Chapter 264
My head feels like it’s being split open when I finally wake up.
A groan leaves my throat before I even fully open my eyes.
Jesus Christ, everything spins.
For a terrifying second I don’t even know where I am.
The air smells damp and old. Like dust and mildew. My cheek aches from laying awkwardly against something hard and cold.
Concrete.
I blink rapidly trying to clear my vision, then panic slams into me all at once and I jerk upright with a gasp.
The movement immediately makes dizziness crash over me again so violently I nearly throw up.
“What the fuck…”
My voice comes out rough and weak as I force myself to look around. A
The room is dimly lit by a single hanging bulb overhead. The walls are old concrete with stains running down parts of them. There’s no furniture except two old chairs, some boxes shoved into a corner, and a dirty mattress lying against the far wall. My heart starts pounding faster.
There’s No windows, so I have no clue where I am.
Then suddenly I notice someone else in the room and I freeze instantly.
A girl sits a few feet away from me….shes about my age maybe.
Dark curly hair with wide startled eyes.
The moment she realizes I’m awake, she straightens immediately.
“Oh my God,” she blurts softly. “You’re awake.”
Fear spikes hard through me and I instinctively try moving backward only to realize my wrists are tied tightly behind the chair.
Panic explodes in my chest instantly.
“What the fuck?!” I yank hard against the ropes immediately. “Who are you?!”
The girl looks almost alarmed by my panic.
“No no no don’t freak out,please” she says quickly while lifting both hands slightly. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“That’s exactly what kidnappers say!”
“I’m not one of them.”
My breathing comes fast now while I stare at her desperately trying to understand what’s happening.
Memories crash back suddenly
The car. Tessa, pulling a handkerchief over my nose.
My stomach twists violently.
“Tessa,” I whisper in disbelief.
The girl watches me carefully.
“You know the people that brought you here?”
I look at her sharply.
“You don’t?”
She shakes her head slowly.
“I woke up here too.”
That makes me pause and stare at her properly now.
She isn’t tied up. Which honestly should comfort me but somehow makes this even weirder.
Then another horrifying thought slams into me and my hand immediately flies toward my stomach as best as I can with my wrists restrained.
Oh God.
My baby.
Panic claws violently through me again and the girl notices instantly.
“Hey hey,” she says softly. “You’re okay.”
“I’m pregnant.”
The words leave me before I can stop them, I don’t know why I tell her that.
Her entire expression changes immediately.
“Oh.”
Fear rises higher in my throat.
“Oh my God.”
“You don’t look hurt,” she says quickly. “I think you and the baby are okay.”
I yank harder at the ropes again.
“I need to get out of here.”
“I know.”
“No you don’t understand,” I snap, voice shaking now. “My husband is going to lose his fucking mind.”
Honestly? That thought should comfort me.
Because Zane absolutely will tear the earth apart looking for me but right now all I feel is fear, because whoever took me knew exactly what they were doing and they got through security.
Through Thomas.
Which means this was planned carefully, very carefully.
I look back at the girl again.
“What’s your name?”
“Aria”
“I’m Elaine.”
She nods slightly.
“I know.”
That immediately makes my stomach drop.
“What?”
She quickly shakes her head.
“No no I mean… they said your name earlier.”
My pulse keeps pounding violently anyway, noothing about this feels right.
Nothing.
I take a shaky breath before looking down at the ropes cutting into my wrists.
“Can you help me loosen this?”
I gesture awkwardly toward them.. Aria hesitates immediately.
“You can’t?” I ask slowly.
She bites her lip.
Then quietly says:
“I don’t think I’m allowed to untie you.”
“What do you mean not allowed to?”
Before she can answer…..a loud metallic door somewhere outside the room creaks open.
And both of us go completely still.
A few seconds later, the door rattles loudly.
My entire body tenses when the door slowly creaks open.
And Thomas walks in.
For a second…My brain genuinely refuses to process what I’m seeing.
“Thomas?”
Relief crashes into me so fast it almost hurts.
“Oh my God,” I breathe. “Thomas are you….”
But he cuts me off immediately.
“Oh I see you’re awake.”
The calmness in his voice makes something inside me go cold. He shuts the door behind him slowly before looking between me and the girl beside me.
“And I see you’ve made acquaintance with your in-law.”
I blink at him.
“What?”
He says it so casually, liek this entire situation is normal.
My heart starts beating harder.
“What do you mean my in-law?”
Thomas sighs softly almost like he’s disappointed in me.
“Never took you as a dumb girl, Elaine.”
A small smile pulls at his lips.
“Connect the dots already.”
I turn toward the girl beside me and she looks down immediately.
No. No fucking way.
My chest tightens violently.
“What the actual fuck?” I whisper.
I stare at her harder now….the eyes.
“Oh my God.”
My head spins again.
“She’s dead,” I breathe shakily. “She’s supposed to be dead.”
