Chapter 9 Betrayal in the Dark

Darkness swallowed the room like a beast with no mercy.

The power cut was so sudden, so unexpected that for a second, I stood still - held my breath, body tensed, waiting for the sting of a bullet, the rush of footsteps, the crack of betrayal to finish what it has already started.

But there was nothing.

Just silence. No movement.

Then I heard a soft, familiar voice behind me.

"Micheal..."

The voice sounds exactly like "Jules."

I turned slowly.

The emergency backup lights flickered on, painting the penthouse in a dim, crimson glow. Her face was half-lit, unreadable, her expression too calm for someone supposedly caught in the middle of a crisis. In the middle of her actions.

"Tell me it's not true," I said, voice hoarse, but steady.

She didn't flinch.

"Tell me you didn't sell me out."

"Tell me you are not among those that stole my son Liam out."

Her lips parted, but no words came.

The silence between us stretched and thickened like fog. My hands curled into fists.

"You were the one person I trusted completely with my life. You've been beside me since day one, Jules. Through the fire. Through the f*cking graveyard. Through every pain and struggle I have been through. And now-"

"I didn't mean for it to go this far," she said softly. "I swear."

"You gave him Liam."

My only son, and you have the audacity to still open that your disgsting mouth to talk back.

"No!" she cried suddenly. "I didn't know he'd take the boy. I just passed information. Small things. Nothing I thought would matter. Meetings. Addresses. I didn't know-"

I took a step toward her. "You didn't know?

With an aggressive look on my face trying to pour out all my anger on her.

Jules, he took my son."

Tears welled in her eyes.

"I didn't know you were the father," she whispered.

That stunned me.

"You what?"

"I didn't know Liam was yours, Micheal. I thought Isabella was just some woman you were protecting. Some charity cases. I thought-" She looked down. "I thought she was using you."

I stared at her, my heart beating out of sync.

"And that justified feeding information to a psychopath?"

Jules wiped at her cheek. "He offered me something I couldn't refuse. My brother - Aiden promised to pay for his treatment. You know what the medical bills are like. You know how helpless it feels to watch someone you love rot in a hospital bed while the world keeps spinning."

I wanted to feel sympathy. I did.

But I couldn't.

Not when my son was out there, scared and alone, and in chians just because the one person I trusted had sold us out for a price.

"Where is he?" I asked, low and cold. "Where is Aiden keeping Liam?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I swear, Micheal. I was cut out once the video dropped. He doesn't trust me anymore either. He said I was too emotionally attached."

"Damn right you were."

Jules took a shaky breath. "I want to fix this. Let me help. Let me make this right."

I stared at her, debating whether to throw her out the window or put a bullet through her laptop and erase every trace of her access to my systems.

But I needed information.

And right now, she was the only one who might lead me to Aiden.

I pulled my phone. "Marcus, send two men to watch Jules. If she moves an inch without permission, shoot her in the leg. Not the head. She's still useful."

She flinched, but didn't argue.

Smart girl.

I turned to go when she said something that stopped me cold.

"He didn't just want the boy, Micheal. He wants you."

I turned back slowly.

"What?"

Jules's voice dropped to a whisper. "Aiden has a personal grudge. He believes you killed his sister."

That hit me like a sucker punch.

"I don't even know his sister."

"Her name was Annalise," she said. "Annalise Gray. She worked at Knight Holdings three years ago. She jumped from the 28th floor."

My throat tightened.

I remembered that day.

A junior analyst. Quiet. Barely noticed.

An investigation ruled it suicide. No foul play. HR was tight-lipped. The media didn't care.

But someone clearly did.

"He blames you," Jules said. "He said you drove her to it."

I clenched my jaw, memories flashing. I didn't remember ever speaking to her directly. But that didn't mean I wasn't part of the machine that broke her.

"He thinks taking Liam will destroy you," she finished.

It already was.

---

I didn't sleep that night.

I didn't sit, didn't blink, didn't breathe unless it was to think of my next move.

By morning, Marcus sent intel - one of our drones caught a glimpse of a black van entering an old textile warehouse by the edge of the water.

Bingo.

I didn't wait.

Within thirty minutes, I was on the ground with a small tactical team.

Marcus flanked me. Isabella stayed back, under heavy protection.

The warehouse loomed like a rusted skeleton. Silent. Still.

Too still.

I motioned for the team to spread out.

Then I kicked in the main door.

Empty.

No Liam.

No guards.

Just one thing.

A small teddy bear - Liam's favorite - lying on the floor in a pool of crimson.

I picked it up slowly, heart pounding in my ears.

Was it real?

Blood?

Fake?

Trap?

Then a sound.

A phone rang.

On the far wall, taped to a rusted metal beam, was a burner phone.

I walked over and picked it up.

Connected the call.

"A bit slow, aren't you, Mr. Knight?" Aiden's voice purred. "But at least you got the invitation."

My jaw locked.

"If you hurt him-"

"Oh, relax. I'm not going to hurt him. Not yet. I want you to feel every ounce of what I felt when I watched my sister fall."

I closed my eyes, fists clenched.

"You want me? You got me. Just let the boy go."

He chuckled. "You really don't understand, do you? This isn't about getting you. It's about breaking you. Piece by piece."

Then silence.

Dead tone.

---

I threw the phone.

Marcus caught it mid-air.

"What now?" he asked.

I didn't answer.

Because behind me, on the wall where the phone had been taped...

It was a single sheet of paper.

Typed. Clean. Neat.

A location.

A time.

And three words at the bottom:

"Come alone, Micheal."