The Silent Witness
The Central Plaza Old Building felt like a graveyard. The wind whistled through the jagged iron beams, and the smell of rust and fresh blood hung thick in the air. On the rooftop, the moon was the only witness to the tragedy that had just unfolded. Gabriella stood at the very edge, her peach-colored formal dress now stained with dark, crimson splashes. She looked like a broken porcelain doll, her eyes vacant and staring into the abyss where Raina had disappeared.
The Arrival of the Protector
Suddenly, the heavy metal door to the rooftop burst open. Felix charged out, his chest heaving. He was wearing a black sleeveless tactical shirt that clung to his frame, revealing the tensed muscles and bulging nerves in his arms from the frantic climb. He was drenched in sweat, his breath hitching as he scanned the scene.
"Gabriella!" he called out, his voice raw with panic.
Gabriella didn't turn. She whispered, her voice sounding like a hollow, emotionless AI, "I killed her, Felix. I finally did it."
Felix froze, his heart stopping for a beat. "What? What happened?"
Gabriella finally turned toward him, her eyes pooling with tears that refused to fall. "I killed my enemy. The revenge is over. But... why does my chest feel so heavy? Why don't I feel free?"
Felix rushed to her, his strong arms wrapping around her trembling frame. He pulled her into a crushing hug, tucking her head under his chin. Gabriella leaned into his warmth, her small hands clutching the back of his damp shirt.
Felix looked around the decaying rooftop, at the broken concrete and the rusted pipes while hugging her. He reassured there are no CCTV.
Gabriella is hugging him as if he were the only thing keeping her from falling off the edge herself. She didn't see the look in Felix's eyes—a look that wasn't just comfort, but something much darker.
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The morning sun rose over the Central Plaza Old Building, but it brought no warmth. The sky was a pale, sickly grey, reflecting the tragedy on the pavement below. The area was swarmed with yellow police tape and the flashing blue lights of ambulances. The air felt heavy, smelling of cold concrete and the bitter end of a long-standing war.
The Mother's Agony
A black sedan screeched to a halt at the perimeter. Bianca practically fell out of the car, her royal purple silk robe fluttering in the morning breeze—a stark contrast to the death surrounding her. She looked like a queen who had lost her throne.
When she saw the white sheet being pulled over Raina's body, the world went silent. Bianca let out a scream that felt like it was ripping the sky apart. "RAINA!"
She collapsed by the ambulance, her tears soaking into the white fabric. Beside her, Victor stood trembling, his face a mask of broken pride. He didn't roar; he just sobbed quietly, his shoulders slumped as if the weight of his mistakes had finally crushed him.
Victor approached the lead investigator with shaky steps. "How?" he choked out. "Tell me what happened."
The officer sighed, looking at his clipboard. "The preliminary evidence suggests the victim took her own life. She jumped after inflicting a self-inflicted wound."
"NO!" Bianca roared, standing up with a sudden, terrifying energy. "My daughter would never! She was a fighter! She wasn't!"
"Ma'am, please," the officer said, trying to maintain distance. "We found two knives. One was on the rooftop, and the other was still in her hand. Both knives have only her fingerprints. There is no trace of anyone else being up there. No struggle, no foreign DNA. According to the evidence... she committed suicide."
"Impossible," Victor whispered, his eyes wide. "She had everything to live for."
Bianca's grief shifted into something much sharper. She lunged forward, grabbing the stiff collar of the police officer's uniform, her knuckles white. Her eyes, once filled with tears, were now burning with a dark, vengeful fire.
"My girl didn't do this," Bianca hissed, her voice turning as cold as a winter grave. "She wouldn't leave me. Someone made her do this. Someone pushed her to that edge."
The officer tried to pull away, but Bianca's grip was like iron.
Bianca let go of the officer and straightened her silk robe. Her face went perfectly still, a mask of pure, concentrated fury. "I know who did this," she whispered to the wind.
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The Echoes of a Smile
The master bedroom in the Felix Mansion was a tomb of silence. Heavy, charcoal-grey velvet curtains were drawn tight, blocking out every ray of the morning sun. Gabriella sat on the edge of the bed, a ghost in the shadows. She was still in her peach-colored formal jumpsuit, now wrinkled and bearing the faint, ghostly scent of the rooftop. Her hair was a tangled mess over her shoulders, and her eyes were fixed on her trembling hands.
The Haunting Memory
"Why didn't she dodge?" Gabriella whispered into the darkness. "Why was she smiling when the blade went in?"
