~FOUR~

~Arya~

I was numb, staring blankly at a plain white ceiling for minutes after I woke up. A faint beeping sound floated into my ears from a distance, forming a rhythm that slowly pulled me back to my reality.

My husband knew a lot about me, but he wasn’t privy to one thing - my identity. He had no idea that I was the only heiress of the Manchester empire and not the poor college student who he thought he married. I was back at the day I defied my parents and discarded my inheritance because I wanted to be with Edgar. They had arranged a marriage between me and my childhood friend who was also the son of their business allies. Lucien was the perfect man. Caring, sweet, looks to die for, and to top it all, he had eyes for only me. He had different women worshipping the ground he treaded. But I had deemed our engagement too formal. It was nothing more than a union to keep the wealth in the family, or so I thought.

I should have gone along with my parents' plan for me, but I chose to marry Edgar instead. The last three years were the happiest of my life. We started a company and climbed up the social ladder. Little did I know that my happiness was short-lived. 

The sound of a door creaking jolted me out of my reverie. Footsteps approached, and in a second, a man hovered over me, a small tray in his hand. “You’re awake,” he said dryly. “You had me wondering if we had to start preparing for a funeral.”

“Wh…where am I?” I was forced out. Forming words seemed like a task, as a lightheaded feeling hit me as soon when I tried to speak. The man rolled his eyes with an air of boredom, as if he'd rather be anywhere but with me.

“You can’t tell? Did the drugs mess with your brain already? You’re in a hospital.”

I glanced around. This place looked nothing like a hospital. It was just a room with insanely high walls, a dim bulb hanging from the ceiling and a window that I wouldn't be able to reach even if I jumped as high as I could. An IV was connected to my arm, with the beeping sound of a life monitor infiltrating through the walls. The last thing I remembered was being in that hotel suite with Edgar and his mistress. The gravity of the situation dawned on me. I’d been abducted.

Desperately, I grabbed the hem of the man’s scrub. “Get me out of here,” I choked out. “I’ll give you any amount if you get me out of here safely.”

He  brushed my hand away roughly, visibly annoyed. “Will you promise to give me millions like every other person?”

“If that’s what it takes.” I stopped talking and took a deep breath to fill my lungs with air. “You probably don’t know who I am. I am–”

“Arya Sinclair, co-founder of a multimillion dollar corporation,” he completed, checking the IV. “I know everything about you.” He walked to a TV mounted in a corner and turned it on. “Cops are searching for you around the country.

My picture was on the screen, with a missing sign in big letters below it. The headlines rolled. A news anchor reported on my possible abduction, followed by a playback of Edgar in what I deemed to be a press conference. He looked like the perfect grieving husband, wiping his fake tears in front of the reporters as cameras flashed. 

Who the hell did I marry?  

When the man was sure that I understood my plight, he turned the television off and walked towards the door. “Don’t try to escape, Mrs Sinclair. The security here is tighter than you can imagine.”

“I’m sure my wife is smarter than that.” 

I looked in the direction of the voice. Edgar and Lina strode in, their arms locked in each other’s. The doctor gave them a quick bow and went on his way, closing the door behind him. I recoiled immediately as they advanced towards me. Lina looked a lot different than she did the first time I saw her. She carried herself with practiced poise, decked in designer from head to toe.

Edgar gazed down at me in triumph. “You’re finally where you are supposed to be. Defeated, beneath me. Every time I saw you in that boardroom, commanding attention like you were the boss, it was infuriating. I prayed for a day like this, and it’s finally here.”

He was sick. Keeping me here stemmed from a perverted sense of control he wanted to have over me. I built that company, yet I gave him the spotlight. Who could have thought that he had such a fragile ego?

I pushed thoughts of my misfortune to the back of my mind. I had to find a way to get out of here, pissing him off wouldn't help.

“Let me go,” I pleaded. “I  promise to disappear from your lives quietly. If you want a divorce, I'll be glad to give you that. You want my shares, you can have them too. Just…” I rubbed my palms against each other in despair “Just let me go.”

“It’s too late, my love,” Edgar sneered, a sinister smile on his face. “We can’t have you ruin things for us. Everyone thinks you have gone missing. If you suddenly show up, what story should we tell the world?”

“As for your shares,” Lina produced an envelope from her bag and removed a sheet of paper from it. “I’ll get them anyway. You don’t have a say in that.” She threw the paper at my feet. “Sign off on that.”

It was a contract that would make her the owner of my assets and shares if I signed it. I hugged my knees to my chest in protest. Lina let out a frustrated breath. 

“Very soon, the transplant will take place,” Edgar started. “The discovery of your remains in the woods will be announced and a funeral will be held. The world will remember you as a drug addict who ran away from a rehab center her loving husband got her enrolled in, only to get lost and starve to death alone. Being stubborn won’t get you anywhere, Arya. Sign the damn paper.”