Chapter 16
June
We stood ready, guns in hand, bodies tense. The keypad had finally opened the door, and whatever waited on the other side was no longer a question.
The doors slid apart.
Four men stood in the hallway.
Only four. For some reason, that felt almost anticlimactic.
After everything we'd imagined over the last three days, I'd expected an army. Dozens of people waiting outside, weapons raised, ready to tear the building apart just to get to us.
But it didn’t matter.
They weren't our friends. Their eyes were hard, filled with a hatred I couldn't understand. They didn't know me. I didn't know them. Yet they looked at me as if they had every reason in the world to want me dead.
I barely had time to process it.
Kai moved first.
One second, he was beside me. The next, he was in front of me. The gun slipped from my hand, and my legs weakened.
A flash of panic ripped through me. Then Kai's arm hooked around my waist, pulling me against him while his other hand lifted his gun.
The first shot exploded through the hallway, followed by another, then another. The sound was deafening as the men fired back. There was no warning. No demands. No last chance to surrender.
Just bullets.
Kai turned his body, shielding me as much as he could while firing over my shoulder. I ducked instinctively. My ears rang, and my heart slammed against my ribs. One of the men dropped. Then another.
Kai didn't stop until the hallway went silent.
“Elevator.”
He dragged me backward toward the lift, keeping his gun trained on the bodies. We stumbled inside as the doors began to close and then sealed us away from the hallway.
For several seconds, neither of us moved. I stood against the wall, trying to remember how to breathe. My hands were shaking, and my legs felt weak.
I forced myself upright and took a slow breath. Then another. The elevator hummed around us. Kai didn't relax. He stood in front of me, gun still raised, eyes fixed on the doors.
Then—
Ding.
The elevator stopped. Kai immediately raised both guns. The doors opened, and he fired.
I flinched. “Kai!”
The hallway was empty. Smoke drifted lazily through the air. Nothing moved.
“I thought I saw something,” he said, lowering his guns slightly.
“Spooky.”
He looked at me as though I was crazy.
“What?”
“You know this is a haunted building, right?” I shrugged. “It has a reputation.”
“Are you serious?”
“Unfortunately.”
I was supposed to believe in science, not paranormal woo-woo stuff. But I really didn’t know how else to explain this phenomenon. Unless it was another security systems Dannie had installed.
The elevator moved again. Painfully slowly. Kai's raised his gun.
This time, when the doors opened, he didn't immediately shoot.
A shadow moved across the hallway—human-shaped, fast. It came toward us, then vanished.
Kai stared after it. “Fuck.”
I smiled. “This place is like a horror movie.”
“How are you not scared?” he asked, frustration creeping into his voice.
“I’m kinda use to it,” I said, realizing how sad that sounded.
“Great.” He wasn't amused.
The elevator continued downward, slowly, but the extra time gave me time to breathe. My legs gradually stopped shaking, my grip tightened around the gun, and I could stand on my own again. I wasn't completely helpless.
That mattered.
The display finally changed.
G.
Ground floor.
Kai and I looked at each other. Neither of us said anything. We lifted our guns, and I shifted slightly to make sure he wasn't in my line of fire. The doors began to open.
“Don't shoot!” A man's voice echoed through the opening.
“Don't shoot!” Another voice joined him.
I froze. I knew those voices.
“Dannie?”
The doors opened completely.
And there he was.
Standing in the hallway.
For a second, I couldn't move. He looked thinner. Paler. Exhausted. But alive.
“June.” He smiled. It was weak, barely there, but it was his.
I lowered my gun and moved before I even realised it. I reached up and cupped his face. His skin was cold beneath my palms.
“You're here.”
His hand closed gently around my wrist. Then, almost casually, he took the gun from my other hand, just like he used to take my handbag when it was too heavy. Like nothing had changed.
“Let's get you out of here first,” he said.
A thousand questions fought to get out.
Why had he come? Was he feeling well? How did he know we were here? Who were those men? What had happened to everyone else?
“This way.”
I recognised the second voice.
“Beng.”
He gave me a brief nod. Several more people stood behind Dannie. I recognised only Beng, but the others moved with the confidence of people who already knew exactly what they were doing.
Beng made a quick hand gesture, and the group immediately divided. Two here. Three there. Another pair toward the opposite entrance. Everyone seemed to know their role.
We moved through the building. Blood stained the floor. Dark streaks marked the walls. Fresh bullet holes scarred surfaces that hadn't been damaged when we'd entered. But there were no bodies, and no one stopped to explain.
