Chapter 35
Sofia Bliss
That badge…
It froze me in place.
None of it made sense.
Letícia had sworn this place was off the radar — that the police pretended it didn’t exist.
I truly believed this was a safe zone.
But then…
Why the suffocating silence?
Why was fear etched into every single face around me?
I couldn’t breathe.
It felt like one wrong move, and I’d be done for.
Suddenly, every weird thing Letícia tried to tell me earlier started to make sense.
"They’re not normal people, Sofia..."
Her voice echoed inside my head.
Maybe... maybe it had something to do with this.
Or maybe... it was something much worse.
Before I even realized, my eyes were slowly lifting toward the face of that man.
He wasn’t unattractive — far from it.
Sharp jawline, thick eyebrows, just a few faint lines that told me he was older than me. Maybe eight, ten years more.
My heart stopped the second our eyes met.
And no…
That wasn’t just a serious look on his face.
It was intense. Piercing.
Like he was studying me.
Burning me into memory.
Memorizing every inch of my face.
A chill ran through my body, and for a split second, I swore I saw a strange glimmer in his eyes.
There was something off about him.
Something eerily similar to what I felt when I first saw Adrian — that magnetic pull, that… raw energy.
But with him, it was different.
His stare wasn’t just intense — it was dangerous.
The way he looked at me…
It wasn’t how a cop scans for threats.
It was like he saw through me.
Like there was something hidden under my skin even I didn’t know about.
“Who… are you?”
The words left my lips in a whisper, barely audible even to myself.
He narrowed his eyes — like he had heard me.
And for one breathless moment, I thought he was going to walk up to me… and answer.
But then...
A rough, gravelly voice called out from the back of the bar, from behind the small door with a faded sign: “Administration.”
“You’re early, officer. Did something happen?”
The sound of something hitting the wooden floor rang out along with the voice.
And then, from the back of the bar, an old man emerged, using a cane and wearing a red velvet suit.
The wrinkles and marks were clear on his face, his eyes were deep-set, but his posture still carried presence - a strange mixture of fragility and strength.
There was something about him.
A presence that somehow demanded respect.
The officer — or whatever the hell he was—finally broke his stare.
Just like that, the strange trance I’d been trapped in vanished.
I could finally breathe again, though barely.
He turned slowly to face the old man.
“I had to move up the timeline,” he said coldly, with the same chilling calm that had just pinned me in place.
“There were… complications. The chief requested I come early.”
The old man nodded silently, like he understood something I definitely didn’t.
And then... everyone in the bar seemed to breathe again at the exact same time.
The music slowly picked back up, voices returned, laughter spilled into the air — like someone had given an unspoken command for everyone to pretend nothing had just happened.
As if those two — the cop and the old man—hadn’t just had that quiet, loaded conversation before slipping away toward the back room.
As if none of it was real.
But I couldn’t pretend.
My fingers trembled around the glass in my hand as I tried to process what the hell had just happened.
What did that cop want?
What kind of deal did he have with that man?
And why did Letícia look like she was about to faint from fear?
I glanced over at her. She still looked frozen — pale face, tight lips, short breaths. She wasn’t even trying to hide how terrified she was.
“Letícia… are you okay? What was that?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. “What’s going on here?”
She didn’t answer right away. Her eyes scanned the bar, face tight, like she expected someone to be listening in.
I turned my head too, glancing toward the back of the bar again.
By now, I didn’t know if I felt more stressed… or relieved to find those eyes still on me — burning from across the room.
Adrian was still there. Same arrogant pose. Legs crossed. Arms resting casually along the back of the couch.
He hadn’t moved. Hadn’t flinched. Hadn’t shown a single sign that anything had happened.
He was the only one who hadn’t reacted to the cop’s presence.
"Who are these people?"
The thought hit hard. I looked away, my heart pounding so loudly it nearly drowned out the music.
It felt like I was trapped in a den of predators. And it was driving me insane.
Letícia finally took a deep breath and leaned close to whisper in my ear. I tried to keep my face calm.
“Thank God... only one of them came tonight,” she murmured, like that explained anything.
I frowned at her, completely lost.
“What do you mean, one of them?”
She exhaled again, clearly uncomfortable.
“That cop… he comes by a few times a month. For payment.”
Letícia spit the words out bitterly, glancing around again to make sure no one was listening.
“Payment? What payment?” My voice dropped even lower, this time tight with anger.
She leaned in closer.
“The payment they get to 'not see' anything, Sofia. I told you this place was off the grid when it comes to police, remember?”
She let out a dry, sarcastic laugh. “But nothing’s ever really free.”
Chills ran down my spine as I processed her words.
This wasn’t just about turning a blind eye.
This was corruption — money for silence.
Silence wrapped in something darker.
But that still didn’t explain the fear — the absolute terror—in everyone’s eyes. Or Letícia’s panicked expression.
“So… if they’re being paid, why is everyone so scared?” I asked, confused. “Shouldn’t they be on our side? If there’s a deal, why does it feel like the whole bar’s about to pass out every time that guy walks in?”
Letícia shook her head slowly, her face turning grim.
“It’s not just about money, Sofia...” she said, voice barely audible.
“Remember when I told you some people in this bar aren’t exactly… normal?”
Her eyes locked onto mine.
“Well… that guy’s one of them.”
And the way she said it made my stomach burn.
"This isn't the place to talk about it. Not here. Not now... I promise to explain it to you better when we get out of here."
She looked away again, trying to imitate the false normality of everyone around us. “I just... I didn't imagine things would turn out this way, If I had, I would never have brought you here...”
What exactly was she talking about?
My head kept spinning, and all I could think was:
What the hell is going on here?
And why does it feel like the more things happen…
The more lost I get in all of it?