Chapter 5

Allison had vanished near the hospital, and Kyle was convinced Elena had taken her.

"You hate Allison more than anyone. Who else would it be?"

Elena almost laughed. "Did you forget? The person who hates her most isn't me. It's you."

Kyle's eyes turned vicious, showing a cruelty she'd never seen before.

"Looks like I've been too nice to you."

He motioned to the bodyguards behind him.

They grabbed Elena and dragged her to the beach.

Then they shoved her head into the freezing water.

She couldn't breathe.

Just before she blacked out, they yanked her back up.

Elena coughed hard, choking for air.

"Where is she?" Kyle's voice was ice-cold.

Her lungs burned.

"I'll ask you again. Where's Allison?"

Elena could barely breathe, let alone answer. She only glared at him with bloodshot eyes.

A second later, they shoved her underwater again.

Then again.

They dragged her up just long enough to gasp before forcing her back under.

Her mind started to blur as the air kept getting ripped away.

Just when she thought she was going to die there, Kyle's phone rang.

"Mr. Fenton, it looks like Ms. Smyth was kidnapped near the hospital by one of your former business rivals..."

Kyle hung up and rushed toward his car. He glanced back at Elena, drenched and coughing hard on the beach.

"Take Elena to the hospital. Get her the best doctor."

Then he sped off.

One of the bodyguards stepped toward her. "Mrs. Fenton, Mr. Fenton told us to take you to the hospital."

Elena braced a hand on the ground and forced herself up.

"No."

She stumbled away from the beach, then called the police.

"Hi. I'd like to report a crime..."

'He wants to find Allison that badly? Fine. I'm not making it easy for him.'

...

At the police station, Elena soon saw Kyle walk in with the officers.

He stared at her, barely holding back his anger.

"Elena, I was wrong about you, but did you really have to make such a big deal out of this?

"Allison's still missing. I don't have time for this!"

"A whole thing?" Elena looked up, her voice raw. "Your time matters, Mr. Fenton. Allison's life matters. What about mine?"

Kyle said nothing.

His face stayed cold until his lawyer, Vincent, arrived.

Kyle handed everything over to him. Before leaving, he looked down at Elena.

"Since you like it here so much, stay and cool off."

Vincent turned to the officers.

"She's Mr. Fenton's wife. They're already legally married, and the wedding's in two weeks. It was just a fight between spouses."

In the end, Elena was booked on suspicion of filing a false report and disorderly conduct and held pending bail.

Following Kyle's orders, Vincent told the police not to go easy on Elena just because she was Mrs. Fenton. If filing a false report meant punishment, then she'd face it like anyone else.

But less than thirty minutes after she was put in a holding cell, Kyle bailed her out.

The second Elena walked outside, she spotted him leaning against his car.

"Shouldn't you be out saving the woman you love? Why waste your time on me when I'm supposedly just making a scene?"

Kyle didn't answer.

He walked over, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her into the car.

They sped off and eventually stopped at an abandoned factory.

Kyle dragged Elena out of the car and shouted inside.

"I brought my wife! Let Allison go!"

Elena went still.

So that was why he'd bailed her out.

He was trading her for Allison.

She stared at his profile, and the last bit of warmth inside her died.

A man stepped out of the shadows, pushing an unconscious Allison in a wheelchair with a knife at her throat.

"Kyle, looks like your new girl still can't compete with your old flame."

Kyle turned to Elena, guilt flashing across his face.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I'll make it up to you. Double."

Elena smiled coldly.

"You disgust me."

Kyle looked away, his face disappearing into the shadows.

Then he turned back to the man.

"You can take my wife. But if you hurt her, I'll make your whole family pay."

"My whole family?" The man burst out laughing. "You've got it backward, Kyle. You're the one who deserves to lose everything! I bought one piece of land you wanted, and you destroyed my business and my family!

"Today, you and the woman you love die together!"

He slammed the switch in his hand.

Boom!

The factory exploded.

Flames shot into the air. The building shook as concrete and steel crashed down around them.

The blast knocked the man off balance.

Kyle charged him, kicked him aside, then grabbed a metal pipe and slammed it into his head.

The man dropped.

At the same time, a huge slab of concrete crashed down on Elena, pinning her underneath.

Kyle scooped up Allison and headed for the exit.

Then he stopped beside Elena.

His eyes moved from the unconscious Allison in his arms to Elena trapped under the concrete.

Flames spread fast. Smoke filled the air, and debris kept crashing down around them.

Kyle barely hesitated.

"Elena, I'll come back for you. Trust me."

Then he carried Allison out without looking back.

Elena watched him disappear into the smoke and smiled bitterly.

'Trust him? Never again.'

Outside, Kyle had just gotten Allison somewhere safe when he turned to go back for Elena.

Crash!

The factory collapsed right in front of him.

Flames roared into the sky, bathing his stunned face in red.