The door creaked open, spilling a sharp line of light across the floor. Felix stepped in, looking exhausted but deeply concerned. Seeing Gabriella's broken state, he immediately rushed to the windows and pulled the curtains back. The sudden sunlight felt like a physical sting to Gabriella's eyes.
Felix sat beside her, taking her cold hands in his. "Gabriella, talk to me. Tell me exactly what happened up there."
"When I stabbed her... she just smiled," Gabriella said, her voice hollow and robotic. "She didn't fight back. And Felix... she called me Scarlet. Why did she call me that name?"
Felix's eyes narrowed, a flash of something unreadable——crossing his face. As Gabriella repeated the words over and over like a broken record, Felix pulled her into a tight, protective hug.
"It's my fault," he whispered into her hair, his voice thick with emotion. "I arrived too late. If I had been faster, I would have stopped you. I would have taken that burden from your hands."
Gabriella didn't cry. She just tightened her grip on the back of his shirt, clinging to him as the only solid thing left in her world.
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The Hidden Moon
A few hours later, Gabriella fell into a fitful, exhausted sleep. She hadn't even changed her clothes; the peach silk of her jumpsuit felt like a second skin. As she shifted in her sleep, she felt something hard and heavy pressing against her thigh.
She sat up abruptly, her heart racing. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the object. Her eyes widened, and her breath hitched in her throat. It was the half-silver moon bracelet—the one Raina had slipped into her pocket before she fell. The metal was cold, and the jagged edge where it had been broken years ago seemed to pulse in the light.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated on the nightstand. An unknown number flashed on the screen. She answered it with a shaking hand.
"I want to see you," a familiar, chilling voice said. It was Han.
"I don't want to see you, Han. Never again," Gabriella snapped, her voice trembling.
But before she could hang up, Han's voice turned low and manipulative. "Don't you want to know the truth, Gabriella? Don't you want to know how I was really involved in Kevin's death? If you want the missing piece of that puzzle... come. I'm sending you the location now."
The call disconnected with a sharp click. A second later, a pin dropped on her map.
Gabriella looked at the silver moon in her hand.
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The Bridge of Broken Trust
The sky above Xero Enterprises was a bruised purple, the sun dipping below the horizon and leaving the city in a cold, artificial glow. Gabriella stood on the rusted iron overbridge that connected the corporate towers to the edge of the park. She looked hauntingly beautiful in a forest-green trench coat, her hair whipping around her face in the sharp evening wind. Her heart was a heavy stone in her chest, still aching from the night on the rooftop.
The Fury of a Brother
The rhythmic, heavy thud of combat boots echoed against the metal floor of the bridge. Gabriella didn't have to turn to know who it was. Suddenly, Han was there, moving with lightning speed. He grabbed her arm, his grip so tight it bruised her skin, his eyes burning with a cold, terrifying fury.
"Why did you kill Raina?" he demanded, his voice a low growl. "I know it was you. I know you think you were getting justice for Kevin, but Jake already told you—Raina isn't the one who killed him!"
Gabriella stayed perfectly still, her voice coming from a place of deep, soul-crushing exhaustion. "I know. But that doesn't mean she was innocent. She had blood on her hands too."
Han's grip tightened even more, his face inches from hers. "She killed Lara. That's it. She didn't kill your father, Gabriella. She didn't touch him."
Gabriella's eyes widened, her breath hitching. "What are you saying? If she didn't... then who?"
Han let go of her arm abruptly and let out a dark, jagged chuckle. "The person you trust most in this world," he whispered.
Gabriella stepped back, shaking her head. "Impossible. You're lying to me, Han." She tried to push him away, but Han simply adjusted his black designer coat, looking unbothered.
He reached into his pocket and threw a glossy photo onto the metal grate between them. Gabriella picked it up with trembling fingers. It was a photo of Felix, standing in the shadows of a loud, neon-lit nightclub.
"Don't fool me with a random picture," Gabriella said, her voice turning cold.
"Think, Gabriella," Han said, lighting a cigarette, the smoke curling around his face like a ghost. "Your father left for a meeting right after Felix's birthday party, didn't he? He went to that nightclub to meet a foreign client. That was the last place he was seen before his 'accident.' While you were at home celebrating your husband birthday, Felix was there."
Han then pulled out his phone and showed her a grainy CCTV clip from the Richardson mansion. It showed Felix—cool, calm, and calculated—stealing files from Richardson's private study.
