Chapter 3 The phone call aftermath

Chapter 3

Yana’s POV

After those words, the line cut off with a buzz.

I froze in place with my thumb still pressed against the screen of my phone. The very first thought that came to my mind was that perhaps this was a prank, but then the prickling sensation that started at the base of my neck told me otherwise. 

That prickling feeling was the exact same instinct that my body usually let off when something was wrong.

Without thinking, I jerked my foot back off the brass threshold and took two quick steps away from the open doors. What happened next shocked me to my core.

Snap!

A loud, metal screech tore through the quiet hallway, and in the next second, the sound of cables snapping filled the air, followed by bright yellow sparks all at the same time. Then the elevator went plunging straight down at high speed.

The ground shook slightly from the crash under my feet. I stood there as though I was paralyzed to that spot, the vibration spamming through my body.

Not even a second later, my knees buckled under me, not being able to keep me standing any longer from the shock of what I had just escaped, with the only thing still keeping me sitting upright on the floor, my palms that were digging into the cold floor.

I remained seated there for I don't know how long, just staring at the smoke rising from where the elevator had been seconds ago. 

My heart banged against my ribs as the realization that I could have been crushed into a bloody pulp right now registered in my head.

My hands shook violently as I pulled my phone back up shakily to stare down at the now dark screen of my phone. Someone had just tried to kill me and another had just saved me with that call.

A lot of things ran through my mind in that second. If I hadn't received that call, if I hadn't stepped back... I would be dead. I would have been crushed to death. 

My chest heaved as breathing suddenly became hard, and my hand flew to my chest, trying to pat it to calm down as I kept staring at my phone in my hand.

I shakily pushed myself back up to my feet, even as they shook like jelly in my heels and i stumbled backwards, heading back for the lobby with the only thought in my head that I needed to find Max. I couldn’t go to my parents'. Something like this would shock them more than i was already shaken.

As I neared the lobby, the sudden loud sound of chaos that echoed from there reached my ears. Loud shouts and screaming voices got to my ears. Snapping out of my daze, I turned on my heel, hitched up the skirt of my green dress, and rushed there faster.

I pushed through the last hallway and stepped inside, expecting to see people running from maybe the noise of the elevator crash. After all, I had not seen how low it had crashed. Instead, I was surprised to just see that the entire crowd was gathered in a kind of circle, with every single person turned toward the huge projection screen hanging above the main stage.

Shocked whispers and harsh gasps bounced through the air and got to my ears, rooting my feet to the ground.

"I really did not expect this from her..."

"So she's nothing but a fraud."

"I knew she was too good to be true!"

My chest squeezed tight as I pushed through the crowd, with my eyes locked onto the screen.

Playing across the screen was a clear video of me in the locker room. My stomach felt like it dropped into a bottomless pit as the audio echoed over the loudspeakers, and my voice came out very loud for all the hundreds of people in the lobby to hear.

"I use the drugs to boost my performance. Absolutely nothing can go wrong. My father basically owns the sports industry in Russia, so nothing can be done against me."

My throat suddenly felt tight as I remembered that exact day in the locker room with my brother. It had been only us both in there, and that was about four weeks ago. But those were not my words. 

That wasn't what I had said at all. I had always been completely against using illegal drugs to boost stamina and strength for a fight, and I would never cheat. 

I had spent more than a decade of my life, sweating, getting bruised and broken ribs, bleeding as I trained in the gym day and night to earn every single one of my single wins cleanly. Someone had obviously videoed my private conversation with Ivan and edited the video for this... but why? Who would do this?

All eyes in the room slowly turned toward me as I walked further into the crowd. I watched the shift in expressions and the looks in their eyes. 

People who had been cheering my name about twenty minutes ago were now staring at me with pure disgust, and soon cameras began flashing repeatedly, blinding my eyes, while dozens of hands raised smartphones to record my face.

‘’That video isn't real. It's a fake!’’ those words came out as a whisper. I didn't know where to start explaining from.

I opened my mouth to defend myself.