Chapter one

Chapter One:

The sharp, metallic tang of blood filled my mouth as I lay motionless on the cold, hard floor. My body was too weak, too battered, and my vision blurred as the darkness slowly edged in. I could feel the warm pool beneath me, spreading wider, soaking through my clothes and into my skin, but my hands were useless now, trembling as they pressed in vain against the deep wound in my side. Each breath came in shallow, jagged gasps, burning my lungs, and I was choking—on blood, on shock, on disbelief.

How did it come to this? How could it be her?

Above me, Lisa stood—calm, poised, as if this was all a casual affair to her. Her carefully curated mask was down now, revealing the disgust and hatred in the familiar face I once trusted more than anyone in the world. I blinked, my mind struggling to process, to understand how my best friend, my closest confidante, was now the one watching me die.

My body was shutting down, but my mind—my mind was still alive, still refusing to accept it. I replayed the moments from just minutes ago, that conversation that shattered everything I thought I knew.

I had been trapped in this place for 2 days, starved, blindfolded, bound to a chair, barely able to move. My muscles had long since given up, my throat dry and cracked from days without water, and my head pounded from dehydration. The hood had been ripped from my head only a short while ago, my eyes blinking against the harsh light, and the first thing I saw was her—Lisa.

The person I thought would be my savior. The person I thought would get me out of this nightmare.

"Lisa?" I had croaked, barely able to form words, my voice hoarse and weak. My heart had leapt at the sight of her, a moment of hope flickering through the haze of fear. "What's going on? Why... why are you here?"

But the look in her eyes, the cold amusement that twisted her lips into a smirk, had stopped me short. It wasn’t concern. It wasn’t pity. It was something else entirely.

“Why am I here?” she repeated, laughing softly, as if the very question was absurd. “Oh, Anna, sweet, naive Anna. You still don’t get it, do you?”

I stared, my mind unable to keep up, still too clouded with hunger and exhaustion. “What... what are you talking about?”

And then, her voice had changed, hardened. That sick amusement deepened, and she crouched down beside me, close enough that I could smell her perfume—light, floral, familiar. Her face inches from mine, her eyes gleaming with something dark, something that chilled me to my bones.

“I’m the reason for all of this. I was the one who kidnapped you, why do you think you were grabbed at the spot I asked you to come to"

I stared at her, my mind refusing to believe her words even though it agreed with her words a bit

"You are so stupid" she laughs at my face as she sees my look of disbelief. "All thes years, I was scared that you would catch on, I thought that at a point you would see me for who I really am, but honestly you are so damn gullible" she continues to laugh

Then her face changed, it looked almost like glee, and anticipation "I can't keep this to myself anymore, I have to tell you" she starts with the most evil smile I had seen on anyone ever "The reason your father’s company collapsed, the reason your entire family is dead, the reason Josh betrayed you. Me.”

Her words had hit me like a physical blow, knocking the breath from my chest. “What?” I had whispered, my mind racing, trying to comprehend, trying to deny.

She stood then, pacing slowly, her voice cold and detached as she continued. “Dont you remember. The company had gone bankrupt and no banks gave him a lone for fear that he won't be able to pay"

I remembered those times, he looked so stressed when coming home every day, his hair had turned white and I felt so helpless that there was nothing I could do to help. He would always smile despite his obvious tiredness and told me not to worry. The memories of those times made me feel really sad and I felt my eyes well up with tears.

"Oh that's not all Anna, so don't even start crying yet" she continues "One day I approached a local mafia and told them about you father, I told them they could take advantage of him and make a lot of money. Then they approached him, your father feels for it quite quickly you see, he was rather despirate. After he borrowed, I arranged for a guy to beat him up and steal the money" she laughs softly as if remembering fond memory.

How could she, how could she do this to him, he was so kind to her, why.

"Your father couldn't have the money he borrowed, and he also had no way to reply the mafia. I made sure they came after him relentlessly. They hounded him day and night, until the pressure drove him to his breaking point. Oh and the accident? It wasn’t an accident. I made sure of that.”

I had felt my world tilt. My father had died not by chance, but because of her.

“You know what was funny?” she added with a cruel smile. “Your mother, I was coming after her next. However, she couldn’t handle it. She thought she was strong, but without your father, she was nothing. She died, heartbroken and sick, and your brother? Well, he tried to play the hero, didn’t he? Tried to pick up the pieces, did he tell you that the mafia threatened to kill you if he didn't pay back what his father owed, of course I made sure to tell them about the perfectly capable son to pay back the loan. He worked himself into an early grave, trying to save a sinking ship, he didn't even last a year. Useless.”