Chapter 47 The choice
The choice
ARIA'S POV
“Ma'am, please step back” one of the officers said.
I stood on the porch, barefoot still in my night robe.
“Step back?” My voice trembled, “That's my house. What's going on?”
“Damian Blackwood is wanted for violating court orders,” the officers said crisply. “He was supposed to remain under surveillance until tomorrow's trial. We have information suggesting he fled.”
“That's not true,” I shot back. “He wouldn't run. He's innocent.”
The officer looked at me,unconvinced. “ Do you know where he is?”
I hesitated.
I could still hear every word Damian told me pondering in my head. I knew he was fighting back. I could feel it.
“I don't know,” I lied.
The officer nodded slightly, “ If he contacts you,notify us immediately. Harbouring fugitive is obstruction of justice.”
They turned away barking orders to search the house. I felt my stomach twist as they went inside, opening my drawers, turning over pillows,treating my home like a crime scene.
Was I a fool for standing in the side of the truth I'm not even sure of ?
I asked myself.
Rain started falling.
I didn't even realize someone was calling me.
“Aria!”
I turned,it was my neighbor, jogging up the street, holding a soaked phone.
“I saw the news.” She said breathless. “They're saying Damain's on the run, he's missing. But listen,I got a call from Vanessa's line,only for a second,it sounded like her voice,but then it cuu off.”
My pulse stopped. I looked at her in disdain.
“Vanessa?”
Claire nodded.
“You know her?” I asked.
“I do,for a while tho. I thought she was dead.”
I grabbed her wrist. “ What number?”
She showed me the call log.
I didn't think. I ran inside,snatched my keys and bolted. The officers yelled something but the sound of my engine drowned them.
I sped through the rain, thinking.
Damian was out there. And if Vanessa was alive, then everything might finally make sense.
But what if it didn't?
I couldn't even see it anymore.
What if I was chasing a lie again?
I clenched the wheel. “No” I murmured.
If there was even the slightest chance to prove him innocent. I would do it,find the truth.
I tracked her down to her apartment,parked across the street and waited.
A minute passed. Then another.
Turning into an hour.
I saw them.
Two figures running from the back exit. One tall,one smaller limping slightly chained in the wrists.
Damian.
And Vanessa.
“ Damian” I called out before I could stop myself. He paused and turned back. I could see the disbelief. His eyes widened in shock.
“Aria?”
I ran to him,my shoes splashing through the water.
When I reached him,his face felt exhausted, then I looked downwards, only to find a gun in his left hand.
“Put that down” I whispered.
“I can't” he said softly. “ Not yet”
I looked at Vanessa, she was holding a flash drive in her hand. “You're alive.” I breathed.
“She has proof” Damian said, “ Lila killed Caleb. She framed me for everything.”
“Hmm” I sighed.
“ That's not all” Damian said. “She's working with Lila. For now she's a suspect. I need you to have this” He said, opening his bag and handed over a gun.
“No, I'm fine…, I don't think” I stammered.
“I don't need it”
“Maybe not now,but you surely will” he said and placed the gun in my hand.
“I recorded the everything,calls, payment,even blackmail messages”
I looked at her with confusion mixed with hatred.
“You mean, she..”
“...used you too.” Vanessa finished. “ She wanted to destroy you both. I'm sorry.”
A siren wailer in the distance, getting closer.
“They traced us” Damian said, breathing hard.
“Then we have to go. Now!”
He shook his head. “ If we run, they'll make it worse. I have to end this tonight”
“Damian..”
He stepped closer,his eyes calm and heartbreakingly tender.
“I'm done hiding, Aria. I'll face them,but I'm not letting her win.”
The sirens grew louder. Vanessa tried to shake the chains, calling for attention.
“There's a safe house,old garage near the east pier. We can upload the files there. Send everything to the press” she said quickly.”
“No” Damian said angrily. “ The last time I followed your plan, you nearly killed me.”
“But you're alive.” she said.
“That's where the gun is useful. Fine, I'll use it.” I replied smiling.
“I'll kill you myself” I said to Vanessa, grinning.
He hesitated,nodded once.
We ran together, slipping through the back alleys,the siren chasing behind us.
Every corner of the wall felt like a trap, danger. I wasn't scared of Damian,I was scared for him.
He looked at me once as we ran. “Aria” he called again. “ If anything happens, promise me to find the truth.”
I swallowed. “ Nothing's happening to you. Not tonight.”
We reached the garage, the place abandoned. Vanessa plugged in the flash drive to an old laptop she'd hidden behind a tool chest.
The screen came up, showing folders.
Then we saw a folder saved as - Lila CAM.
Vanessa clicked it. The footage showed Lila in my sitting room,pacing around with her phone.
Soliloquizing.
“I've gotten what I wanted. By the time he eats that food. It's done. I'll already have what I need and he'll take the fall. It'll look like Damain's mess.”
“Then I'll deal with Aria myself.”
Damian turned towards me in disbelief. He reached for my hand and I didn't pull away.
“Do it” Damian pointed the gun towards Vanessas head.
“Untie her” he said, giving me the keys to the chain binding her.
“I'll do it. Please don't hurt me” Vanessa shivered.
She began uploading the file to multiple sources.
“It's sending,once its done. The media will see it. She can't stop it.”
Before we could breath, we heard it.
The police.
The shout was blasting. Damian tossed his gun and signalled for me to do the same. I brought out mine and threw it in far.
“Hands where I can see them!”
Damian r
aised his hands and so did I,his eyes not leaving mine as if reading my thoughts.
“Believe me”he said.
Tears ran through my cheeks. “ I do. I finally do.”
They let me go and took him.