Chapter Two; Ruthless Promises
Chapter Two
Ruthless Promises
Elena’s POV
“Carter! You have a visitor.”
The words pulled me off from thoughts. I looked up at the prison guard, the newspaper I held on to leaving my hands and falling onto the cold concrete floor.
A visitor?
How was that even possible? I had no one visit me for so many years I have been here.
My legs felt strong as I stood up to go know who it was, my mind drifting with a lot of different thoughts as I heard the guard’s voice echo again. “You heard me. Let’s go.”
The walk to the visitor room felt longer than usual,maybe because I have never really had any visitors.I didn’t even try to guess who it could be..there was no point in hoping it was going to be someone useful.
I stepped into the room, looking at a man backing me as I couldn’t really see his face.
He was sitting down, calm as a predator waiting for its prey, a man I had never seen before. His dark hair was laid on his back, not even a single strand out of place .
A tailored suit hugged his perfectly physique body, it was the kind of suit that could not be bought by just anyone…you have it made for you, it was crafted like a piece of art.
He turned to me slowly, his eyes piercing, calculating, and ice cold. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.
“Sit,” he said. His voice was smooth and commanding.
I decided to sit,not because he commanded me to,only because my legs felt too weak to stand and they could give out on me any second from now.
His eyes didn’t leave mine for even a second. “You don’t know who I am, do you?”
I shook my head in ignorance, trying to figure out if I had ever met this man at any point in time. “No. Who are you?”
His lips formed into a faint smile, but there was nothing funny or good about it. “Damien Vance.”
That surname immediately hit me like a slap. Vance. My stomach twisted, my pulse racing. The familiarity of the name immediately clicked itself like a puzzle that figured out itself on its own.
“Vance?” I said, my voice trembling, “As in… Lucas Vance?”
His smile vanished, and his eyes turned hard and turned into something sinister… something devious and short of emotion. “Lucas was my brother.”
I felt my blood turn to ice as the revelation was made to me.
He stepped closer to me, his elbows resting on the table, his hands folded as if he was praying. But nothing waa holy about that evil look in his eyes.
“You killed him.”
The accusation hit me like a punch to the gut. I swallowed my breath,trying to act composed and steady my breathing, it was just useless at the end. “I didn’t kill him”, I shot back.
His laugh was sharp, bitter. “That’s what everyone who has been convicted of a crime calls, isn’t it? But here you are. It’s been what?Ten…Ten years?
Ten years behind bars for murder.”
“I was framed.” The words rushed out from my mouth more forcefully than I expected, my voice trembling but firm. “I never killed your brother. My sister and my boyfriend…they set me up.”
The expression on his face changed. He locked his eyes onto mine, studying me like I was some puzzle he could not solve.
“Convenient,” he said, stepping back to sit on his chair. “Blame the sister and the boyfriend. A pitiful story, really.”
“It’s the truth.” My fists hitting the table. “They wanted me out of the way. They took everything from me. My life, my freedom… my father’s company.”
But Damien did not look convinced for even a second. “Do you have proof?”
I took my time, my heart sinking as I ran out of words to speak. “No,” I whispered in a low voice. “But I can get it.”
He let out a laugh full of mockery. “From prison?”
I despised the way his words hurt me, how they were staring right back at me as the hopelessness I tried so hard to ignore. “You don’t believe me,” I said quietly.
“Why should I?” he shot back. His voice sounded cold and sharper now,“ the day my brother died, you were found at the scene. You were covered in his blood. You were holding the knife. evidence my dear does not ever lie.”
“But people do,” I snapped back at him. “My sister Charlotte and boyfriend Adrian lied. They gave falsified testimony against me, Damien. I don’t know how they did it but they managed to twist the truth to make me look guilty.”
His face grew a little bit less colder than it was before,his icy mask cracking open a split second.
“Please,” I said, my voice shaking. “I know the only thing you want is justice for Lucas. So do I. But you are just looking in the wrong direction”.
He looked at me for a very long time that it felt like an eternity, the silence growing even heavier between the both of us.
Finally, he spoke. “If you’re innocent,” he said, taking his time to choose his next words, “then prove it.”
I took a deep breath, preparing myself for whatever would be the outcome of this conversation. “I can’t do that in here.”
“You want answers?” I continued. “You want to find out who was the one that truly murdered your brother? All you have to do is get me out of here. and I promise to help you do just that.”
His silence was confusing. I could see the changes happening in his mind, his face changing
with different expressions as he weighed all options.
“And what do you want in return?” he asked, his voice carrying a dangerous appeal but strikingly soft.
“Justice,” I said simply. “For Lucas. For me. For everything that was taken from you and I.”
Damien turned back to face the wall, “I never trust anyone in my life and here you are asking me to trust you?”.
“I’m asking you to give me a chance.”
He looked down at me, his expression not one to be read, but I found myself locking my eyes with him in order not to look intimidated.
Fine,” he said finally. “It’s a deal. But this will be done my way, there will be conditions.”
Conditions? What price will I have to pay for this, but I forced myself to nod. “Deal.”
Without another word, he walked away, his footsteps the only thing that could be heard in the empty room.
I sat there, looking at him as he walked away, my mind spinning.What price would I have to pay for my freedom?
As the door slammed closed behind him, I knew that one thing was certain: whatever I was going to face next won’t be easy.
But for the first time after many years, I finally have the opportunity to exact my revenge, and nothing in the world would make me waste it.