Chapter 50 CHAPTER FIFTY

Chapter 50 CHAPTER FIFTY
Amelia’s POV

The silence after the blackout was louder than thunder. For a moment, none of us moved. The screens had gone black, every feed cut off, and the only light left in the penthouse was the deep red flicker of the emergency backup system, casting everything in a ghostly, pulsating hue. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, feel the damp tremor in my fingers as I gripped the edge of the table.

Damian stood in front of the blank monitor, breathing through his nose in slow, dangerous pulls. “No one hacks my house,” he said, finally, his voice steady, but too steady. It was the kind of calm that meant something inside him had just cracked.

Adrian didn’t answer. His eyes darted to me for a second, a look that said everything. We need to get out.

I took a step back, my heels clicking softly against the marble. Damian turned his head toward the sound,d sha andp, delibera,t, and my throat locked. His expression was unreadable, almost statuesque, but there was a flicker in his eyes, something feral and bright, like a fuse catching light.

Then he moved quick, controlled, straight to his office.

I exhaled shakily. “Adrian…”

“Don’t speak,” he whispered. His hand brushed my arm, and I flinched from the cold sweat covering my skin. “He’s not just angry. He’s scared.”

The rain outside slammed harder against the glass, like the storm had crept up to listen.

From Damian’s office came the sharp click of a phone being slammed down. His voice thundered through the hall, low, venomous. “Pull every log. Find the source. I want the IP, I want the name, I want the blood.”

I closed my eyes. The Damian who loved to perform for the world, that calm, elegant man of control, was gone. This was the one the cameras didn’t see.

Adrian gestured toward the corridor. “We move now.”

The penthouse, usually filled with life and staff, was empty. Damian had sent them away earlier, something about privacy. The irony of it now was suffocating.

We made for the service elevator. My hands trembled as I pressed the button. Nothing happened. The floor display blinked once, then shut off completely.

Adrian muttered under his breath. “He’s isolated the grid.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning the whole place is his cage now.”

Somewhere behind us, Damian’s voice echoed again, this time quieter. “If they think they can play with me…” A pause. Then his tone changed, eerily calm. “The empire falls tonight.”

I froze. Adrian’s jaw clenched. “He got another message.”

“From who?”

He didn’t answer. His hand closed around mine, firm, grounding. “We’re leaving through the stairs.”

The emergency lights in the stairwell flickered between red and dark. Each flicker stretched the shadows along the concrete walls, turning them into long, living things that crawled behind us. I clutched the railing, my breath ragged.

“Keep close,” Adrian said. His voice was low, strained. “He’ll check the monitors soon.”

I didn’t need to ask who he was. Every step felt like betrayal echoing down the hall.

The air grew colder the lower we went. The smell of gasoline and rain seeped in through the ventilation grates. By the time we reached the underground parking level, I was shaking from more than fear; my body just couldn’t tell the difference anymore.

Adrian peeked around the corner. The garage was empty ty silent except for the slow drip of water from the ceiling pipes. His car sat near the far end, dark and slick under the fluorescent hum.

“Stay here,” he said softly. “I’ll check first.”

“No.” I caught his arm. “I’m not waiting again. Not here.”

He hesitated, then nodded once. We moved together, quiet, each step deliberate. My heels made soft sounds on the wet concrete, every echo louder than my pulse.

Then, somewhere near the wall, a phone buzzed.

We both froze.

The sound came again, short, sharp, from the floor just ahead.

Adrian stepped forward, crouched, and picked something up. When he turned, his face had lost its colour.

It was Damian’s second phone.

A message glowed on the screen.
“You can’t save her if she won’t save herself.”

The words felt like a hand squeezing my lungs.

Adrian dropped the phone as if it were on fire. “Someone’s playing with us,” he whispered. “And Damian’s not controlling it anymore.”

I took a step back, my spine pressing against a cold pillar. “Then who is?”

Before he could answer, headlights cut through the dark.

The sharp screech of tyres followed, then silence.

A car rolled into view, black and polished, Damian’s.

He stepped out slowly, perfectly composed, as if he hadn’t just chased ghosts through the dark. The rain had soaked his hair and collar, but his eyes, those cold grey eyes, looked almost peaceful.

“You should’ve known, brother,” he said. His tone was quiet, conversational, terrifying. “She always runs to whoever makes her feel safest.”

Adrian moved in front of me. “You shouldn’t have followed us.”

Damian’s smirk barely moved. “Follow? Adrian, you’re still pretending this isn’t my city? My home? You forget I built every wall around her.”

“Then you built your own prison,” Adrian shot back.

The rain from outside hissed through the open ramp. It hit the concrete like static.

Damian reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a flash drive. He tossed it lightly. It slid across the wet floor until it stopped at Adrian’s feet.

“That’s what they sent me,” he said. His voice softened. “Play it. You’ll see why I’ll never trust either of you again.”

Adrian crouched, picked it up, but didn’t break eye contact. “What’s on it?”

Damian’s smirk grew thinner, colder. “Proof that none of us are who we think we are.”

“Damian...”

“Enjoy your revelation.” He turned, stepping back toward the car. The door opened with a soft click. “Oh, and Amelia…”

I swallowed, barely breathing.

His eyes flicked to me, unreadable. “When the truth starts bleeding, don’t ask me to stop it.”

Then he got in and drove off, the echo of the engine bouncing off the concrete until it faded into silence.

Adrian and I stood there for a long moment, the flash drive glinting between his fingers. The garage felt like another world, cold, humming, full of secrets.

Finally, he said, “Get in.”

The car door shut behind me, sealing us off from the storm outside.

Adrian inserted the flash drive into the dash. The engine was off, but the car’s power system hummed faintly, and the built-in display flickered to life.

Static first. Then a flicker.

A video began to play.

Two men in a dimly lit office. One was Damian’s father, Charles Blackwo, older and sharper, with his voice unmistakable.

The other mainly stood in shadow. But as the video adjusted, I felt my stomach drop.

It was my father.

Their voices were low, tense.

“If they ever find out what we did to that girl,” Charles said, “the whole family burns.”

My father’s reply was colder. “You promised me she’d never know, Charles. You promised.”

The screen glitched.

My pulse hammered against my ribs. “What… what did they do to me?” I whispered.

Adrian looked at me, his face pale in the flickering light. “Amelia…”

Before he could finish, the car’s power cut out completely.

Darkness swallowed us.