Emilia laid motionless under the covers in Carla's guest room as the city's hum was muffled beyond the window like a distant heartbeat. The go-bag sat zipped and ready by the door, it was her only anchor in this new, fragile freedom, because sleep had refused to come and every creak of the building felt like scary footsteps, the type that clicked on the stairs back home. Every shadow on the ceiling looked like Derek's silhouette as she squeezed her eyes shut as if trying to will the eerie feelings away.
When she opened her eyes she reached for her burner phone on the nightstand as she turned it on, its glow lit up her face in cold blue. There were no new messages from either Carla or Alexa, it was just the forwarded email chain she'd sent herself from Derek's study two nights ago, the one she'd deleted from his sent items before slipping out.
Or had she? "She shouldn't check again" she thought, her temple creasing in a frown, as her thumb hovered over the email app. It was paranoia but the doubt gnawed like a splinter under her skin.
She opened the anonymous Gmail Carla had set up. There it was: the forwarded thread from Amanda to Derek. Subject: Final sequence. She'd read those words a dozen times but somehow it still punched the air from her lungs.
> Once the board meeting is set, we present the "amended" shareholder agreement. Alan's signature has been replicated perfectly... Twenty percent becomes zero. Wallace Holdings folds into Carson Global...
Impatiently, she scrolled to the bottom. The sent timestamp stared back at her: 11:47 p.m. The same night she'd been in the study. Then it dawned on her as her stomach twisted.
She had deleted the sent record on Derek's computer and had even waited for the confirmation text to pop up. "Items moved to Trash. Trash emptied.*
But there it was, sitting in her own inbox like a lit fuse.
"What the heck is this?" she thought her fingers were trembling. Was this a glitch? A delayed sync? Or...
She sat up slowly as the sheets pooled around her waist. The room now felt smaller and the air thicker as she opened the detailed headers of the forwarded email. IP address. Device info. Nothing stood out except that the originating server timestamp matched Derek's home network exactly.
Her pulse kicked harder.
This only meant that, if Derek ever checked his sent folder history or worse, he definitely must have seen the forward. He would know someone had been in his study.
He'd know it was her.
And if he knew...
Then the phone vibrated once in her hand. It was not a call but a text and it was from an unknown number.
She stared at it, her breath caught
The message opened itself in her mind before she even tapped:
Nice forward, sunshine.
Did you really think deleting it meant it was gone?
Come home. Or Daddy's heart monitor flatlines tonight.
Her heart sank when she saw an attached live feed screenshot. It was her father, Alan's hospital room after his recent "health scare" which Derek had dismissed as stress. A nurse was adjusting his IV. And the timestamp read three minutes ago.
Emilia's fingers went numb, as her phone slipped from her hand to the bed.
She hadn't told anyone about checking the sent folder tonight, neither Carla or Alexa. Not even herself out loud.
Which meant...
Someone was watching her.
Right now.
She whipped her head toward the window, but the curtains were still drawn with no lights on in the apartment. But the hair on her arms still stood up anyway.
Then came the second buzz.
It was another text from the same unknown number:
"Tick tock, Emilia.
Your move.
Or should I say... Ethan's?"
Her blood froze as her eyes flung wide open.
"Shit!" She groaned, her fingers running through her hair as she folded her knees.
They knew about Ethan Blackwood.
They knew she'd met him.
"How?" her mind echoed in her ears.
The game she had thought she'd just begun... had already been rigged from the start.
She grabbed the phone, her heart slamming against her ribs, and typed the words before her courage could fracture.
"Who are you?"
The reply came almost instantly.
It was four words that instantly turned the room black:
"Closer than you think."
Then the screen went dark and somewhere in the apartment, a floorboard creaked.
Emilia froze, listening to the silence.
Who was already inside??