Chapter 132: Everything faded into darkness
Third person’s POV
By the time Ethan steered his car onto the highway, the knot that had been lodged in his chest for days had finally begun to loosen.
Jade was alive.
He had heard his voice. It had been shaky and tired, but unmistakably Jade’s, and for the first time since the kidnapping, hope no longer felt like something he had to force himself to believe.
His fingers rested lightly on the steering wheel as the cabin disappeared in the rearview mirror. The lake, the armed guards, and Raina herself gradually vanished behind the trees, yet none of them left his thoughts.
The conversation replayed over and over in his mind.
Raina had somehow found Jade before anyone else.
She had known where he was when neither the police nor Susan nor Ethan himself had been able to uncover a single lead. She had handed him a phone as though she had anticipated exactly how that moment would unfold, watching silently while relief washed over him without asking for gratitude or recognition.
It should have made him grateful.
Instead, it left him deeply unsettled.
He couldn’t reconcile the woman he had once fallen in love with with the woman he’d just left behind. She had spoken about love with complete sincerity, yet every decision she made seemed to pull her further away from the person he remembered. She wasn’t acting out of anger anymore. That would have been easier to understand. What frightened him was how calm she had become, as though every line she crossed had convinced her she was doing the right thing.
His grip tightened unconsciously.
She genuinely believed she was protecting him.
That thought disturbed him more than anything else she’d said.
The highway stretched ahead in long, empty ribbons of asphalt. Traffic was light, and the late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the road. Ethan lowered the driver’s side window slightly, letting the cool air clear the lingering fog from his mind, but it did little to untangle the questions chasing one another through his thoughts.
If Raina had found Jade, who had kidnapped him in the first place?
Why had the exchange been postponed?
Why had she waited until now to reveal herself?
None of the pieces fit together. Every answer seemed to create two new questions, and the more he thought about them, the more convinced he became that he was missing something important.
His phone lay on the passenger seat.
He considered calling Susan.
She deserved to know Jade was alive.
His hand drifted toward the device before stopping halfway.
Not yet.
He needed time to think. More importantly, he needed to decide how much of his meeting with Raina he could even explain. If he told Susan everything, she would demand answers he simply didn’t have.
He exhaled slowly and returned both hands to the wheel.
The steady hum of the tires against the road gradually became the only sound inside the car.
Behind him, several vehicles traveled at a comfortable distance, blending into the ordinary rhythm of afternoon traffic.
One of them was a black SUV.
It maintained its position for several minutes, never drawing attention to itself. At first it remained four or five car lengths behind, matching Ethan’s speed with practiced patience. Then, almost imperceptibly, it began closing the distance.
Ethan never noticed.
His attention remained fixed on the road ahead while his thoughts wandered elsewhere.
He was still thinking about Jade’s voice.
About the relief that had almost brought him to tears.
About the strange expression on Raina’s face as she watched him realize his friend was alive. She hadn’t smiled or asked for thanks. For one fleeting moment, she had simply looked... relieved.
As though seeing him breathe freely again had been enough.
The memory unsettled him.
He had spent so much time trying to convince himself that the woman he loved no longer existed, yet moments like that made it impossible to separate who she had been from who she was becoming.
A bend in the highway came into view.
Ethan guided the car smoothly into the curve.
The SUV behind him accelerated.
Its engine growled as it surged into the opposite lane, closing the remaining distance in seconds before cutting sharply across the front of Ethan’s car.
His eyes widened.
"What the hell—"
He slammed both feet onto the brake pedal.
The tires shrieked against the asphalt, and the seatbelt locked violently across his chest. Momentum threw him forward before snapping him back into his seat. His forehead clipped the steering wheel hard enough to send a burst of pain across his skull.
The car shuddered to a stop only a few feet from the SUV’s rear bumper.
For a moment, everything blurred.
A dull ringing filled his ears.
He blinked rapidly, trying to steady his vision as pain throbbed behind his eyes.
"What..."
His voice came out hoarse.
The doors of the SUV swung open.
Two men climbed out.
Neither of them hurried.
Their movements were controlled, almost casual, as though they’d done this countless times before. Dark jackets concealed their builds, while black caps cast shadows across their faces, making it impossible to distinguish more than the outlines of their features.
A cold sensation crept through Ethan’s chest.
Every instinct told him to get away.
He threw the gearshift into reverse and pressed the accelerator.
The engine roared.
The car lurched backward only slightly before jolting to a stop.
His stomach dropped.
One of the men had already reached the driver’s side door.
The handle rattled violently.
Locked.
Ethan’s breathing became uneven.
His phone.
He reached desperately toward the passenger seat, fingertips brushing against it just as a deafening crash exploded beside him.
The driver’s side window shattered.
Glass sprayed across his lap and the dashboard in a glittering wave.
Before he could react, a gloved arm forced its way through the broken window, unlocked the door from the inside, and yanked it open.
Cold air rushed into the cabin.
The man seized Ethan’s arm.
Ethan twisted violently, wrapping both hands around the steering wheel with every ounce of strength he had.
"Get off me!"
His voice echoed across the empty highway.
"What do you want?"
Another pair of hands grabbed his shoulder.
He kicked wildly, his heel connecting solidly with someone’s knee.
The man barely flinched.
Instead, he tightened his grip.
Together they wrenched Ethan from the driver’s seat.
His shoulder slammed against the pavement, sending pain shooting down his arm. Before he could regain his footing, one of the men planted a boot beside his head, blocking any chance of escape.
Ethan struggled anyway, trying to crawl backward.
"Who are you?" he shouted, glaring up at them. "Tell me what you want!"
Neither man answered.
One of them calmly reached beneath his jacket and withdrew a compact device from his belt.
Ethan’s eyes locked onto it just as the man stepped closer.
Before Ethan could react, the man pressed the device against his side.
A sharp crack split the air.
Agony tore through his body.
Every muscle locked at once, forcing a cry from his throat as the current ripped through him. His back arched violently off the pavement before all strength vanished from his limbs. His fingers, which only seconds earlier had been clawing at the asphalt, curled uselessly against the ground.
His vision fractured into flashes of light.
The faces above him dissolved into indistinct silhouettes.
The last thing he heard was the dull thud of the car door closing, followed by the steady rhythm of footsteps moving around him.
Then everything disappeared.