Chapter 148 Too Late To Run

Chapter 148 Too Late To Run
Adrian's POV

After seeing Darcy and being in her arms even know it was just for a day, I feel better. He scent clings onto me.

Discovering how much she suffered because of the distance, I feel so bad and that has become me motivation to put all the troubles to an end and unite my family.

I stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, staring at the city below. People continue living their lives.

Everything keeps moving. Yet my own world feels like it's just starting to move again after a long period of pause.

My fingers tighten behind my back.

Darcy...

I promised her yesterday that I would never leave her again.

I meant every word.

Yet here I am preparing to send her thousands of miles away. I'm grateful that she understands the reason but I know she doesn't want to be away either.

My chest tugs painfully, sharp enough to make it hard to breathe.

Unfortunately, I don't have much of a choice I'm sending her away because I can't afford to lose her.

Camille is alive.

The thought repeats itself again and again until it becomes a pulse inside my skull.

A knock lands on my office door.

"Come in."

The door opens almost immediately and Maleek walks inside. He pauses after seeing me. "You wanted to see me?"

I nod once. "Sit." And he gives a curt nod.

I walk back to my desk before dropping a brown envelope in front of him.

"Take a look."

He opens it carefully.

His eyes scan through the documents.

Then they widen.

His head snaps up.

"Switzerland?"

I nod.

"I've arranged everything."

His eyes moves as he continues reading. But this time, a bit slower now.

"A private rehabilitation center..."

He flips another page.

"A security team..."

Another page.

"A neurologist..."

Then another.

"Professor Andrew Keller..."

His eyebrows rise sharply.

"I know him," Maleek murmurs. "He's one of the best rehabilitation specialists in Europe."

"I know."

Silence settles between us as I lower myself into my chair. "My goal isn't only to hide Darcy."

I pause, and tighten my jaw.

"My goal is to make her walk again."

My voice comes out calmer than I expected, but there is nothing calm inside me.

"I've already purchased the property beside the rehabilitation center. Security personnel have been stationed there. Every doctor attending to Darcy has signed confidentiality agreements."

Maleek slowly lowers the documents, studying me like he is trying to see the cracks forming beneath my control.

"You've planned everything already."

"I had to."

I rub the space between my brows, forcing myself not to think about what happens if even one detail fails.

"I can't protect her if she's beside me."

Those words taste bitter.

Very bitter.

Maleek studies my face.

"You both settled things?"

I blink rapidly.

Yesterday flashes through my mind.

Her smile.

Her tears.

Her fingers intertwined with mine like she was afraid I would disappear if she let go.

For one whole day...

Everything felt normal again. Even if it was only borrowed peace.

I nod slowly. "We did."

A relieved smile spreads across Maleek's face.

"I'm happy." He laughs under his breath, but it doesn't last.

"I was honestly scared. The way both of you looked..." He shakes his head. "I thought there was no coming back."

Minutes pass like hours.

Finally, Maleek speaks again, quieter this time.

"I'll take care of her."

"I know."

"I'll protect her with everything I have."

"I know."

He hesitates again, then adds, voice lower, almost uncertain.

"That's actually what scares me."

I raise my head.

"What do you mean?"

He exhales slowly, like he's been holding this thought in his chest for too long.

"If Camille has people watching you..."

He pauses.

"...then she might also be watching everyone close to you."

My fingers stop moving.

Maleek continues, more urgent now.

"If I travel with Darcy..."

"What if someone follows me?"

"What if I'm the reason they discover where she's hiding? What if I unknowingly lead danger to her?" His jaw tightens.

"I don't want to become a threat to her." His words hang heavily inside the office, pressing down on everything.

I stare at him.

He's right.

The possibility exists.

Camille has managed to hide for years.

She plans like she can see ten steps ahead of everyone else.

Would she track Maleek?

Maybe.

Would she expect me to send Darcy abroad?

Maybe not.

But Camille doesn't rely on expectations.

She relies on certainty.

I push another document toward him.

"I already thought about that."

He looks down.

"Your flight itinerary is fake."

He frowns.

"The plane you'll board isn't the one you'll actually use."

I continue calmly, even though my pulse is anything but calm.

"There will be three convoys leaving the airport."

"Three private jets."

"Three different destinations."

"You'll only know the real destination thirty minutes before departure."

Maleek slowly exhales, absorbing the layers of deception.

"I'll remain in the first convoy."

"The second convoy will have people dressed like Darcy."

"The third will carry medical equipment."

He looks at me with disbelief, like he's trying to decide if I'm paranoid or prepared.

"You really thought of everything."

"No."

I shake my head once.

"I only thought of enough."

"There is no perfect plan."

My chest tightens again, heavier this time.

"There never has been."

Silence.

Maleek carefully closes the file.

"When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"So soon?"

"The longer Darcy stays here, the greater the risk."

He nods once, slowly. "I understand."

He walks toward the door before stopping halfway, hesitating like something is still sitting on his tongue.

"Adrian."

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad you finally let yourself be happy yesterday."

I don't answer.

Because I don't know if happiness is something I was ever meant to hold without it being taken away.

After he leaves, the office becomes painfully quiet again.

She trusted me.

Again.

Can I really protect that trust?

Or will I destroy it the same way I destroyed everything else?

I shut my eyes.

My breathing becomes uneven.

A knock interrupts my thoughts.

Before I can answer, my phone begins vibrating across the table.

Unknown number.

I stare at it for a second before answering.

"This is Adrian Ashford."

"Mr. Ashford?"

A nervous male voice answers.

"Yes."

"This is Officer Collins from the Washington Correctional Centre."

My heartbeat suddenly increases.

Nora.

Something happened.

I straighten immediately.

"What is it?"

A pause.

"I'm afraid there's been an incident."

My fingers tighten around the phone.

"What incident?"

Another silence, heavier this time, like he is struggling to force the words out.

"Mrs. Nora Carlton was found unconscious inside her cell this morning."

My stomach twists violently.

"What happened?"

"They rushed her to the prison clinic."

"But she didn't make it."

Everything inside me stills.

"Cause of death?" I demand.

The officer exhales shakily.

"The preliminary report suggests poisoning."

Poison.

Someone poisoned Nora inside prison inside a maximum-security prison.

Camille.

The realization slams into me so hard it feels like the air is ripped from my lungs.

She erarsed another person who held fragments of the past she is trying to bury.

My fingers loosen.

The phone almost slips from my hand.

This isn'
t revenge anymore.

This is erasure.

Systematic. Precise. Final.

Removing everyone connected to her lies before they can speak.

Today...

Nora.

Tomorrow...

Who?

My hands begin trembling.

Darcy.

I grab my car keys without another thought, my mind already racing ahead of my body.

Tomorrow is already too late.

Darcy has to leave tonight.