The girl beside me flinches visibly, pain flashing across her face instantly.
And suddenly I see it….the resemblance between her and Zane is enough to make my stomach drop straight to hell.
I turn toward Thomas slowly.
“No…”
He smiles.
“No, she wasn’t dead.” he says calmly. “I made everyone believe she was dead.”
My breath catches.
“Part of my sweet, sweet revenge.”
The room feels like it tilts beneath me, I stare at him completely stunned.
Nothing makes sense. Nothing.
“You’re insane,” I whisper.
Thomas actually laughs softly at that.
“No.” He shakes his head slowly. “No, Elaine. I was loyal.”
His expression darkens immediately afterward.
“For years.”
A chill crawls down my spine.
“I gave that family everything.””I gave that family everything.”
Every word comes sharper now.
“I protected Zane, I cleaned up his messes and I stood beside him through everything.”
The bitterness in his voice is terrifying.
“And what did my family get in return?”
I shake my head immediately.
“No.”
Because whatever he’s about to imply…..No.
Absolutely not.
But Thomas steps closer anyway.
“Your husband destroyed my mother.”
Anger flashes through me instantly.
“No he didn’t.”
“He absolutely did.
“He was a child!”
Thomas’s jaw tightens.
“And yet she still died because of what happened at their site.”
Silence crashes heavily into the room, my heart pounds painfully hard now.
Beside me, Aria looks pale.
Wait. Aria.
Holy shit.
I turn toward her again slowly.
“You’re really Aria?”
She swallows hard before nodding faintly.
I stare at her in disbelief, everybody thought she was dead for years.
Zane mourned her.
Lucas mourned her.
The entire world thought she died.
“How?” I whisper.
Pain flashes across her face but Thomas answers instead.
“I took her before anybody could find her.”
“You kidnapped her?” I snap.
“No.” His expression sharpens dangerously. “I saved her.”
Aria finally speaks quietly.
“He did save me.”
I blink at her.
“What?”
Her eyes look glassy now.
“I was hurt really badly,” she says softly. “I barely remember anything from that night.”
Thomas watches her carefully while she speaks.
“He took care of me.”
Something about the way she says it twists uneasily in my stomach. Not fear exactly, soomething stranger, like confusion mixed with loyalty.
I look between both of them.
Then suddenly realization slams into me.
“Oh my God.”
I stare at Thomas.
“All the attacks…”
He says nothing but he doesn’t deny it either.
“The poisoning.”
Silence.
“Aaron.”
Still silence.
“You did all of this?”
Thomas finally sighs softly.
“I did what I had to do.”
My skin crawls.
“You’re fucking insane.”
His expression hardens instantly.
“No,” he says sharply. “I’m a son who watched his mother die while powerful people walked away untouched.”
I yank hard against the ropes again.
“You kidnapped a pregnant woman!”
“And yet you’re perfectly unharmed.”
“For now!”
Aria suddenly shifts beside me looking uncomfortable.
“Thomas…”
He immediately softens slightly at her voice, which somehow makes this all even creepier.
I stare at them both in horror. Then one terrifying thought crashes into me fully.
Zane.
Oh God. The second he realizes I’m gone…
Everything is going to explode.
I stare at Thomas in complete disbelief, the man standing in front of me doesn’t even feel real anymore, nothing like the Thomas I knew.
Not the calm, quiet, dependable man that stayed beside Zane for years.
This version of him feels… brokenn and twisted, like grief rotted him from the inside out slowly until there was nothing left but anger.
My wrists ache against the ropes as I shift slightly in the chair.
The bulb above us flickers faintly and for a second nobody speaks.
Then finally I swallow hard and ask quietly:
“So why?”
Thomas looks at me and I force myself to continue despite the fear clawing at my chest.
“What’s your reason for doing all this?”
Something shifts in his face immediately.
Not rage exactly but Pain, raw and ugly pain.
He looks away from me briefly before speaking.
“You’re not in any position to ask questions but I’ll humor you for now.”
“Years ago,” he says quietly, “when Zane’s father was still running the company and preparing to hand things over to him…”
He pauses.
“An incident happened at the old site.”
I stay silent listening.
“My mother worked there,” he continues. “She was just a cleaner but sometimes she handled paperwork too.”
His jaw tightens.
“And one day she stumbled onto something she wasn’t supposed to see.”
A chill crawls slowly down my spine.
“What kind of something?”
“Illegal,” he says flatly. “Big enough that powerful people wanted it buried.”
Thomas laughs softly then but there’s no humor in it.
“After she saw that everything changed.”
His eyes darken.
“Cars started following us, people watched our house and my mother became paranoid.”
His voice cracks slightly there before he steadies himself again.
“She kept saying we were in danger.”
I stare at him quietly now, trying to imagine him younger and scared, watching his family fall apart.
Then he says softly:
“One day she went to work.”
His expression empties completely.
