamed at her to run but she had to face it. The world felt like it had paused .
She watched the envelope in panic and stepped forward while the man turned to leave . She dared to make the move of opening it . She knew that whatever was inside is either the beginning or the end of something.
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- Writer
