A Deal with the Bitch
Demitri stood in the hallway, his eyes glued to the small transparent window of the hospital room.
The sight before him was nothing short of heartbreaking. Harold Donaldson, the proud and stoic patriarch, was kneeling beside his daughter’s bed.
His strong hands, usually so steady and commanding, were shaking as he gently held Ashley’s hand.
Tears streamed down his face, his usually firm expression shattered by guilt and grief.
“I’m so sorry, Ashley. I should have listened to you,” Harold murmured, his voice thick with emotion. “I should’ve known… I should’ve known that Ethan was dangerous. If only I’d trusted you, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”
Demitri watched from the other side of the window, his heart aching for the man who had always been a father figure to him.
He’d never seen Harold like this, broken and vulnerable. The man who had once stood so tall, unwavering in his convictions, was now on his knees begging for his daughter’s forgiveness.
The sight of the mighty Harold Donaldson broken in such a way struck Demitri to his core. He knew the father’s pain, understood his guilt, but there was something else—a burning question that gnawed at him.
Where was Ethan now? And more importantly, what would Harold do when they finally caught him?
Just then, Demitri’s phone buzzed in his pocket, breaking the silence in the hallway.
He pulled it out, to see a strange number on his screen. His finger hovered over the screen for a moment before he answered.
“Hello?” Demitri’s voice was cautious, unsure of who could be calling at this hour.
“Hi, baby,” came a familiar voice, smooth and playful, though it carried a hint of something darker beneath the surface.
“Elena?” Demitri’s stomach dropped. The woman he had tried to forget, the one he thought had vanished from his life years ago, was suddenly on the other end of the line.
“In the flesh, baby,” Elena replied with a smirk he could almost hear through the phone. “You’re still as easy to surprise as ever.”
Demitri’s blood ran cold. He hadn’t heard from Elena in weeks, not since their past had come crashing down.
“I don’t have time for this,” Demitri said, his voice hardening as he reached to end the call.
But Elena’s next words stopped him cold.
“You’ll regret disconnecting this call,” she warned, her tone sharp and pointed. “I’m calling to help you, Demitri. Don’t be so arrogant. You’re too close to everything to mess it up.”
Demitri’s brow furrowed. “Help me? What the hell are you talking about?”
“I know everything that’s been happening,” Elena continued, her voice cool and calculated. “I know where Ethan is, where he’s hiding. And if you want to catch him, I’m the only one who can help you.”
Demitri’s heart pounded in his chest. Ethan—the man who had caused all of this chaos, the one who had abducted Ashley and Irene, who had nearly destroyed everything—was still out there, and now Elena was claiming to know where he was?
“What do you want from me?” Demitri growled, suspicious of her motives. “What’s in it for you?”
Elena let out a soft, mocking laugh. “Six p.m tonight. Be at this location,” she said, sending him an address that appeared in his text messages instantly. “If you don’t, well… let’s just say you’ll regret it. I’ll leave you to figure out the rest on your own.”
The call ended abruptly, leaving Demitri staring at the screen, his grip tightening on the phone.
Turning back to the window, Demitri saw Harold still sitting beside Ashley’s bed, his back to him, but his body hunched with sorrow. Demitri’s heart twisted in his chest. He couldn’t let Ethan get away. He couldn’t let him continue to hurt the people he loved.