Chapter 5: The Devil's Proposal
The door handle stopped moving.
Silence swallowed the room.
For a moment, all I could hear was my heart racing like crazy.
Grace was standing really still by the window, and her face had gone completely white.
She wasn't looking at me anymore.
She was staring at the door.
Three slow knocks echoed through the room.
"Ms. Carter."
The voice on the other side of the door was really calm and polite, you know, it sounded pretty sophisticated too.
"I hope I'm not interrupting."
She moved in close, her voice barely audible as she whispered something in my ear, giving me just enough time to catch what she was saying.
"Whatever happens, don't let him see your fear."
I swallowed the knot in my throat.
"Come in."
The lock clicked, and the door opened.
Marcus Kingsley stepped inside with the effortless authority of a man accustomed to entering any room without permission.
He wasn't physically intimidating, nor did he need to be, because power clung to him as naturally as the perfectly tailored charcoal suit he wore.
His silver hair was neatly combed back, and every measured step seemed deliberate.
He looked around the room, his gaze moving from one person to another, until it finally landed on Grace.
"There you are."
His voice remained pleasant.
"I was wondering where my legal counsel had disappeared to."
Grace straightened.
"I came here of my own accord."
A small, faint smile crept onto his face, but somehow it didn't quite make it to his eyes, which seemed to remain distant, unaffected.
"You've always been loyal."
The compliment sounded disturbingly similar to a warning.
It wasn't until that moment that he finally noticed me and turned his attention in my direction.
"So..."
His gaze rested on my face.
"You're Ava."
"I was Ava Kingsley."
For a split second, his face showed something that was hard to make out.
"Then you've already accepted reality."
"I accepted the divorce."
His face remained perfectly composed.
"Good."
He didn't bother asking, just pulled the chair up and sat down right across from me.
Grace stayed on her feet, and the quiet between us grew thicker, until Marcus finally put his hands on the shiny handle of his walking stick.
"I owe you an apology."
I looked at him steadily.
"I wasn't expecting one."
"You became involved in matters that should never have touched your life."
A bitter laugh escaped me.
"My marriage wasn't a business arrangement."
"He said no, his tone steady, but then added, it started out that way."
His words struck harder than I expected.
"So that's all three years meant?"
"A necessary alliance."
Three years.
Reduced to two words.
Necessary alliance.
My heart felt heavy, but I was determined not to break down, I had already cried so much for Ethan Kingsley.
Marcus watched me in silence before speaking again.
"You're stronger than I anticipated."
"I didn't have much choice."
He shook his head, just a little, and said, "No, I suppose you didn't."
The room became silent once more, and then he posed a question that caught me completely off guard.
"Do you hate Ethan?"
I frowned.
"What difference would that make?"
"It matters."
"To whom?"
Instead of answering, Marcus studied me carefully.
"My son has always allowed emotion to influence his decisions."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Only that compassion often clouds his judgment."
"My husband divorced me."
"My former husband," I corrected quietly.
He inclined his head.
"Yes."
A hint of sadness flashed across his face, but it was quickly replaced by his usual calm demeanor.
"You believe Ethan chose this."
"I watched him hand me the divorce papers."
"I know."
"He chose Sophia Blake."
Marcus turned toward the window.
"Sometimes..."
He paused.
"...people make the choice they believe will protect everyone else."
I felt my heartbeat quicken.
"Did you force him?"
Marcus just didn't say anything, he simply fixed his jacket sleeve, really calmly.
That silence told me more than words ever could.
A shiver ran down my spine as I thought about what Grace had said - that Ethan didn't want a divorce, and now Marcus was being really vague about it, refusing to say it wasn't true.
For the first time since signing those papers, I questioned everything I thought I knew.
Marcus slipped one hand inside his jacket, and every muscle in my body tensed.
He pulled out a cream-colored envelope instead of a weapon and carefully put it down on the blanket next to me.
I didn't touch it.
"What's inside?"
"A chance."
"A chance for what?"
"To disappear."
I stared at him.
"You expect me to run?"
"I expect you to survive."
His quiet reply carried far more weight than if he had shouted.
I looked at his face, but I didn't see any sign of happiness or meanness, just a complete confidence that he was right.
"If you stay in New York," he said in a calm voice, "things will happen that we won't be able to control, and it's not going to be good for either of us, we'll be caught up in it and won't be able to stop it, no matter what we do."
"Who's threatening me?"
His gaze remained fixed on mine.
"The fewer names you know, the safer you'll be."
A knot formed in my stomach, because part of me wanted to dismiss everything he said, yet another part believed every word.
And that frightened me even more.
---
Marcus stood up, but Grace and I just sat there, not moving.
He took a quick look at the envelope that was still sealed, then he fixed his jacket sleeve.
"I've said everything I came to say."
"You haven't answered a single question," I replied.
He said "no" and his face didn't give away anything. "I only answered the one that counts," he added, still not showing any emotion.
"And what question is that?"
