The stranger's warning

Camelia stared at the ring, the diamond glittering under the soft morning light. Her heart tightened, her chest hammering against her ribs. She wanted to feel joy, to ravel in the moment but a cacophony of doubts drowned out every rational thought.

Her hands trembled as she looked into Zayden's expectant eyes. "I can't ," she whispered.

Zayden frozen, his confident demeanor faltering for the first time. "What!"

She stood up abruptly, wrapping her arms around herself. “I can’t marry you, Zayden. You’re already married. This... us... it’s wrong.”

This brows furrowed as he rose to his feet, frustration flickering in his dark eyes. "Camellia, listen to me. My marriage-it's not what you think. It's a business arrangement, nothing more. There's no love between us. I'm planning a divorce."

Her breath hitched. "But you are still married now," she insisted, her voice rising. "What am I supposed to do Zayden? Sit around and wait for you to decide my future? To be the other woman in your life?"

"No," he said firmly. "You aren't the other woman. Infact, you are the only woman I love," he said softly, his affectionate gaze piercing at her. "The only woman I have ever truly loved. I’ll end my marriage, and then it will just be us. No lies, no secrets. I’ll take care of everything.”

Camellia shook her head, taking a step back. “You can’t just fix this with promises, Zayden. This isn’t just about your marriage. It’s about everything—the lies, the secrets, the danger I feel every time I’m with you. I can’t keep pretending this will all magically go away.”

His expression softened, his hands falling to his side. "I know I have made mistakes, Cam," he admitted, his voice low. "But I can fix this. Fix us. I love you, Camellia. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I’ll do whatever it takes to prove that to you.”

Tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked it away. "I need time, Zayden," she said, her voice trembling. "I can't make.....a decision, right now. Please.... just let me go."

For a moment, he didn't move, his jaw tightening. But then he nodded and step aside. "I'll wait for you," he said quietly, the usual light in his features, dimmed. However long it takes. Just know that I'm serious about us, Camellia."

Outside the hotel, the cool air bite at her skin, a stark contrast of the streams of heat inside her. She fished the stranger's card from her pocket, staring at the address scrawled across it. She needed answers and she needed them now.

Camellia hailed down a taxi and directed the address to the driver. The bustling city of Las Vegas blur past her, but the stranger's words kept replaying over and over again. "The Blackwoods have secrets-dangerous one."

The cab stopped in front of a nondescript building in a quieter part of town. She hesitated, her instincts warning her to turn back, but her curiosity pushed her forward.

She stepped into the building and followed lit corridor to the specified room. The door was slightly ajar, her mind raced as she pushed it open cautiously with a trembling hand.

"Hello," she called out, her voice ringing in the empty space.

The room was small and sparse with only a chair and table. Papers and documents scattered on the floor and all over the floor and on worn out bed, but there was no trace of the stranger.

Camellia stepped inside, her gaze scanning the room. On the desk, a single envelope sat with her name scrawled across it in bold letters. She reached for it, her fingers trembling.

Opening, the envelope, she found a single photograph and a handwritten note. The photo was grainy but unmistakable—it showed Zayden standing with the chief judge and a group of other men. They stood before what appeared to be a heavily secured private club.

The note reads:

"Trust no one, the Blackwood's secret run deeper than you can ever imagine. . If you want the truth, look where no one else dares to. And be careful, because you don't know who's watching."

Camellia's stomach churned as she stared at the image again. What was Zayden doing with the chief judge? She had thought, he was different, but why does that seemed like a lie? And why had the stranger disappeared without giving her more information?

She searched the room for more clues, but found none. Frustration bubbled within her, and she slammed the envelope on the desk in anger. She felt like a pawn in a game, she didn't understand, trapped between Zayden's love, the shadowy truth surrounding him and his family, and then her ultimate goal—revenge."

As she left the building, the note and photograph tucked securely in her bag, a sense of foreboding settled over her. She knew one thing for certain: if she wanted answers, she’d have to find them herself.

As Camellia stepped back into her apartment, she tossed her bag away and collapsed onto the chair. Her mind reeled from the events of the day—the photograph, the warning, the mysterious disappearance of the stranger.

A buzz on her phone, jolted her back to the present. She snatched it up instinctively and glanced at the screen. A news alert flashed across it.

“Rusticated Officer Found Dead in Abandoned Building. Possible Homicide Under Investigation.”

Her stomach dropped as she opened the article. The face of the stranger stared back at her, accompanied with the report.

“Former police detective Nicholas Reid, who was discharged from the force under mysterious circumstances, was discovered dead earlier today in a derelict building in Las Vegas. Sources suggest foul play. Authorities are yet to discover the circumstances surrounding his death...."

Her blood ran cold, the phone slipped out of her grasp, clattering onto the floor. Nicholas Reid, he wasn't just a stranger, but a disgraced police officer, who had been trying to expose the truth.

And now, he was dead.

The room spun as realization sets in. Everything now made sense. Whosoever had silenced him, won't hesitate to do the same to her.

Her body trembled with just one thought rooted in her mind. She wasn't safe.

Not anymore.