Even in Darkness She Chose to Rise (Tatiana and Jasper) novel Chapter 252

**TITLE: Even the Night Couldn’t Silence Her Light**
**Chapter 252: A Message for King**

Chandler’s skepticism was palpable. “How can you be so sure?” he shot back, his voice laced with disbelief.

Yasper’s lips curled into a faint smile, one that barely reached his eyes. “Let’s just say I have my methods,” he replied enigmatically, his tone suggesting he held secrets that Chandler could only guess at.

Chandler felt a surge of irritation at the insinuation behind Yasper’s words. Anger simmered just beneath the surface, a fire stoked by the weight of his concern for Tatiana. He swallowed the resentment, pushing it deep down, where it festered like a hidden wound.

Tatiana, oblivious to the tension crackling between the two men, was focused solely on the news of Ann. “How do we find him?” she demanded, urgency threading through her voice.

Yasper fell into a heavy silence, his expression shifting as if he were weighing the gravity of her question.

A chill wrapped around Tatiana’s heart, squeezing it tightly. “Are they… going to kill her?” Her voice quivered, each word laced with fear.

“No,” Yasper replied sharply, shaking his head as if to dispel her fears. “Alive and dead are two different price points. They didn’t go through all this trouble just to kill Ann.”

“Then what do they want?” she pressed, her mind racing with possibilities.

“They’ll probably reach out to you soon,” he said, his tone calm but cryptic.

With that, Tatiana took a deep breath, her mind momentarily settling. Yasper was right; there was no reason for the kidnappers to go to such lengths only to end Ann’s life.

Yet, time dragged on, and still, no word came from the kidnappers.

It had now been a full twenty-four hours since Ann had vanished.

The police were relentless in their search, canvassing the area and following leads.

Tatiana knew Ann had been wearing a watch equipped with a tracker, but the signal had mysteriously gone silent since her disappearance.

In a desperate bid to find her friend, Tatiana put all her work on hold. When Anna learned of her unwavering focus on the search, she assured Tatiana, “Don’t worry about the office. I’ll take care of everything here. Finding Ann is what truly matters.”

As the hours ticked by, twenty-eight hours passed in agonizing silence. Then, just as hope began to fade, the police received a signal from the watch. They raced to the location, hearts pounding with urgency, and pulled a familiar-looking duffel bag from the water.

Tatiana’s heart raced as she watched, dread pooling in her stomach. She feared the worst, terrified of what they might find inside.

To her immense relief, when they unzipped the bag, Ann’s body was not inside. Instead, they uncovered a waterproof pouch containing her watch and a letter printed with strange, arcane runes.

Tatiana squinted at the symbols, confusion washing over her. They were unlike any characters she had ever seen; they bore no resemblance to Chinese or any other familiar script.

She couldn’t decipher a single word, frustration gnawing at her.

Unbeknownst to her, Yasper stood beside her, and his expression had shifted, a flicker of recognition crossing his face.

After obtaining a copy of the letter, Tatiana returned home, determined to unravel its secrets. She spent hours poring over reference materials, but the more she searched, the more elusive the meaning became.

Meanwhile, Yasper was also scrutinizing the letter, his mind racing.

**VYRAI, DRU IM**

Yet they had left behind a letter she could not comprehend.

Wait. Could this letter not have been intended for me? If not for me, then for whom?

Questions swirled in her mind, a chaotic tangle of uncertainty and fear, each one leading to another with no resolution in sight.

Despair threatened to overwhelm her.

Fifty-two hours after Ann’s disappearance, Yasper received a second letter, this time sent directly to his email, accompanied by a video.

His heart raced as he opened it. The screen revealed Ann, unconscious on a small bed. Her cherubic face was pale, yet her chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, as if she were merely in a deep slumber.

Suddenly, a figure in a clown mask filled the screen, an electronically distorted laugh echoing through the room.

In that same guttural language, it spoke, “King, long time no see. Did you receive my greeting card? Did you remember my name? By my count, we haven’t crossed paths in a decade. I fear you’ve forgotten me. Yet, throughout these ten years, I haven’t forgotten you for a single day. A decade has passed, and you’re doing even better than I expected. You have a wife… and a child. How enviable.”

As the masked figure reached out and pinched Ann’s cheek, Yasper’s heart dropped. The movement was rough, and Ann didn’t stir, even as her face flushed red from the pressure.

“Look how cute this little one is. You wouldn’t want her to become a specimen, would you? I’ll be waiting for you at the old place. You have forty-eight hours. My patience is limited.”

The video ended abruptly, self-destructing before his eyes.

Yasper stood frozen, staring blankly at the dark screen. The chilling words echoed in his mind: “You have another daughter, lost to the world.”