"Whether you're safe."
The room was quiet once more, and our eyes locked.
"For someone who claims to care about my safety, you're asking me to disappear without telling me why."
A small smile played on his lips, just barely visible, as it pulled up at one corner of his mouth.
"If I tell you everything..."
He paused.
You're not going to make it, so there's no point in even trying to learn anything.
The words settled heavily between us.
Grace stepped forward.
"That's enough."
Marcus looked at her calmly.
I told you a long time ago that being loyal comes with a price.
"And I accepted it."
"I know."
A look of real disappointment showed on his face for the first time.
"I only wish you understood who you're protecting."
"I'm protecting the innocent."
"So am I."
Grace's expression hardened.
"No."
"You're protecting your empire."
Marcus didn't say a word, he just gave me a look.
"You think I'm your enemy."
"Aren't you?"
"If I were..."
His gaze wandered down to my stomach for a moment, then came back up to meet my eyes.
"...this conversation would never have happened."
A shiver ran down my spine, and without thinking, my hand went to my stomach.
As I felt that tiny heartbeat inside me, it was like everything became more real in that moment.
As I lay in the hospital, something shifted inside me - for the first time since I woke up, my fear wasn't about my own well-being, it was about my baby's.
Nothing else mattered, not the end of my marriage, not losing my home, not the future I had dreamed of - all of that was nothing compared to this tiny life that was counting on me.
I had spent three years trying to become the perfect wife, but now I only wanted to become the kind of mother my child deserved.
If running was the only way to protect my baby, would I do it?
I didn't know, because running meant believing Marcus, and staying meant trusting no one.
Either choice could destroy us.
Marcus reached for the door.
"When Ethan contacts you..."
My heart skipped.
"...listen carefully."
Hope flickered before his next words extinguished it.
"But don't believe everything he tells you."
The sentence echoed through my mind.
Don't believe everything you see.
Grace's card.
Now Marcus.
Two different warnings, and the same message.
Marcus put his hand on the door handle, then turned around to take one last look.
"Some lies are told to keep the people we care about safe," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, "but then there are truths that can tear families apart, causing damage that can never be fixed."
He opened the door.
Just before stepping outside, he stopped.
"If you value your child's life..."
His gaze met mine.
"...leave New York before sunrise."
He disappeared, and the door closed with a soft click.
The silence he left behind felt even heavier than his presence.
We just sat there, not saying a word, for what felt like a really long time, Grace and me.
My gaze wandered back to the cream-colored envelope that was still sitting on the blanket.
It looked ordinary, yet somehow it felt more dangerous than anything Marcus had said.
I felt lost and unsure, my voice barely above a whisper, as I said "I just don't know who to trust anymore."
Grace finally sat beside my bed.
"You don't have to believe anyone."
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
Her eyes fell to my hand, which was gently curled over my belly, a protective gesture that seemed to speak volumes.
"Believe the one person who has never lied to you."
I frowned.
"Who?"
She gave me a small, sad smile.
"Your instincts."
A tear escaped before I could stop it.
"I thought I knew Ethan."
"You still might."
"I watched him divorce me."
She stopped talking for a moment, then said, "You saw him sign some papers, but that doesn't necessarily mean everything is okay."
I closed my eyes, and memories flooded back.
Ethan's trembling hand hovering over my wedding ring.
I saw a look of fear cross his face when my phone suddenly lit up with messages from an unknown number.
His desperate insistence that I ignore them.
I thought he was just looking out for himself back then.
Now... I wasn't sure.
"What if I've misunderstood everything?" I asked quietly.
Grace didn't say a word, she just gave my hand a gentle squeeze.
The silence returned.
Then my phone vibrated.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Grace and I exchanged a glance.
Slowly, I picked it up.
Unknown Number.
My thumb hesitated before opening the first message.
Did Marcus give you an envelope?
I felt a chill run down my spine, it was terrifying to think that someone outside these four walls knew that secret.
No one.
Another message appeared almost instantly.
Don't open it.
A third followed before I could even breathe.
Look out the window.
As I slowly pulled the curtain back, my heart started racing like crazy.
The black SUV was back, and its driver's door stood open.
The man in sunglasses was nowhere to be seen.
Instead... Ethan stood beside the vehicle.
He kept looking over his shoulder as if he knew someone was following him.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, two men showed up in the parking lot, one from each end, and they were both wearing dark suits.
They weren't walking quickly, and they didn't need to, because their confidence made something inside me snap.
Ethan turned around, and his gaze rose up to meet mine, his eyes locking onto my hospital room window.
As our eyes locked from far away, his face suddenly went pale.
He shook his head violently.
His lips moved.
No.
He was talking, but not to the guys around him, he was talking to me.
One of the strangers reached inside his jacket.
Grace gasped beside me.
"Ava..."
My phone vibrated one final time.
Hands shaking uncontrollably, I looked down.
If Ethan sees you... He dies
The word seared themselves into my mind
