3RD POV:A WEEK LATER:“Business Tycoon and wife to Henry Scott, Selena Monica Scott, has been kidnapped by architect and CEO, Joey Quinn….anyone who can provide information about her whereabouts will be rewarded handsomely.” The news of Selena's disappearance had spread throughout the whole country and world at large. Her face, once a symbol of success and motivation, now stared back from every screen, accompanied by the chilling headline: "Prominent Businesswoman Missing" “Crazy Architect kidnaps wife to Henry Scott.” It was all over posters, every news channel attached with a reward.Young girls and women, her staff all over the world were now praying and clamoring for the authorities to do something as she was not just a CEO but a public figure. Henry just knew it would make Selena smile knowing how much people, strangers, cared for her.“How are you?” Mrs Scott asked lowly, as she stood behind Henry, who was at the balcony taking in the air and trying his best to think. He was
SELENA’S POV:“You killed your father?” I asked lowly, as if scared of his response."Do you know what it feels like," he whispered, voice trembling now, "to see kids like you laughing? Playing? While I sat in the shadows? Waiting for someone to notice me?”I was silent, my heart hammering, my mind racing for a way out. Every part of me was trembling but I couldn’t show fear. Not yet. Not when he was this unstable.“Of course, I wiped that man from the face of the earth. He caused me so much pain. He is one of the reasons I didn’t even get a chance with you back then.” He confessed making my heart sink all the way down to my stomach.“But thankfully, you always remained in my heart and I researched on you, got the job at your company and knew I would get you. Despite your marriage to that punk. He’s nothing.” I stared at him, too stunned to speak and it felt like everywhere was spinning as I was still trying to process it all."And now?" He chuckled, the sound dry and hollow. “Now yo
SELENA’S POV:THAT SAME DAY:I slowly opened my eyes and was hit with darkness. It was thick and suffocating, like a curtain was drawn over my senses. My head throbbed with an ache coming along, and my entire body felt heavy, as if weighed down by visible chains.I blinked repeatedly as it dawned on me what had happened, how I pictured things and hoped last night wouldn't go as planned. I was not in the arms of Henry nor holding my daughter, I was here.Curse you, Joey Quinn,Just as his name came to my eyes, my eyes slowly fluttered open. The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes wasn’t even the pain. It wasn’t the wetness of the floor beneath me or the thin, cold air. It was him.A figure unmoving seated in a black rotating chair. He was quiet and his eyes were fixed on me.He was sitting under an exposed bulb hanging overhead. His shadow was cast in jagged fragments, cut up by the inconsistent light. One leg folded over the other, hands covering the front of his mouth, like h
HENRY’S POV:EARLY MORNING:“That's my brother-in-law. His name is Henry Scott…..” I heard Zoey faintly say as I blinked repeatedly trying my best to open my eyes. “He was brought in a few hours ago. He was in a car accident but it was nothing fatal. Just a few glass cuts. He should be up any minute from now. We had been unable to identify who he was so unable to contact his family, as the paramedics found no identification nor anything on him.” The other person, probably a doctor or nurse, responded and I frowned trying to remember what had happened.“That's strange but thank you, Lia.” Zoey appreciated her and I heard the doors getting closed. My fingers twitched, skin stinging where small glass cuts had been treated. My head banged like a bell had rung inside my skull.“Henry?”I heard Zoey before I fully saw her. Her silhouette wavered as I blinked against the fluorescent lights above. Then her hand was on my arm, grounding me.“You’re okay,” she said, voice gentle. “You’ve been
SELENA’S POV:“You heard me,” he said, calm and quite delighted. “Don’t worry, it won’t take long. I just need to tell you something important. Something I think you deserve to know. Bring yourself. Bring your guilt. That’s all.” His voice had a stank of sincerity, but I wasn’t buying it.The call ended.I lowered the phone slowly, trying to breathe, trying to think. My head felt light, my hands numb. He wanted me. He was planning something, I could feel it in my bones.I headed back out with the glass of water, and some guards as well as the head of security stood there.“I’m coming with you,” said the head of security firmly as I relayed the conversation and all that had been happening all day.“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I shared with my sole concern on my daughter.“We’re not giving you up. We’ll protect you. We’ll follow the car in unmarked vehicles and intercept the moment Hailey is safe.” He assured me and I nodded.Nanny Solidat looked at me, pale and exhausted. “Pleas
SELENA’S POV:THAT SAME DAY:My breathing was shaky despite the fact that I had tried to regulate it. The sun had just set and it had been three hours since Joey called and I had never felt more confused, afraid, and lost than I had ever been.After his call, I planned to text Gabby and my mother-in-law what was going on, but in order to show me that he had hacked my phone, he had cleared the paragraph I wrote to Mrs. Scott before I could even hit send. And then came the warning—“Do you want to see your daughter alive or not?”I had never felt more trapped in my life. He was watching me. Somehow, he was always watching. And I put him in our lives. The house had gone cold despite the weather. I stayed in the lounge, arms wrapped tightly around myself, waiting, praying for a miracle. For a sign that this nightmare was going to end. But all I could hear was the distant hum of the refrigerator and the grandfather clock ticking away the seconds like it enjoyed each one it stole from me.W