KAYLA'S POVI was in the furniture market, trying to choose some chairs and tables for my client in the United kingdom. I wanted to make his house beautiful, I needed that five star review. If I wanted to go to the top, there was only one way to achieve it, by satisfying my clients.The talk of satisfaction made me recollect all that had occured after the dinner date last night. After dropping me, I had asked Tristian Ravenford if he wanted to come in, but to my utmost shock, he said no. He wanted to take things slow, were the exact words he had used, and it made me laugh time and time again. I understood him perfectly though. He didn't want to jeopardize our relationship, he had said it time and time again in the car till I had come to believe it. He wanted what was best for us, and had promised again and again that he wasn't going to screw up. I liked this version of Tristian Ravenford better. He knew that I was fragile, he knew the stakes in the relationship and he knew what was

ADRIAN'S POVAs soon as I got back home, I knew I was coming back to trouble. Natalie's car was in the garage, and I could hear her teaching Nancy something while the reduced sound of the television was humming in the background.I opened the door, then smiled as Nancy immediately abandoned what she had been doing to come and greet me. “Daddy!”She flew into my arms, her hair falling over her face. I wondered why Natalie kept it long and would've talked about cutting it, but what right did I have when she was the one doing the feeding and the clothing? Even the shelter belonged to her, and I didn't have a say in family matters any longer because I wasn't doing my job which was to provide.“How are you?”I asked her, giving her a cheerful smile. “I'm good, Dad, you? I like your haircut. Mummy says you stay in the house way too much, and that is why I didn't have any milk to use with my cereal after I came back from school. Hope you're going to buy another bottle of milk, Dad? I'll ne

KAYLA'S POVMy head was spinning, I was perspiring furiously and my heart was hammering in my chest. Images of Liam flashed across my mind time and time again, and for a moment, I wanted to fall out of exhaustion and fatigue. Why kidnap my son? Why not kidnap me instead? Why not torment me and let my son go free? The questions popped up in my mind, all of them without answers. They were like rhetorical questions, rhetorical questions that hurt me, that made me question my existence and how badly I had performed as a mother. “Ma'am, please calm down. I've just called the headmaster, he'll be here in a few minutes. Please, I'm pretty sure we can sort this out.”But I wasn't listening. All my mind could do was manufacture images of Liam suffering, images of him being tortured or worse, being beaten. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. Was it a prank?It wasn't a prank. It was happening before my eyes, my son was missing. By the time the headmaster emerged from the building in his shir

CIARA'S POVWhen Liam came to, I was ready. With a bottle of orange juice and some waffles, I knew that he was already starving. For the past few hours, I had been pacing, suspecting that I had used too much chloroform. He hadn't been breathing properly, and that was what I was afraid of. When I checked his pulse and found out that it was beating faintly, I finally calmed down enough to run to a grocery store and get the snacks that were in my hand. Adrian sat down, playing games on the television with a console. It was a house that I had managed to rent last minute in order for it to fit with our plans. I had stocked it enough to make a child comfortable.The aim was not to make the child suffer, but to make his parents afraid. As far as I was concerned, I wasn't going to touch a hair on Liam Smith's head. He was going to go back home safe and sound, but first of all, our plans had to be achieved, the aim of him being in the house and enjoying the expenses he was plunging us into w

TRISTAN'S POVThe morning sun filtered through the blinds, blinding me momentarily. My head aching, I stood up, acknowledging the aroma of fried eggs and bacon that seemed to be wafting around the room. Staring around the house, I discovered that I wasn't at home.I was at Kayla's, and the events of the previous day like a movie played through my mind and my memory. I was tired, my back felt as if it would shatter at the moment, but I knew that I had signed up for this when I had asked her to choose me a few days ago.It was my responsibility to make sure she was okay. She was my responsibility now, my obligation.I stood up, finding my way to the bathroom where I urinated, then splashed some water on my face. The headache was gradually reducing, but my neck was on fire. I attributed it to the fact that I had spent the night on a couch. It made me remember the days I had spent on Ciara's couch. Now things were better, I slept in a king sized bed everyday and even trying to sleep on a