Diya I wanted Elisa to be wrong. I prayed she would be wrong, but she wasn’t. The one time I wanted her to be the crazy one, she proved me wrong. Matt was everything she had described and more. She had told me in detail everything Matt was to her and I wanted to stab my ears deaf now. Something was seriously wrong with me for this to happen twice. There was an enormous lump in my chest. I felt pain, regret, anger. I could not function anymore. I had no strength or will. Only bad things seemed to happen to me. Everything that I thought brought joy once was giving me tremendous pain. I do not know how I was supposed to live. What cruel act was in store for me again? What had my life turn into? Was this really my life? I tried to think of anything else. Something encouraging. Praying. Being hopeful. All seemed like a joke. There was nothing I could do that would make me feel better anymore. I had given up. Whatever was going to happen was whatever I was going to accept. I stopped

Ruby Everything was still tense around the ranch, and I was a little jumpy. I had one more day left to decide if I needed to stay here or go back home. After I had stalled for two more days, my uncle and Dave were very adamant that I should leave. I needed to go back to apologize, according to my uncle, who was refusing to speak to me, so everything was coming from my aunt. Dave was pretty much the same. He only called once after our talk and gave me the same ultimatum. He said he was putting his foot down, whatever that means. His attitude was giving me more reasons to stay, but I was worried that if he comes here, then things will turn for the worst. If he sees this place, he would lose it completely. Filip is always sweet to me but he has told me he doesn’t like to share and he gave me an ultimatum too. He canceled the date we were supposed to have because he thought I needed to be sure before wasting his time. Part of me thought he was being stressed out because of everything, b

Filip It’s been twenty hours since I have been in the air going to Spain. We were about to land and I was glad to have taken some time to rest. Ruby was right. I hadn’t gotten enough sleep. If Ace and I had slept, it would feel like we were not doing much to find them. I was glad we were getting closer after this long search. The jet landed, and I checked my phone, but there was no message from Ruby. I bet she was trying to make sure I get to rest. The thought made me smile. That girl really did a number on me. She was the first girl to make me go nuts the way I do. When I received the call from my grandfather, I was about to call her. “Nino,” his voice was loud. “Grandpa, I am in the middle of something. Can I call you back later?“ “Where are you? Are you with Ace? Is everything alright?” “I just landed in Spain,” I said, getting into the car that was waiting for me and my men. “I’m following a lead and Ace should be on his way back from Tanzania,” “I guess that’s why he is not

Matt I had been stubborn. Making Elisa mad. I couldn’t feel most parts of my body. My left eye was shut. My right eye still gave me minimal vision. I was refusing to speak, and this had gone for hours. She had made me kneel with my hand-tied in front. I could feel my knees giving in, but I had to stay in my position. I refused her methods to make me confess. She had left frustrated, and I thought she had given up, but she walked in with Diya. My heart rate spiked. I must have looked worse than I thought by the way he looked at me. I swallowed and tasted the blood in my mouth and took slow breaths as I kept in position. Steady Matt! Keep steady! She will not break you! You are strong! You can do this! Just keep calm! I kept boosting myself with encouraging words. I needed all the comfort and calm for whatever she was about to do. The deep breath that I took was very painful. I had endured the beating this long. I needed to keep it a little longer. “Shall we do this again?” sh

Ace That crazy bitch was DEAD. She thought she had succeeded in her attempt, but she was wrong and I was going to kill her with my bare hands. I was sitting on the jet on my way home. I was in a foul mood. “Boss,” I looked up. "Call for you," he quickly spoke and shoved the phone at me and scurried away. “Yes.” anger coursed through me. “Fuck, you are alive,” Filip breathed. He sounded relieved. “Barely,” I admitted, looking at my wet bloody clothes. "I have been trying to call you and everyone for a very long time. You had me worried there boss," Filip chuckled, "You just can't die, can't you?" "If you see the state I'm in, you wouldn't be sure if I'm alive." "Is that you trying to make a joke?" Filip snickered and sighed. "I would never joke, especially at a time like this. This was a wake up call. I could have died and missed my chance to see my son." "I'm glad you are alive, boss." Filip sighed. "I promise you. You will see Theo." “I know I will because I don't plan