Chapter 68 CHAPTER 68
Moves
The clanging of prison gates echoed like a funeral drum through the concrete halls of the prison. The place always smelled of rust, sweat, and despair. Chloe sat on the edge of her thin mattress, her head bowed, eyes bloodshot. Her hands, trembling, clutched at the only lifeline she thought she still had, Lady Bianca.
Word had traveled through whispers and bribed guards that Bianca would come today. Chloe had begged, manipulated, and promised favors until the opportunity was arranged. When the warden finally called her name, Chloe stood, smoothed her rumpled prison uniform, and walked into the visitation room.
Ares stopped visiting. He finalized their divorce.
On the other side of the glass partition sat Lady Bianca. Elegant even in her simplicity, Bianca’s presence seemed to mock the grey walls around her. She wore a crisp white blouse tucked into black trousers, her hair swept back like a crown, her lips painted in the subtlest shade of crimson.
Chloe’s chest tightened. If there was one person with the means to rewrite her fate, it was Bianca.
“Bianca,” Chloe whispered, her eyes brimming as she picked up the phone receiver.
Bianca arched a brow, her expression unreadable as she lifted her own receiver. “You asked for me. What is it, Chloe? I don’t enjoy wasting time.”
The sharpness of her tone made Chloe flinch, but desperation propelled her forward.
“I need your help,” Chloe said quickly. “Please. I can’t rot in here for ten years. I’ll lose my mind. You have power, you have connections. Help me escape.”
Bianca tilted her head, studying her. “Escape?” she echoed, her voice slow, deliberate, like she was tasting the word. “Do you have any idea the kind of trouble you’re inviting? Do you know the kind of risk you’re asking me to take?”
“Yes,” Chloe whispered urgently, her nails biting into her palms. “But I won’t stay here and die. I can’t. I’ll disappear, I swear it. I’ll go so far away you’ll never hear my name again. Ares already finalized the divorce.”
Bianca leaned back slightly, crossing one leg over the other. Her eyes gleamed with cold amusement. “Far away? And where exactly is this faraway land you’re promising?”
Chloe’s voice cracked, but she forced herself to speak. “Japan. I’ll go to Japan. Nobody will find me there. Nobody will even know I exist. Please, Bianca, I’m begging you. Just help me get out of here.”
For the first time, Bianca’s lips curved into a smile, small and wicked. “Japan,” she repeated softly. “Interesting choice.”
Chloe nodded vigorously, her hair falling into her face. “Yes. Anywhere but here. I don’t care if I have to scrub toilets in Tokyo or hide in Kyoto, I’ll vanish. Just… just get me out.”
Bianca tapped her manicured nails against the table, thoughtful. “You’ve always been a smart girl, Chloe. I’ll give you that. And you’re right, Japan is far. Far enough to bury the trail. Far enough to make Ares look the wrong way.”
At the mention of Ares, she remembered Tessa. Chloe’s eyes flickered with hatred. “Tessa stole everything from me. My life. Let her think I’m gone forever. I just need to breathe again.”
Bianca’s expression softened not out of sympathy, but intrigue. “Escape from here is no small feat. It will take money. Bribes. Timing. But…” she leaned closer, her eyes glittering, “…it’s possible.”
Chloe clutched the receiver tighter. “You’ll do it? You’ll help me?”
“I’ll help you,” Bianca said smoothly, her smile widening, “but not because I care. I’ll help you because chaos is useful. And you, Chloe, are a perfect instrument of chaos.”
Tears of relief spilled down Chloe’s cheeks. She nodded rapidly, whispering thank you over and over, her voice trembling with desperate gratitude.
Bianca simply placed the receiver down, rose quietly, and walked out without another word. Chloe’s heart hammered against her ribs, a wild mix of hope and terror. Japan, she thought. Japan will be my salvation.
Across the city, Tessa’s house felt heavier by the day. Once filled with laughter and the warm chaos of children, it was now suffocatingly quiet. Ayisha sat at the dining table, a stack of papers spread before her, her expression dark. She tapped her pen against the wood impatiently.
Tessa shuffled into the room, her face pale, her eyes hollowed out from nights of sleeplessness. She wore a simple robe, her hair unkempt. She looked less like the sharp, determined woman she once was and more like a ghost of herself.
Ayisha looked up, irritation flashing in her eyes. “We need to talk,” she said flatly.
Tessa barely lifted her gaze. “If it’s not about finding my kids, I don’t want to hear it.”
Ayisha slammed the papers down, her voice rising. “And what will you feed your kids with when they come back, Tessa? Tears? Regret? The beauty line is sinking. Sales are terrible. We’re weeks away from bankruptcy, and you’re acting like you don’t care!”
Tessa flinched, but her expression hardened. “Because I don’t care. Not right now. My children are out there somewhere, God knows where, and all you can think about is lip gloss and hair serums?”
Ayisha stood, planting her hands on the table. “Don’t you dare belittle what we built. This business is the reason you could even fight for custody in the first place. You think crying every night will bring those kids back? You think ignoring everything else will magically solve the problem? Wake up, Tessa!”
Tessa’s lips trembled, but her voice was firm. “I’m awake. Every night, every morning, I’m awake because I can’t sleep without them. Don’t talk to me about waking up.”
The silence stretched between them, sharp and bitter. Finally, Ayisha sat back down with a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Fine. You don’t care about the business. But I do. And if we don’t act fast, we’ll lose everything. I’ve been thinking… we could use the house as collateral. Take a loan from the bank. Pour it into the beauty line, revive it. It’s risky, yes, but it’s our only chance.”
Tessa blinked at her, stunned. “The house? This house?”
“Yes,” Ayisha said firmly. “We mortgage it. If we don’t, we’re finished. We’ll have no capital, no products, no staff. Everything will crumble.”
Tessa’s throat tightened. The thought of losing the house—the last place her children had known, the walls that still echoed with their mischievous laughter—was unbearable.
“I can’t think about this,” Tessa whispered.
“You have to,” Ayisha shot back. “Because when those kids come home, what will you give them? An empty house? A mother who’s broke and drowning? You say you’re doing everything for them, but if you don’t act now, you’ll have nothing left to give.”
The words cut deep, sharper than Ayisha probably intended. Tessa looked down at her hands, tears blurring her vision. Ayisha was right, and yet… all Tessa could feel was exhaustion.
“Do whatever you want,” she said finally, her voice barely audible. “If mortgaging the house will save the business, then fine. Do it. I don’t care anymore.”
Ayisha’s eyes softened for a fleeting moment. “Tessa…”
But Tessa was already rising, turning away. Her shoulders shook as she walked toward the stairs, her robe dragging against the floor. She couldn’t bear to fight anymore. Not about the business. Not about the house. Not about anything.
All she wanted, her only prayer was to hold her children again.
Ayisha sat at the table, staring at the papers in front of her. Relief mingled with guilt. She had won the argument, but the victory felt hollow. She looked toward the staircase, where Tessa had disappeared, and whispered under her breath, “Forgive me, sister. I’m only trying to keep us alive.”
That night, Tessa sat in her bedroom, staring blankly at the wall. The house was quiet, but her mind was loud. Chloe in prison, Bianca in shadows, Ares vanishing helping her look for the kids. Ayisha pushing her to the edge—it was all too much.
She pressed a pillow to her chest and rocked slightly, whispering to herself the names of her children. Her tears dampened the fabric, but she didn’t wipe them away.
Somewhere out there, her children were waiting for her. Somewhere out there, she believed, their little voices were still calling for their mother.
And she would not stop searching.
No matter what it cost.