Chapter 17 THE GALA EVENT
It was past midnight when my phone buzzed.
I rubbed my eyes, half expecting another message from Carson, maybe checking in. But it wasn’t from him, It was from an unknown number. No name. Just a single sentence:
“Meet me where it all began.”
I stared at it, my heart thudding.
“ What did that even mean? Where did it all begin…?” I asked myself.
And then it hit me that it might mean my childhood home, the estate that I grew up in.
What used to be ours before it was seized and locked away like the rest of my past. That was where everything began, where the night of the gala had ended, where my father returned furious and broken.
I slipped out of bed and got dressed in silence. I didn’t tell Carson,I wasn’t sure if I should tell him about it.
The city was quiet as I rode in a cab through the night. When we arrived, the place looked as forgotten as I remembered. Dusty gates, overgrown garden. Faded memories.
I stepped out and walked to the porch.And then I heard a sound more like a movement.
“Hello?” I called out.
No answer.
I stepped closer to the house, but the door had been broken and forced open.
Someone had already been here.
I pushed it open slowly, and saw blood on the floor.
“Blood?” I shouted but waved it off and moved further because the blood was not fresh.
I stepped into my father’s study and I approached it carefully. Inside, the desk was covered in dust—except for a single file that looked newly placed and I opened it.
Inside the file were old security photos, while checking through, I found Carson’s picture standing at the gala. Talking to a man with a scar on his hand wearing a gold ring gleaming.
Not long after the door opened so I turned to check but I could find no one and then I heard a voice afterwards.
“You shouldn’t have come alone.”The voice said.
It was Carson.
He stepped out of the shadows, face tight with worry. “Why didn’t you tell me where you were going?” he asked.
“I needed to know what this message meant,” I said, showing him the phone.
He looked at it, then at the file in my hand. “Someone wants you to see these,” he said.
“But why? And why now?” I asked.
Before he could answer, the window shattered with the gun that was shot outside.
Carson grabbed my arm. “We need to go. Now,”He said.
We ran out the back, through the garden and into a nearby alley. A black SUV was parked not far off.
Carson opened the door and pushed me inside. “Stay low.”He said.
He got in beside me and slammed the door shut as the driver sped off.
My hands were shaking. “They tried to kill me,”I said.
“No,” he said. “They tried to scare you. There’s a difference. This was a warning.”He added.
I stared at him. “A warning from who?”I asked.
He didn’t answer.
I looked down at the photos in my hand. There were more beneath the first one.
And at the bottom of the file there was a name.GREG VALE.
Carson froze beside me when I read it out loud.
“You know him,” I said.
“Yes. And if he’s involved, this is worse than I thought.”He said.
“Who is he?” I asked.
Carson finally turned to me. “He’s the man with the scar. Victoria’s former partner. And if he’s resurfacing… your father's case wasn’t the end. It was just the beginning,”He said.
He ran operations behind the scenes—blackmail, fraud, threats. My father wanted out. He died trying. Your father… tried to stand up to him. That’s why he became a target,”Carson added.
“Why didn’t you tell me this?” I whispered.
“Because once you speak his name, you can’t take it back. Greg doesn’t just disappear,”He said.
“And Fred?” I asked, my voice shaking. “Is he part of this too?” I added.
“I don’t know,” Carson admitted. “But if he is… we’re both in deeper trouble than we thought,”He added.
There I know the trap was set.
This was war.
We headed back home, in silence with different thoughts all in our mind, not knowing what to do and how to do it.
We eventually got back home, and trust me when I say it's a really long ride since the trip was under pressure. In order to be sure of what this is, I decided to start up a conversation with Carson when we both settled down.
“Hey Carson” pls can I speak with you ?” I asked.
“Of course, go ahead,” He said.
“Carson, right now, with all of these things that are happening and the one that just surfaced, I really don't know whom to trust and whom not to….I don't even know if you are on my side or you are just pretending because you just changed from bad to good suddenly”I said.
“Annabelle”.........He called and paused.
“Yes,” I answered, curious about what he had to say.
“You don't need to believe what I have to say, well I know we started it all on a really bad note and my intention as to why I got married to you was totally wrong. It was for my self interest…..but looking at your kind of person, you really don't deserve to be treated badly and that was why I decided to change and learn to love you”He said.
“okay!! So…….” I was yet to finish up what I wanted to say when you cut me off.
“So I'll stand by you, and I'll fight with you and for you. Although this fight is going to be fierce and dangerous and also it's going to be a very long one, through it all I'll be there with you”He concluded.
As at the time he concluded all he had to say, I was already dumbfounded.
“CARSON CLAIRE, said all of this?” I thought to myself.
If it was real, then the fight would be easier but if it was a lie then it's just a trap set for me.