𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | 𝟏𝟖+

chapter eleven

ARIA

EVERYTHING HAPPENED IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE. My ears were ringing, and the air was filled with fog. My mind raced, but I couldn't process the whirlwind of events unfolding before me. It all occurred so quickly, a blur of chaos.

The feeling of someone's hand forcefully pulling me in an unknown direction snapped me out of my thoughts. Squinting, I found myself bathed in bright light. I was outside now, the fog dissipating, revealing the details of my surroundings. Glancing around, I noticed my mother beside me, while my father gripped my arm. We stood in front of a black SUV, and without warning, I was thrown inside along with my mother, joined by someone else.

Stella.

And then, everything fell into place. I remembered it all. My father and Ronan engaged in an almost never-ending battle, but eventually, a stillness settled in the air as my father emerged with Stella. He had taken her from Nicholas' and Ronan's home, forcefully rendering her unconscious while holding a gun to torment them.

The silence enveloped us, the atmosphere shrouded in nothing but fog, and now we found ourselves confined in a car. Father entered the vehicle, accompanied by the driver. Peering out the window, I watched as the engine roared to life, and we began to drive. I flinched as the entire warehouse erupted into shards just as we sped away onto the road.

Nicholas and Ronan remained trapped inside the warehouse, along with the other bodies taken by Ronan Ivanov. I fervently hoped that both Nicholas and Ronan had managed to escape before my father detonated it.

My attention turned to Stella, peacefully sleeping on my lap. I could only imagine the fear she must have felt when they injected her with the sleep-inducing needle. She didn't deserve any of this, nor to be caught in the midst of it.

Eventually, the car came to a stop, and I raised my gaze to take in our new surroundings. We had parked in front of a mansion, although it wasn't our family home. The exterior appeared aged and neglected, as if it had been abandoned for over a decade. The car door creaked open as the driver stepped out.

"Please be careful," I exclaimed to the man carrying Stella as he led her through the gate of the mansion.

My mother tried to touch me, but I pulled my arm away and followed the man carrying Stella. The mansion's door swung open immediately, revealing my older twin brothers. Ares pulled me into a hug, but I didn't reciprocate. I stood there, staring at my cousin Amelia, tears welling up in her eyes.

Finally, Ares released me, and I made my way inside without sparing a glance for Amelia. I knew she wanted to say something, but she couldn't. Her eyes spoke instead of her lips, and I resented that.

As I attempted to locate the room where Stella had been taken, the door slammed shut, and my father's words echoed emptily in my ears. "What did they do to you?" I slowly turned around and stared at them all. My gaze shifted from my father to my mother, who had tears in her eyes. Then I looked at my twin brothers and, finally, at Amelia.

I shook my head from side to side, unable to find the right words to express myself. The only thing that came to mind was Ronan. In roughly twenty-four hours, my entire family and I would meet our demise at his hands. Both he and Nicholas had warned me about this.

"My brother is a man of many things, including the things you've heard about him. He's calculated, and he may seem like he's not listening, but he is. He's always one step ahead. He always has a plan B, and C, and any letter after that. You might not be scared, or even worried, but you should be. In fact, I want you to be. And the only reason why I'm telling you all of this is that if tomorrow doesn't go as he wants, Plan A, the only plan that should take place tomorrow, he will resort to Plan B, and there won't be any other letters after that because we will all be dead," If Ronan and Nicholas had escaped the warehouse before it exploded, then our fate was already sealed. And now, we were twice as doomed because my father had taken away the one person who meant the most to both Nicholas and Ronan.