Chapter Two:An Unforgettable Night
1375 Words
“You’re pregnant?”
The question came out flat.
For once, Sebastian Thorne’s voice carried none of its usual corporate authority. The shock was too heavy. He stared at Clara as though the woman standing before him had just rewritten every rule he lived by.
Clara kept one hand pressed against her stomach. Her fingers trembled, but she refused to look away.
“Six hours ago,” she said quietly. “I took the test.”
Sebastian shook his head.
“No.”
He crossed the marble floor until only inches separated them.
“That’s impossible.”
“I wish it were.”
“You’re lying.”
A bitter laugh escaped her.
“Believe whatever you want, Sebastian. It won’t change the result.”
His jaw tightened.
“You expect me to believe that after everything that happened today?”
“I expect you to believe the truth.”
The accusation hung between them.
Earlier that morning, Clara had publicly challenged his acquisition strategy in front of the entire executive board. An hour later, his security team had discovered irregularities in her employment records. Now she was standing inside his private office, telling him she was carrying his child.
Sebastian’s mind raced backward.
Three weeks ago.
The storm.
The city-wide blackout.
The luxury suite at the St. Regis.
The argument with a mysterious woman whose identity he had never discovered.
He remembered her defiance. Her sharp words. The strange connection neither of them had expected.
Then morning had come, and she had disappeared before he could learn her name.
Sebastian stared at Clara.
The realization struck him with brutal certainty.
“You.”
Clara swallowed.
“It was you in that hotel.”
“Yes.”
His expression darkened.
“You knew who I was.”
“No.”
“You used a false name.”
“I didn't!”
Sebastian stepped closer.
“Then explain it.”
Clara pulled in a shaky breath.
“My legal name is Clara Vance.”
His expression changed.
“Vance?”
“My father changed our surname to Hayes years ago. After the bankruptcy destroyed his reputation, he wanted to protect our family.”
Sebastian went still.
“The Vance bankruptcy?”
“Yes.”
“You expect me to believe you simply walked into my company under another name without knowing who I was?”
“I didn't know you were the man from that hotel until after I had passed the background checks and signed the contract.”
“You're saying this is all coincidence?”
“I’m saying I didn't plan any of it!”
Before Sebastian could respond, his phone rang.
The name on the screen made his expression harden.
His security chief.
“What?”
“Sir, we have a breach.”
Sebastian turned away from Clara.
“Explain.”
“We found unauthorized activity in the internal network. Someone used Clara’s profile as a backdoor.”
Sebastian glanced at her.
“What did they access?”
There was a brief pause.
“Your father’s archived liquidation files from 2011.”
Sebastian’s entire posture changed.
“Those files are protected.”
“I know.”
“Who accessed them?”
“We’re still tracing it. But they didn't use your current authorization.”
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed.
“What did they use?”
“Your father’s old executive override.”
The call ended.
Sebastian immediately moved to his desk.
Clara followed.
“What does this mean?”
“It means someone wanted you inside this company for a reason.”
He entered a series of commands into his computer.
The restricted archive opened.
2011 LIQUIDATION RESTRICTED
Sebastian entered his father’s old cipher.
A list of transactions appeared.
He scanned the screen.
Then stopped.
Forty million dollars.
The money had been transferred away from the Vance family bankruptcy and hidden inside a shell corporation.
Clara stared at the screen.
“What is that?”
Sebastian didn't answer.
He opened the transaction history.
The shell company had been reactivated three weeks ago.
The same week Clara had been hired.
Sebastian’s face hardened.
“Someone reopened this company.”
Clara stepped closer.
“Why?”
“Because they wanted me to find this.”
He clicked another file.
The authorization record appeared.
His own name was attached to the transfer.
Sebastian’s blood ran cold.
“That’s impossible.”
Clara looked at him.
“What?”
“The authorization code.”
He stared at the screen.
“It’s mine.”
Silence filled the room.
“Someone is framing me,” he said slowly. “They’re making it look like I stole from my own family.”
Before Clara could respond, every light in the penthouse went out.
The room fell into darkness.
“ Sebastian?”
“Stay where you are.”
Emergency lights flickered on, bathing the office in a dim red glow.
Then the laptop screen changed.
Neither of them had touched it.
White letters appeared across the black screen.
THE CHILD CHANGES EVERYTHING.
Clara’s breath caught.
Another line appeared.
ASK YOUR FATHER’S SON WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT.
Sebastian stared at the message.
“My father’s son?”
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered on speaker.
“Who is this?”
A distorted voice came through the static.
“You’re looking in the wrong direction, Sebastian.”
“Identify yourself.”
“You want to know why your fathers hated each other?”
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed.
“Who are you?”
“Stop blaming the dead.”
A pause.
“Look closer at the living.”
The call ended.
Almost immediately, photographs appeared on Sebastian’s phone.
Clara entering the building.
Clara at her desk.
Clara inside the restroom holding the pregnancy test.
Someone had been watching her.
Under the photographs was one final message.
SHE ISN’T SAFE ANYWHERE.
Sebastian’s expression hardened.
“We’re leaving.”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
“Clara”
“I am not going to some safehouse and becoming your prisoner.”
“Look at the photographs.”
“I don't trust you.”
“You don't have to trust me.”
He stepped toward her.
“But whoever sent those photographs knows exactly where you are.”
“I can protect myself.”
A sudden sound came from the windows.
Sebastian turned.
“Down!”
The glass shattered inward.
Clara dropped instinctively as Sebastian pulled her away from the window. The office alarms erupted, filling the room with noise.
“Are you hurt?”
“I..I don't think so.”
Sebastian grabbed his phone from the floor.
A new message appeared.
THE FIRST WARNING WAS FOR CLARA.
His eyes moved to the second line.
THE NEXT ONE IS FOR THE BABY.
His expression changed.
“Come on.”
He pulled Clara toward the private elevator.
She followed, terrified but determined not to show it.
Sebastian pressed his thumb against the biometric scanner.
A red light flashed.
ACCESS DENIED.
He tried again.
SYSTEM LOCKOUT.
“No,” he muttered.
He struck the panel.
Nothing happened.
Then a heavy mechanical sound echoed from the corridor.
Clara turned.
“What was that?”
Sebastian looked toward the doors.
The reinforced fire doors were closing.
“We're trapped.”
The doors slammed shut.
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then Clara heard a faint hiss.
She looked toward the ceiling.
“Sebastian…”
He followed her gaze.
A thin vapor was beginning to spread through the vents.
Clara covered her mouth.
“What is that?”
“I don't know.”
The room suddenly seemed to tilt.
Her knees weakened.
“Sebastian…”
He caught her before she fell.
“Stay awake.”
“I’m trying.”
Her vision blurred.
Sebastian tightened his grip around her.
“Clara, look at me.”
She struggled to keep her eyes open.
“I'm scared.”
For the first time, Sebastian looked genuinely afraid.
“I know.”
He lifted her into his arms and stared desperately toward the sealed doors.
Fifty stories above the city, the elevator was locked, the exits were sealed, and the air was becoming harder to breathe.
Then the lights went completely dark.
And Sebastian heard a final message echo from the laptop.
WELCOME TO THE BEGINNING OF THE TRUTH.
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