“And the site caught on fire and somehow she was locked inside.”
Oh God.
Thomas swallows hard.
“She burned to death alive.”
The words hit the room like a punch, even Aria lowers her eyes immediately. For a second all I can think about is how horrifying that must’ve been.
How painful and terrifying.
And despite everything…despite what he’s done…My heart aches for him.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” I whisper honestly. “Really I am.”
Thomas says nothing.
“But do you actually think Zane had a hand in this.”
That finally makes him laugh bitterly.
“Come on now, Elaine.”
He looks at me.
“You know he can’t be that heartless.”
Relief flickers briefly through me.
“Then why….”
“I don’t care!” he suddenly snaps violently.
I flinch hard at the sheer force in his voice as Thomas starts pacing now.
Agitated wnd emotional.
“I just want them to suffer,” he says angrily. “The same way I did.”
I stare at him.
“Them?” I repeat carefully. “What do you mean them?”
He doesn’t answer.
“It’s Zane you’re hurting now,” I continue softly. “It’s him carrying this pain.”
I glance toward Aria beside me.
“You made him believe his sister died.”
Thomas’s face hardens instantly.
“You made him carry that guilt for years.”
Something dangerous flashes across his expression then and he suddenly moves toward me so fast my breath catches.
For one terrifying second I genuinely think he’s going to hit me.
Aria stiffens beside me immediately but Thomas stops himself at the last second though.
His hand clenches tightly at his side instead.
“You don’t know how I feel,” he says through gritted teeth. “So don’t tell me shit.”
I swallow thickly as he steps back again, my heart pounding painfully hard against my ribs.
The silence afterward feels suffocating.
Then quietly I ask:
“How did you even pull that off?”
Thomas frowns slightly.
“Pull what off?”
“Her being alive.”
I glance toward Aria again.
“How did you do all this without Zane or Lucas suspecting anything?”
Thomas exhales slowly before leaning back against the wall.
“When the accident happened,” he says quietly, “Aria was rushed to the hospital.”
Aria looks down.
“Zane was devastated,” Thomas continues. “You have no idea on how he was back then. He was hotheaded, emotional and violent when angry.”
I nod slowly.
“He went to fight Lucas.”
Aria flinches slightly at Lucas’s name.
“And while he was gone…” Thomas shrugs lightly. “I switched the bodies.”
The words make me feel physically sick.
“What?”
“The accident had already caused heavy burns,” he explains. “The body was barely recognizable.”
Oh my God.
“I told Zane the burns had disfigured her badly.”
His expression remains eerily calm now.
“He was drowning in grief and guilt already. He couldn’t bear seeing her body one last time.”
The horror of it settles heavily inside me.
Jesus Christ.
“I handled the burial preparations myself,” Thomas says quietly. “Everything.”
My chest hurts listening to this.
“And Zane had already cut ties with Lucas by then,” he adds. “Luckily he stopped him from attending the funeral, so Lucas couldn’t know too…..then eventually I pitch the two I against each other.”
I close my eyes briefly.
God.
“It was easy.”
The word makes my stomach turn violently as I stare at him in disbelief.
“Don’t you think that was too much?” I whisper. “Why would you do that?”
Genuine emotion cracks fully across his face.
Pain….devastating pain.
“So he could feel what I felt.”
The room goes quiet.
“My mother died,” he says hoarsely. “And after her… my little sister followed.”
My throat tightens.
“What?”
“She stopped eating,” he whispers. “Stopped talking.”
His eyes look glassy now.
“She died from a broken heart…causeed by my mother’s death.”
Silence crashes into the room heavily and suddenly I understand….Thomas lost everyone. His mother and sister, somewhere in all that grief…he broke.
Still, I shake my head.
“But you have to know Zane didn’t do this….so I still don’t get why you are making him suffer.”
Thomas’s face immediately hardens again
“I don’t care!”
His voice echoes loudly through the room.
“He shares the same blood as his father.”
His breathing grows heavier.
“Someone has to pay.”
The hatred in his voice terrifies me.
Then suddenly another thought slams into me.
“Tessa.”
Thomas looks at me calmly.
“What did you do to her?”
“Why would she bring me here?”
“Oh.” He shrugs lightly. “She didn’t want to help me.”
My stomach drops.
“So I had to gjve her a little motivation.”
Fear flashes through me.
“What motivation?”
He pretends to think.
“What are their names again?”
My entire body goes cold.
“Thomas.”
“June and Lila yeah?”
His eyes meet mine calmly.
“I kidnapped them for a while and threatened to kill them.”
Rage explodes through me instantly.
“You better not touch my friends!”
I yank hard against the ropes again.
“Leave them the fuck alone!”
My voice breaks sharply.
“Leave them out of your twisted games, Thomas!”
“Relax,” he says coldly. “They’re safe.”
Then after a pause:
“For now.”
The threat settles heavily into the room.
“I just needed them to get you out of the house.”j