"Felix is the one who stole the evidence of my father's illegal business," Han said, blowing out a cloud of smoke. "He knew your father was involved in money laundering too. Richardson was his target from the very beginning."
"But my father stopped all that after his arrest two years ago!" Gabriella cried out, her mind spinning. "Why would Felix kill him now?"
Han chuckled again, a sound devoid of any warmth. "Are you sure he stopped? Or did Felix just make sure he looked guilty? Ask yourself, Gabriella. Connect the dots. Why did he leave his own birthday party? Why was he at that club? A murderer never admits his crime... but the proof is right in front of you."
Han's eyes darkened as he looked at her one last time. "He didn't just catch Richardson. He executed him."
With that, Han turned and walked away into the shadows of the park, leaving Gabriella alone on the bridge. Her head was spinning, the cold wind biting at her skin. Who exactly was the man she shared a bed with? Why did he help her take down her biological father? And what was he really doing at that nightclub?
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The Stranger in My Bed
The Felix Mansion was swallowed by a heavy, suffocating darkness. No lamps were lit, and the only light came from the moon filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The white chiffon curtains billowed in the midnight breeze like restless ghosts haunting the grand hall. Gabriella stood in the center of the room, a motionless silhouette in a deep emerald silk gown that looked almost black in the shadows.
The Interrogation
Felix entered, his footsteps echoing against the cold marble. He stopped, seeing the lights off and the eerie stillness of his wife. "Gabriella? Why is it so dark in here?"
He walked toward her, his face full of concern, but Gabriella didn't move. Her face was a mask of cold stone, devoid of any warmth.
"Where did you go, Felix? Right after your birthday party?" her voice was a low, dangerous whisper.
Felix froze, his eyes flashing with a momentary shock. "Why are you asking me that now?"
Gabriella let out a dry, disappointed chuckle. "I just want to know. Tell me."
Felix tried to brush it off, stepping closer to cup her cheek with a gentle hand. "It's not necessary, Gabby. You're stressed. You need to rest."
Gabriella didn't melt into his touch. She violently shoved his hand away, her breath hitching as her voice rose to a scream. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST SAY IT?"
The silence that followed was deafening. Gabriella reached into her dress and whipped out the photo Han had given her, throwing it hard at Felix's chest. He caught it before it hit the floor. His gaze dropped to the image: him, standing in the shadows of the very nightclub where Fredrick last seen alive.
"Why were you there?" Gabriella demanded, her eyes burning with tears. "Did you follow my father? That was the last place he went before the accident. Did you know that?"
Felix's jaw tightened, his nerves visible under his skin. "Do you honestly think I killed him?"
"If you don't tell me why you were there, then what else am I supposed to think?"Gabriella snapped.
Felix moved fast, grabbing her hands and pulling her flush against his chest. "Do you really believe I'm a murderer, Gabriella? Look at me!"
"I want to believe you!" she cried, the tears finally falling. "But nothing adds up! Remember three years ago in the park? When the sniper attacked us and you moved with such lightning speed to save me? I believed you then when you said it was just 'business enemies.' But who has killers for business rivals, Felix? And now... you're the one who submitted the evidence to arrest Richardson. Why? What is the grudge between you and him?"
"Who told you all this?" Felix asked, his voice low and trembling.
Gabriella sighed, a sound of pure heartbreak. "So it is true. Who exactly are you, Felix? You're a mystery. Even as your wife, I don't know the man I sleep next to."
She collapsed to her knees, her silk gown pooling around her like spilled ink. Felix knelt with her, his own eyes filling with tears as he grabbed her hands. "Believe me, Gabriella... I am not a bad guy. Please, just trust me."
"Believe you," she scoffed, pulling her hands back with a sudden fury. "Do you know that Felix how painful for me when I heard that word —believe" She paused "I believed two person before.My first love,he betrayed me and next my brother Han, He stabbed me back...How could I again believe?" Her tears fell down.She continued ," If you won't tell me the truth, then you are the one who killed my father in my eyes!"
Felix's tears finally fell, but he remained silent. Gabriella stood up, her face set in a mask of iron. She walked to the sofa and grabbed her leather luggage, which she had already packed.
"Until you're ready to be honest, don't come near me," she said coldly, walking toward the door.
Felix followed her, desperate, grabbing the handle of her suitcase. "Gabriella, no! Don't go! It's dangerous out there!"
"It's more dangerous in here," she snapped. She wrenched the luggage away and walked out into the night. Felix stood on the porch, his hand still reaching out as her car roared to life and disappeared down the dark driveway.
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To be Continued.....
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