Chapter 112 CHAPTER 112
Silent Calls
The night air was thick with smoke and tension. The moon, pale and watchful, hung low over the quiet stretch of road that led toward Ares Langford’s mansion. Shadows moved fast—black cars, no headlights, only the glint of metal and the whisper of wheels cutting through gravel.
“Boss, you sure about this?” one of the men asked from the back seat, his voice low, anxious.
Ethan didn’t answer immediately. His hands rested tight around the steering wheel, his jaw flexing as he stared ahead at the distant glow of the mansion’s perimeter lights. He was dressed in all black, face set in determination, but somewhere beneath that anger was hesitation.
He finally spoke, voice cold. “We go there, we finish this, and we disappear before the cops arrive. That’s the plan.”
The man nodded quickly, but another shifted nervously. “Yes sir. But…”
Ethan cut him off sharply. “Good.”
He revved the engine, but the moment they reached the top of the hill overlooking the estate, everything changed.
From where they sat, the entire mansion compound was glowing under floodlights. Dozens of armed guards patrolled the gate. Fire trucks were parked at intervals, engines humming quietly. Police cars idled along the service road, blue and red lights faintly flashing in the distance.
Ethan froze.
“What the hell…” he muttered, lowering his window slightly. The sound of radios crackling drifted faintly through the air.
The men in the car leaned forward, wide-eyed.
“Boss, they were expecting us.”
Ethan’s teeth clenched. “No. Someone tipped them off. Ayisha sold me. That cunt…”
The one in the passenger seat cursed softly. “We can’t do this, Ethan. We’d be dead before we even touch the gate.”
Silence stretched.
Then, with a hard turn of the wheel, Ethan backed the car into the trees, engine still running. His reflection in the rearview mirror looked strange, half fury, half disbelief.
He hit the brakes suddenly. “Everyone, get rid of the equipment. Now.”
They threw the weapons into the nearby ditch, guns, detonators, everything covering them with dirt and leaves. But before they could reenter the car, a flash of blue lights cut through the night.
“Police!” someone shouted from the distance.
“Damn it!” Ethan hissed. “Go, go, go!”
The tires screamed against the road as he sped off. The sirens grew louder, chasing them through the narrow path that cut toward the city. The men shouted directions, panic breaking through their voices, but Ethan barely heard them. His heart pounded. His knuckles turned white.
They reached the highway, the city lights now in view but the police were right behind them.
“Boss, if they catch us—”
“They won’t,” Ethan snapped, swerving sharply into a side road that led toward an abandoned district.
The sirens faded for a moment, lost in the maze of empty streets. Ethan pulled over suddenly, cutting the engine. They sat in total silence, breathing hard.
No one spoke.
Ethan finally looked up through the windshield, his voice breaking through the stillness. “Ayisha betrayed me…again.”
At that same moment, miles away, Ayisha was pacing back and forth in Ethan’s mansion, her bare feet pressing into the marble floor. Her hair a mess, her hands trembling as she held her phone.
She had been calling Ethan’s number over and over, but there was no answer.
“Come on, come on, pick up…” she whispered. Her heart was racing so hard she could hear it echo in her ears.
Every few seconds she’d glance out the window, half expecting to see explosions in the far distance, half praying not to.
When the call went to voicemail again, she let out a shaky breath and pressed the phone against her forehead. “God, please let him fail… please don’t let him do this…”
In the hotel suite, Tessa lay fast asleep on the bed, her breathing steady. The exhaustion had pulled her into heavy sleep. Her phone, placed carelessly on the nightstand, began to ring.
When it finally stopped, the screen dimmed, glowing faintly in the dark.
Then, quietly, the door opened.
Chloe stepped in.
Her bare feet made no sound against the carpet. The moonlight from the window traced her face, revealing eyes that gleamed with curiosity.
She glanced toward Tessa, still sleeping, and then to the phone lighting up again on the nightstand.
She picked it up. The name Ayisha flashed across the screen.
Chloe hesitated for a moment, her lips twitching into a faint smile. Then she answered, but she didn’t say a word.
She held the phone close, listening.
Ayisha’s voice came through in a hurried whisper. “Listen, Tessa, you need to meet me at a different spot. Come to Deez Cafe right now. I can’t talk long, but it’s urgent. Please, just come, and come alone.”
Chloe’s eyes darkened slightly. Her expression didn’t change, but her mind was already racing.
Ayisha continued, “Don’t tell Ares. Don’t tell anyone. Just come.”
Then the line went dead.
Chloe stared at the phone for a long time, her face unreadable. Slowly, she turned her gaze toward the bed.
Tessa was still sleeping, her chest rising and falling gently beneath the sheets.
A slow smile curved Chloe’s lips.
She set the phone back down exactly where she had picked it up from and straightened.
For a moment, she just stood there, watching Tessa sleep, peaceful, oblivious, unguarded.
Then she whispered, almost too softly to hear, “Perfect.”
Her smile widened as she turned and quietly left the room, closing the door behind her.
Outside, the wind had picked up, brushing against the glass windows and rustling the curtains.