I moved towards the garage.
The lights were dim, the air felt heavy, but my brain was not able to process, what to do next?
I took the keys and drove to the hospital.
As soon as I went to the reception, I saw a manly figure in front of Aria ward.
I ran forward, as soon as he saw me, he ran in opposite direction.
I chased him, he jumped to the other side of railing, I took a sharp through the end and jumped just before him. But...
He kicked on my stomach and jumped over me, and ran away.
Shit! Ahh! My stomach! His kick was too hard.
I tried to stand up, the staff helped me.
"Are you okay?", a guy asked me.
"Yeah-yeah , I am fine.", I tried to speak.
I got up, dusted my clothes and adjusted my coat.
I rushed towards Aria's room...
I entered the ward — heart pounding. The beeping machines hummed like a heartbeat I couldn't steady.Aria lay there, pale, fragile… but alive.I took a breath, and that's when I saw it — the window slightly open, curtains fluttering, a drop of red on the sill.A note lay beside her hand — folded once, clean, deliberate."You're late again, Lucian. Protect her… if you can."My blood froze.The handwriting… I'd seen it before."Uncle," I whispered.
I am not sure but... The notes and letters he used to send to aunt, had similar handwriting.
I went straight towards the security room.
"Please check the cameras. Someone attacked me, and was in front of the ward 6.", I requested to the guard.
"Sure sir.", The guard moved towards the TV.
He opened the camera 3rd but there was not even a single footage of the man.
"How is that possible?", I shouted.
"Sir, you saw, there is no one as you can see.", the guard instructed me to move out.
Ahh! I ran my fingers through my hairs.
The letter! The man! Nothing? But how.
I pulled out my phone and messaged Theo to find out about all this incident.
And then I called Stephen.
[Hi, any problem?]
"Ask Theo about all and help me to transfer Aria to the best hospital in Greece.", I said and then...
I went straight to the reception.
I slammed the note into my palm until the paper creased.
"Lock every exit. No one leaves this ward." My voice cut the murmur of the reception like a blade.
The receptionist's face went pale. "Sir—"
"Now."
Stephen moved faster than I expected; orders barked, doors bolted. Stella hovered, lips white, too practiced. She claimed calm—her hands betrayed her.
I handed the note to Stella. "Keep this. Don't let anyone touch it. Send a copy to Theo. And pull every handwriting sample you have from Aunt Stepha's files."
The security guard swallowed and rewound the CCTV. We watched the feed — every angle, every corridor, every second. And then we watched it again.
Nothing.
The man who'd kicked me, who'd run past the ward, had vanished like smoke.
No frame skipped; no glitch.
Either the camera had been looped, or someone had cut the feed and made it look clean.
Someone wanted us to believe nothing had happened.
I slammed my phone open and called Theo.
"Trace any car that crossed the riverside 30 minutes ago. Plate, GPS, owner. Now."
My screen pinged before I hung up: a single message and an image.
A parked car outside a dim warehouse. The Gail insignia sprayed on the wall. And on the passenger seat — a black beaded watch I knew it certainty belonged to Aria.
The text under it read: "Registered owner: Blackveil Logistics. Last ping: 02:34 — 24 hours ago. Trace: Kensington branch."
I swallowed hard. Stephen watched the phone, then looked at me — something raw and unreadable in his eyes.
"Kensington," I said. "They brought her closer than I thought."
My next message to Stephen was one word.
"Bring me every name attached to Blackveil Logistics."
I turned to leave the hospital room when my phone buzzed again.No name. No number. Just one message.
"Step out of that door, and Aria's heartbeat will stop."
My chest tightened. The beeping monitor beside her pulsed… slow. Then slower.My mind went blank — every instinct screaming don't move.
The lights flickered once.Someone had tampered with the system.I could feel eyes on me — from nowhere, from everywhere.
My phone buzzed again, this time a call. I hesitated, then answered.The voice that came through wasn't human. It was altered, deep, robotic — but the words still hit like a knife.
"If you want to save her, don't come to Kensington."
Click.The call ended.
The beeping sped up again — normal, steady — as if nothing had happened.But it wasn't nothing.
A faint vibration echoed in the wall. I turned — and froze.A red dot from a laser sight hovered right over Aria's chest.My blood ran cold.
Shotgun!!!!!
I lunged forward, dragging the curtain across her bed — and the laser vanished.The window? Empty.The hallway? Silent.
Then, my phone buzzed one last time. A photo appeared on screen.
Aria's room. Taken from outside.And in the background…me, standing by her side.
The caption below it read:
"You were warned, Valle. Kensington is waiting."
WE ARE TRAPPED!!! FROM ALL SIDES.
My grip tightened around the phone until the screen cracked beneath my thumb.The sound echoed through the sterile hospital room.
"They think they can threaten me?" I whispered, every word trembling with fury.
I slammed my fist into the wall — pain shot up my arm, grounding me, feeding me.They wanted fear. I'll give them silence. Then fire.
I turned back to Aria — her fragile form, the steady rhythm of the monitor."They'll never touch you again," I said, voice low, dangerous."Not while I'm still breathing."
Pulling out my phone, I dialed Theo."Track the call that came five minutes ago. Trace every signal near the hospital's perimeter.And Theo… lock down the Valle network. I want every Gail associate in Greece under surveillance by dawn."
[On it, sir.]
I ended the call and adjusted my coat, the rage now burning quieter — focused.My chest still heaved, but my voice was cold steel now.
"They wanted war…" I muttered, stepping toward the door."They're about to see what hell really looks like."
As I walked out, my phone buzzed again — this time, Theo's name flashed on the screen.
"Lucian, we traced the call," his voice came through, slightly distorted."It wasn't routed through any local tower. The signal bounced off a private satellite — registered under a trading company."
My heart skipped once. "Which one?"
Theo hesitated. "Gail Corporation."
I froze.That name wasn't just a business — it was a ghost from my father's era.A dead company, buried years ago.
My voice dropped to a whisper. "It's supposed to be gone."
Theo exhaled. "Then someone just brought it back from the grave."
I stood in the empty hallway, the fluorescent lights flickering above me, the storm outside reflecting the one within.
Gail Corporation.The company my uncle built.
The company his rivals destroyed.
And now… it was alive again.
A slow smirk crept onto my face."Looks like the past wants to play again," I murmured, slipping my gloves back on."Let's give it a proper welcome."