Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO RAN
Trevor escaped through a service corridor.
According to security, someone had opened an employee-only exit from outside.
That meant he hadn’t acted alone.
Roman became a different man the second he heard.
Still calm.
Still quiet.
But everything around him began moving.
Calls.
Security teams.
Camera footage.
License plates.
Names.
The Ghost didn’t raise his voice.
He just gave orders, and people obeyed.
I watched from the back seat of Roman’s car while his head of security, Marcus, drove us home.
“You should have told me,” I said.
Roman looked out the window.
“I know.”
“That isn’t an apology.”
“No.”
He turned toward me.
“I’m not going to apologize before I explain.”
I stared at him.
“Fine. Explain.”
Roman loosened his tie.
“Your father worked for my father, Victor Vale.”
“I thought your father built everything legally.”
Roman gave me a look.
“You’ve never believed that.”
He was right.
Victor Vale had been brilliant, ruthless, and feared.
He died before I met Roman.
“What did my dad find?”
“A ledger.”
“Of what?”
“Payments.”
“To who?”
“Judges. Contractors. Police. Politicians.”
I felt cold.
“My father found proof your father was corrupt?”
“Yes.”
“And then he disappeared.”
Roman said nothing.
I turned toward him.
“Did Victor kill him?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I was seventeen.”
“But you investigated.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Roman stared at his hands.
“My father told me Elias stole from him and ran.”
“Did you believe him?”
“At seventeen?”
Roman looked up.
“Yes.”
The admission hurt more than I expected.
“When did you stop believing him?”
“When my father died.”
“Why?”
“Because I found the ledger.”
My throat tightened.
“You found the file my father stole?”
“A copy.”
“Where?”
“In my father’s private safe.”
I stared.
“That means my father didn’t steal it and run.”
“I know.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
Roman looked directly at me.
“Because the ledger also contained your father’s name.”
I froze.
“As a whistleblower?”
Roman didn’t answer.
“As what?”
“A recipient.”
“No.”
“Sadi—”
“No.”
“My father wasn’t corrupt.”
“I didn’t say he was.”
“You just said his name was on a bribery ledger!”
Roman leaned closer.
“The ledger showed payments. It did not explain why they were made.”
I shook my head.
“You should have told me before we got married.”
“Yes.”
That answer crushed me.
No defense.
No excuse.
Just yes.
The car slowed outside our townhouse.
Marcus suddenly cursed.
Roman’s head snapped up.
“What?”
Marcus pointed toward the front entrance.
The door was open.
Roman immediately reached across me.
“Stay in the car.”
He got out.
Marcus followed.
I sat there, heart pounding.
Our home had never looked frightening before.
Now the dark doorway looked like a mouth.
Roman disappeared inside.
Thirty seconds.
Then a minute.
I couldn’t stand it.
I got out.
“Sadi!”
Marcus’s voice came through the doorway.
Too late.
I walked into the living room.
Nothing was stolen.
Nothing was overturned.
Only one thing had been disturbed.
A framed photo of my mother had been placed on the dining table.
Beside it was a yellow sticky note.
Roman stood perfectly still.
I picked it up.
Four handwritten words.
HE DIDN’T ABANDON YOU.
Underneath was an address.
May you like
And a time.
Midnight. Come alone.
