𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐬

~The Plan~

Ariella's POV

He made it look so real. 

He made it look too real. 

I knew that they were all alive and the footage was fake, but I almost believed it. 

I don't know if I want to shoot or hug Cameron's hacker. 

I'm just glad it's over. 

The day after my birthday, Cameron sat me down and told me he saw a camera snapping pictures of us from a neighboring building. Apparently, he sent Adrian to investigate and he found out that the person who was taking the pictures looked awfully familiar to the bounty picture the Pakhan of the Russian mafia sent out 23 years ago. 

At first, he thought it was just a small enemy looking to cause trouble, but then one of the members of the mafia told Cameron that the Pakhan was coming to New York to find his long-lost daughter. 

Cameron connected the dots from there. 

I didn't know Aslan was my dad until Malakai called me, then it all made sense. 

So we made a plan.

The day before my real dad came to the city, Cameron and I figured that Malakai would contact me soon and try to get the upper hand. We just didn't expect it to be so soon. 

From there, I took over with the plan to finally end this. Because if we just ignored it, Malakai would keep coming back and we needed something so dramatic, yet so foolproof to make this end. 

I told Cameron I'd write a letter so that Malakai wouldn't suspect anything suspicious and believe that I had truly given up. Then, I'd write the address of where he wanted me to be, somewhere unsuspecting. Cameron said that Malakai might be prepared for the situation where he found out where I was and will have a backup plan to take me elsewhere. 

Leo pitched in and said that Malakai would want to use the fact that they'd all be there to rescue me, to his advantage, and kill us on the spot. He'd use my seemingly, "mistake", as his advantage to get rid of any loose ends. 

So then the plan of creating a fake video came about.

Personally, I knew that Malakai would want to brag and would confess on the spot. So when I first got there, I put a mic in my ear so it would record everything that he said and did to me. The mic also doubled a tracker, so they would know where to find me. 

All I had to do was act. 

The main reason why I acted so well, was because I made myself believe that they were all dead. I made myself think that this was the end for me. I convinced myself that I would never get my happy ending. 

And so I acted. 

Acted like he broke me. 

Acted like he won. 

I acted weak. 

The reason why I wanted a confession and let Malaki take me hostage instead of letting Cameron kill him on the spot, was because I wanted to do it the right way. 

I want him to rot in prison. 

I want him to know that I came out alive. 

That I had won. 

And I wanted to hear him say it. Say how he killed my mom. I wanted him to admit it. 

I wanted to admit that he hurt me.