The first thing Aria noticed was the silence.
Not the peaceful kind.
The wrong kind.
She stepped out of the café, phone in hand, rereading a message from Ethan—I'll be there in ten minutes.
She smiled faintly, then paused.
The street was too quiet for late afternoon.
No passing cars. No footsteps behind her.
Her instincts screamed.
She turned.
The black van appeared like a shadow tearing itself from the air.
The side door slid open.
Everything happened at once.
A hand clamped over her mouth. Another wrapped around her waist. Her phone hit the ground and shattered.
She tried to scream.
The sound never escaped.
She was pulled inside, the door slammed shut, and the world vanished.
When she came to, her head throbbed.
Her wrists burned.
Rope.
She was tied to a metal chair in a dimly lit room that smelled of oil and rust. A single bulb swung overhead, casting broken shadows across concrete walls.
Her heart pounded violently.
"Hello, Aria."
The voice came from the darkness.
She knew it.
Victor Hale stepped forward, hands clasped calmly behind his back, as if this were a boardroom meeting instead of a kidnapping.
"You scream, they won't hear you," he said mildly. "And it wastes energy."
"What do you want?" she demanded, forcing her voice steady.
Victor smiled.
"I want balance restored."
"You destroyed lives," she spat. "My father—"
"—was collateral," Victor interrupted coolly. "So were the others. You just happened to love one of them."
She glared at him.
"You lost."
Victor tilted his head. "Did I?"
He gestured to a camera mounted in the corner.
"This is live," he said. "Your lover will see everything."
Her blood ran cold.
"He chose justice," Victor continued. "So now we test how much justice costs him."
Ethan received the message while arguing with security.
A video file.
No text.
Just a timer counting down.
He opened it.
Aria filled the screen.
Bound. Pale. Alive.
His chest stopped working.
Victor's voice followed.
"You took my freedom. I take your weakness."
Ethan didn't shout.
Didn't panic.
Something ancient and violent woke up inside him.
"Trace it," he said quietly. "Now."
Security scrambled.
Police were alerted.
Ethan ignored their orders to wait.
He grabbed his jacket.
If Victor wanted a confrontation…
He would get one.
If you were Ethan, would you obey the police or act immediately?
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