Aiden (in a very low, deep voice, as if his depths were speaking, not his mouth):
"Did you think I forgot?... Those chains... that basement... those nights that made me sway between reality and delirium?"
His voice changes, becoming calmer but saturated with indescribable danger. An invisible aura began to hover around him, as if shadows were shrinking towards him.
Aiden (continues):
"I am a police officer now. I stand on the edge of the line between law and chaos... I try to keep that part of me suppressed. Don't push me to unleash it... because if you do... there will be nothing left to regret."
After he ended the call with Aiden, his fingers trembled for a moment, then he pressed the speed dial button, shouting:
The Father (in a rough, agitated voice):
"Call everyone... immediately! Destroy all files, wipe the disks, I don't want a single paper to keep my name in this crime!"
He paced the room back and forth, his face dripping with sweat despite the cold, while his other hand clutched his shirt collar until he choked.
The Father (growling as he pulled out his other phone):
"Where is that damn bastard?! Let him start emptying the back office... and everything related to the offshore accounts. I don't want to see a trace of the name 'A.M' when he arrives!"
The sound of shattering glass from the lower floor was heard, followed by confusion and the scurrying of workers throughout the villa. Papers, hard drives, devices, all thrown into black bags like holes in memory.
In the corner, the Mother sat in the same chair. Her hand trembled slowly as she held a cup of coffee she hadn't touched. Glassy eyes watched all this collapse in silence, as if she no longer belonged to this world.
The Mother (coldly, as if talking to herself):
"I told you once... Aiden is like a bomb... and only today... the countdown began."
The Father glared at her, then ignored her words and yelled into his other phone:
The Father:
"Get the car ready! And tell the lawyers to meet in office number three... tonight!"
Moments later, the villa door opened violently, and he rushed towards his luxurious car with tinted windows. He got in, started the engine powerfully, and turned the wheel, pressing the accelerator nervously, and the car sped away, leaving behind a trail of dust... and perhaps terror.
– Aiden's Office
While the storm raged in the Father's mansion, silence enveloped Aiden's office.
He sat, his back unnaturally straight, only the pen rotating between his fingers like a knife.
His eyes... absolute void. As if time had stopped inside him. As if he heard sounds no one else could hear.
There was no trace of anger or sadness. But something else... something colder than ice.
Then suddenly, the pen stopped.
He rested it on the table very quietly, then whispered to himself in a voice barely audible:
Aiden (in a calm voice, but carrying hell in its depths):
"Time's up... dear Father."
He reached for the drawer, opened it slowly, and took out his police badge and then his gun.
Aiden, with quick, decisive steps, turned to his team, saying in a tone that carried determination and awe:
"You, head immediately to AM company. Get everything—every file, every document, any tangible evidence of money laundering. The files we currently have might put him behind bars for only a few years, but I want to bury him there... I want life imprisonment."
The officers exchanged tense glances. One of them asked him:
"And you, sir?"
Aiden replied steadily as he put his phone to his ear:
"I... I'll go to the mansion first."
A moment of silence. Then he whispered sharply:
"Let's meet at the mansion."
The Father's voice from the other end was angry, almost a shout:
"Aiden! If you enter the mansion like this, if I get arrested, your career as a police officer will be over!"
But Aiden tightened his grip around the phone and whispered forcefully:
"So be it. I'll bet my life if necessary."
The Father laughed maniacally, saying with terrifying coldness:
"Then... let's play with the threads of madness. And I'll move them on your stage."
At the same time, at the pharmacy:
"I want to meet Seira."
Seira came out from behind the counter, wearing her white apron and a professional smile on her face.
"Hello, sir. How can I help you?"
"I am Aiden's adoptive father. I have a lot to discuss with you... I know you are his girlfriend."
Seira nervously tidied her hair:
"But... I'm at work now."
The man smiled with a cunning that did not suit his words:
"Don't worry. The pharmacy owner is an old friend of mine, I'll talk to him. Come, my daughter. Aiden needs your help."
A moment of hesitation, then she slowly shook her head and picked up her bag.
She got into the car, and everything seemed normal... until he closed the doors tightly, pulled out a small syringe, and plunged it into her arm before she could scream.
Darkness.
Inside the basement, the light was dim, and the walls were damp with humidity.
Seira was tied in chains, her mouth covered with tape, and her eyes filled with tears.
The Mother entered and gasped immediately upon seeing the scene:
"Who is this? Have you gone mad? I think the real patient here is you, not Aiden!"
The Father looked at her with a smile that held not a shred of mercy:
"This? This is Aiden's girlfriend... He told me he's willing to bet his life, and me? I'll bet on her pain."