Outside, several vehicles were already waiting. Beng headed toward a large luxury MPV and climbed into the front passenger seat. Dannie followed, and I climbed in after him. Kai came last, taking the back row.
The driver accelerated before any of us had properly settled. I grabbed the armrest, and Kai's shoulder hit the side of the seat.
“Are you okay?” I turned toward him.
He was still pale. His injured back had taken a beating over the last few days, and now we'd just spent several minutes fighting. He gave me a look that was almost amused. “I've been better.”
I glanced at Dannie, then back at Kai. For the first time since we'd left the apartment, I allowed myself to breathe.
Dannie was alive. Kai was alive. And somehow, we were all in the same car.
But the relief didn't last long.
Because if Dannie was here, then something had gone very, very wrong.
“I'm so sorry about this.” Dannie interrupted before Kai could answer. His large hand came up to cup my cheek, warm despite the rest of him looking so pale.
I caught his wrist. “Your hand.” I reached for his other one too, holding both between mine. “They're freezing.”
“I'm fine.” His smile was as warm as ever. “Liam gave me the free pass to fly.”
It was my fault for thinking my brother could stop Dannie from doing anything.
“Why are you here?” Kai asked. There was a scolding edge to his voice.
Dannie looked at him, and his expression softened.
“I had to, brother. It wasn’t fair to leave you two to handle my problems.”
He coughed. Only once. But I noticed the way he turned his head slightly and swallowed before forcing himself to breathe normally again. The kind of cough patients tried to hide when they didn't want the people they loved to worry. I hated seeing it on him.
“We could have handled it,” Kai said. “Given enough time.”
“No.” I kept my eyes on the window. “But the truth is, we barely made it out.”
Dannie was quiet.
“But you did,” he said eventually.
I turned toward him. “Speaking of getting out…” I hesitated. “Why didn't you ever tell me the code?”
“You never seemed interested whenever we talked about security.”
“Still.” I sighed. “Would it really have hurt to tell me?”
“I'm sorry, babe.” His fingers brushed lightly along my arms. “I never thought you'd ever need it. And I certainly never imagined you'd be there without me when you did.”
I knew that. Of course I did. But knowing something didn't always make it easier to accept.
“You know…” I paused. “I honestly thought the passcode would be my birthday.”
Dannie’s expression changed. Just slightly. Awkward. “That was the original plan.”
I stared at him. “What?”
“But if I ended up trapped in there with my enemies, and they killed me first, I couldn't risk them getting out.” My stomach tightened. “Your birthday was too easy to guess.”
“Like how they figured out the elevator,” Kai added.
Dannie nodded. “Exactly. No one would expect an old elevator like that to require a code. But it wasn't a coincidence that they figured it out.”
“Who knew about the elevator?”
“Laura, of course.” He paused. “And a few other people I trusted.”
“Why my birthday?” Kai asked before I could.
Dannie looked at him. “Because you're my brother.”
I frowned. “That doesn't make sense. You already had the security system in place before you knew he was your brother.”
Dannie sighed. “You've always been my brother in my heart. DNA doesn't change that.” He looked down at his hands for a moment before continuing. “Besides, I've always regretted not coming back for you when we were taken as children. That has been a chip on my shoulder for most of my life.”
Then his gaze returned to me.
“But how did you figure out the code?”
“Dumb luck.” I shrugged. “Honestly.” I looked at him. “What was the backup plan if we couldn't get out?”
Dannie didn't answer. The silence was enough to make my stomach tighten.
“We were ready for the worst,” Beng said.
I turned toward him. “What does that mean?”
He glanced over his shoulder, a mischievous smile appearing on his face. “Bang.” He made a little gesture with his hands. “Ka-poom.” Then he laughed as though he'd just told the funniest joke in the world.
No one else laughed. The van fell silent.
I reached for Dannie's hand. His fingers closed around mine immediately, holding tight.
I hadn't known there was a plan for us if we failed. For a building that old, I'd assumed they could simply bring the whole thing down if they were careful enough. Instead, they'd been prepared to risk their own lives getting us out.
The thought left me strangely quiet. There were so many things I wanted to ask. About Maru. About Siti. About Lucy. About Andy. About everyone who had been caught in this mess while I'd been trapped inside that apartment.
But before I could ask any of them, the van slowed. Then stopped.
We had arrived at Grandma's house. The familiar driveway curved toward the main building, surrounded by greenery that suddenly looked impossibly peaceful after everything we'd just survived.