Sign the papers now!

Evelyn's POV

My feet slammed against the floor as I paced back and forth across the living room, arms locked stiffly behind my back, my chest tight with worry I couldn’t shake off no matter how much I told myself to stop.

Every few steps, I turned sharply on my heel, casting anxious glances at the door. He still wasn’t back.

And the worst part?

I hated that I was this worried.

Because if the tables were turned, if it were me out there, he wouldn’t even bat an eye. He wouldn’t even care.

So what was my deal? Why was my heart clawing at my ribs like this?

I tried to shake it off, forcing myself upstairs and flopping down on my bed, but the second my body touched the mattress, I was twisting and turning, tangled in the sheets, my mind racing with a thousand horrible scenarios.

It was unbearable.

I shot up again, unable to stay still.

Then

My phone buzzed, cutting sharply through the noise of my thoughts.

I snatched it up without thinking.

The screen lit up with an unknown number, but I knew who it was.

Him.

The man the kidnapper the monster I had made a deal with.

Why was he calling me? What did he want now?

I hesitated, my thumb hovering over the screen, heart pounding painfully against my chest.

Another buzz. A text.

"Pick up your phone. I know you’re sitting there watching it ring without answering."

I gasped and immediately glanced around my room, my skin crawling like bugs were burrowing under it.

Did he have cameras in here?

Oh my God.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

This man wasn’t just dangerous.

He was something worse.

With trembling hands, I finally picked up, pressing the phone to my ear so tightly my fingers hurt.

His voice poured into my ear, smooth and casual like he wasn’t talking about life and death.

"Don’t bother calling him for now. He’s trying to track the phone. I did something. He’s probably dead by now. Only God knows."

My stomach dropped.

"What?!" I screamed, my own voice surprising me.

I wasn’t supposed to talk.

I was supposed to keep up the act that I couldn’t speak keep pretending.

But the shock tore the words out of me before I could stop it.

He laughed a dark, twisted sound that sent a shiver skating down my spine.

"So, you can speak now, huh?" he taunted.

I didn’t even let him finish.

"Where is he?!" I screamed again, my voice raw. "How dare you touch him!"

He chuckled like this was all some kind of sick game to him.

"He’s in his secret office," he said, before hanging up.

I stood there, frozen for a split second, staring at the phone in my hand, feeling the world tilt under my feet.

How did he know about the secret office?

How did he know anything?

Panic surged through me, hot and wild.

I bolted out the door, flagging down the nearest taxi with frantic waves and, with trembling fingers, I called an ambulance on the way.

The ride was a blur of pounding heartbeats and prayers I didn’t even know I still remembered.

When the taxi screeched to a stop, I didn’t wait.

I threw money at the driver and sprinted inside the building.

The sight that met me froze me to the spot.

Blood.

So much blood.

He was lying there he and Dave, his loyal secretary, crumpled beside him, both soaked in deep, dark pools of blood.

It looked like a nightmare.

It was a nightmare.

I dropped to my knees beside him, tears streaming down my face before I even realized I was crying.

This was all because of me.

All because of me.

The ambulance sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder, closer.

They stormed in, lifting him carefully, shouting words at each other that I couldn’t hear past the roaring in my ears.

I followed them like a ghost, hands clenched at my sides, my clothes soaked in his blood, my mind replaying every moment over and over—where it all went wrong, where I could have stopped it.

At the hospital, time slowed into something thick and sticky.

I sat for what felt like centuries, staring blankly at the white walls, my whole body rigid with terror.

Finally, finally

The nurse told me he was awake.

I sprinted to his room, hope igniting painfully in my chest.

But the second I pushed open the door, the hope shattered.

He was sitting up, yanking at the IV in his arm, furious energy rolling off him in waves.

I grabbed my iPad, the only way I could “talk,” and typed out a quick message.

"You shouldn’t be out of bed."

I held it up to him, desperate, pleading.

But he barely glanced at it before he shoved it out of my hands, the iPad clattering to the floor.

His eyes burned into me, full of a rage I wasn’t prepared for.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" he roared, his voice echoing off the sterile walls.

"Why would you bring me here?! Why would you show my weakness?!"

His hands grabbed my shoulders roughly, slamming me back against the cold, unforgiving wall.

I gasped, my head snapping back painfully.

Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t dare wipe them away.

"Was this your plan, huh?!" he shouted, shaking me once, hard. "To bring me down?!"

“Sir, the reporters are here. What do we tell them?” Dave’s voice broke through, making Louis break character. Dave's voice was weak and shaky. He looked like hell bandaged hands, pale face. He was just as wrecked as I felt.

“Don’t go out. We’ll sneak out the back,” Louis muttered, barely glancing at me as he staggered to his feet. I rushed to gather what was left of my shattered iPad, my fingers trembling. Somehow, the broken screen felt like a reflection of what life had been like with him all these years silent, ignored, invisible.

I turned to leave, holding back the lump in my throat, but he grabbed my wrist. “I’m sorry... I was just mad, and ”

“Just shut it,” I typed furiously on my phone, shoving it in his face. My hands were already in my bag, pulling out a folded document. I slammed it into his chest.

“Sign it. Now. And I’ll be out of your life for good.”

To my shock, he didn’t argue. He just took it.

“Pen,” he said hoarsely.

I hesitated... then gave it to him. Watched him sign it right in front of me.

I should’ve felt relief. Freedom.

But as the ink dried, my heart cracked quietly inside me.