The knock on the door sent a jolt through Serena, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. She nearly leaped out of her skin as her eyes fixed on the door, her breath caught in her throat. She quickly and quietly checked the lock before walking away from the door slowly.
"Serena? Are you awake? Open the door." His voice filtered through the door, and she shook her head in a silent, instinctive response. No, no! She couldn’t let him know she was awake—not after what she had just overheard.
The plan, his plan—it was all too much to process. He was really planning to use her, to manipulate her in so calculated move to get rid of grandma. The realization left her in a state of quiet disbelief. How could she have misread him so completely? Could it be true?
She rembered Nathan’s words about her not knowing his brother and faultered. Had she really misjudged him? Just because he had saved her, had she blinded herself to his truth?She swallowed, her thoughts churning. Should she confront him? Ask him outright what was going on? But then, what was she supposed to say? How could she possibly bring it up without revealing that she had been eavesdropping? And that she had heard him order soone to kidnap her tomorrow and then contact Grandma.
How could he have been so devious? He pretended to care about Grandma and then stabbed her in the back like this? She couldn’t even imagine the worry grandma would feel if she received a call like that! What a hypocrite man! She needed to think of sothing...should she confront him?
She shook her head. Confronting him would not be helpful. In fact that might be even more dangerous because then she would reveal that she knew his true face. No. She needed to do sothing else. The knocking distracted her again and she gulped. If she wanted to hide the fact that she did not know anything, then she would have to open the door. She had no choice.
But what was she supposed to do now? She stood up straight, forcing herself to take a deep breath. She needed to look calm, like she’d been asleep, unaware of everything. She glanced at the mirror, patting her face, rubbing her eyes to add a touch of grogginess. Satisfied with her appearance, she nodded to herself.
The knocking grew even more urgent, and she frowned, calling out, "Hold your horses, Aiden! Why are you knocking in the middle of the ni—"
The knocking on the door increased and she frowned, calling out," Hold your horses, Aiden! Why are you knocking in the middle of the ni..."
Before she could finish, the door burst open, the force of it pushing her back. A dark figure stepped inside, his shadow filling the doorway. Serena stumbled, trying to regain her balance, and her eyes widened in horror as she realized it wasn’t Aiden. The voice had been so similar, but this wasn’t him. "What are you doing here?"
The man didn’t answer right away, just stepped further into the room, his presence filling the space with a nacing energy. "I ca here to talk to you," he said, his tone too calm, too casual.
Serena backed away, her heart racing. "? What could we possibly have to talk about? You need to leave. Now. Why are you coming inside?" Her voice wavered, but she forced it to stay steady. "I said leave!"
The man ignored her, closing the door behind him with a quiet click that felt deafening in the silence. The faint sll of alcohol reached her, and a cold dread settled over her as she realized the danger she was in. Desperately, she tried to summon the strength to sound threatening. "Get out now, or I’ll scream."
"Scream?" The man chuckled, the sound low and unsettling. "You think screaming will help you? The entire wing is empty. And even if soone did hear, do you think they’d be able to tell the difference between my voice and Aiden’s? You couldn’t even tell, could you?"
Serena’s blood ran cold. He was right—she had mistaken him for Aiden. Panic began to rise in her chest, but she fought to keep it at bay, to think clearly. And then another thought struck her. There was no one else in the wing?
It was not Aiden in his study but this man. And sohow, he knew that she had heard him. "So it was you," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "It wasn’t Aiden I heard in the study. It was you."
"Very smart. Yes, it was . And I must admit, I’m impressed you figured it out so quickly. But you shouldn’t have. Now I will have to change my plan..."
"You! How could you plan sothing so devious against Grandma? She is your..."
"Shut up! I am not in the mood for any lectures. Now, let get to the point. You need to be taken out of my way. You are Aiden’s weakness. I’d planned to use kidnap you and let Aiden take the bla for it as well as hurting his grandmother. But now that you’ve overheard, it complicates things. So, I’ll have to make sure to shut you up before you can ruin it."
Serena’s breath hitched. "You’re planning to kidnap ," she said, her voice shaking. "And then you’ll call Grandma and—"
"Ah, yes. The plan." He waved a hand dismissively. "It’s just a ans to an end, really. Nothing personal. You were simply in the wrong place at the wrong ti. So, I hope you won’t mind. If you want, you can even help . I will give you a percentage of whatever it is that I gain...
"If you think I’m just going to let you use —let you hurt grandmother—you’re dead wrong."
The man’s smile faded, replaced by a cold, calculating look. "I’m afraid you don’t have much of a choice, Serena."
With that, the man raised a gun and fired it at Serena who moved quickly to avoid it...but wasn’t fast enough...
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