Chapter 125: No Way Home

Ava's POV

A cold shiver ran down my spine, freezing me in place as fear coiled like a serpent in the pit of my stomach.

I felt my hands tremble uncontrollably as I took a step back until my back was firmly pressed against the door.

With a desperate grip, I clutched my baby tightly to my chest and swallowed hard, feeling the non-subtle quivering of my legs.

Every nerve in my body screamed with apprehension, and my heart pounded in my chest with dread.

I was paralyzed by the overwhelming sense of the impending hostility that reeked from him.

His gaze was firm, and the look was unrecognizable and scary. The man I had spent so many sweet moments with was suddenly gone.

My mind raced with a thousand terrifying possibilities as I pressed my back against the door harder like I could somehow slip through it.

Fernando stepped forward suddenly, alarming me as he stopped before me with just a foot between us. “Where were you off to?”

My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to maintain a facade of calmness, even as dread continued to gnaw at my insides.

"Nowhere,” I chuckled coldly, trembling all over. I was terrified of the fucking letter.

“Nowhere?” he repeated, cocking his head as his eyes fixed on me, soaking me up from head to toe, “Are you sure about that? Because I could have sworn you just reached for the doorknob,” he snorted with a very cunning smile.

“That was uhm,” my mind was a total blank, and everything that was happening right now felt so overwhelming that I didn't know what to do or say.

I thought of Perez how he was coming for me and how I needed to get out of her.

I smiled smoothly but in real truth, it wasn't easy to manage a smile or anything at all right then.

“I actually was going to take a stroll with the baby so she could get some fresh air. I thought it would be nice," I forced out the words, my voice shaky despite my best efforts to sound nonchalant.

Fernando's gaze narrowed, his eyes boring into mine with an intensity that made my skin crawl. "A stroll, and you brought a bag of that size along?" he questioned, his tone laced with suspicion.

Oh! Shit. I felt the knot in my stomach tighten even more.

“That was uhm,” I glanced at the bag and suddenly regretted packing it in the first place.

I opened my mouth to speak and formulate yet another excuse for the bag when he suddenly interrupted—

"What's in the bag, Ava?"

My grip tightened on my baby as I racked my brain for a plausible explanation. "Um, just some snacks and baby essentials," I lied, my voice faltering under his penetrating gaze.

"You know. I brought it just in case we get hungry or need to change diapers."

Fernando took a step closer, his presence looming over me like a dark shadow. He was too close and it was awfully alarming and inconvenient.

"You're lying, Ava," he stated bluntly, his voice sending another wave of shivers down my spine. "I know you're not going for a stroll. And I know what's really in that bag."

Panic surged through me, my mind racing as I struggled to come up with a convincing response. I mustered what sounded like yet another failed attempt at a chuckle.

"What do you mean?” I asked, feigning clueless, “I don't know what you're talking about, Fernando," I insisted, my voice trembling with fear. "I just thought we could use the fresh air, that's all."

Fernando wasn't buying it, not even slightly. His smile twisted into a display of triumph, his eyes gleamed with malice as he closed in on me.

“You can drop the act, Ava," he said, his voice dripping with contempt. "I know what you're really doing or at least what you planned to do.”

I scoffed uneasily, “What are you talking about?”

He leaned forward, “You must really think I'm a fool, don't you? His warm breath fanned my cheek as he leaned closer, “I know you called Niko, I also know you spoke to Perez and even told him about the baby, and your little plan to run away."

He laughed, mocking me as he slid a disgusting finger down my face and I felt sick to my stomach, “It's totally ridiculous.”

My eyes widened and I blanked out for a second. How did he know?

The rest of my thoughts vanished when I caught the shared smile on fake Penelope's face as she stood beside him.

It was her. There was no doubt about it. That look on her face said everything I needed to know.

This was her handwork.

She must have eavesdropped on my conversation. Fuck!

Fernando was still grinning and I —on the other hand— was quivering before him. “Please let us go,” I broke into a plea, “Please, Fernando,” I tried to convince him, begging him but it was pointless. He didn't look so much fazed by my words.

He snorted, “And why would I do that?” He placed his hand on the door beside my head, leaning closer. I flicked my eyes to the shirt he was wearing and I suddenly noticed the red stain on the clothes he was wearing.

My body froze. It was blood.

Blood! There were blood stains on his shirt. My eyes lingered on the stain for a moment. What had he been up to all day? I wondered.

Fernando had said earlier that he had to go to work but from the sight of this blood on his clothes it was obvious that he had been doing something else behind my back which I didn't know.

And I was so stupid, I didn't see any of it. What was Fernando truly into?

My stomach churned and my blood boiled like acid as I clutched my baby to my chest even tighter.

I needed to get out of here as soon as possible and meet Perez.

It was the only thing I could think about, “Let me go, please,” I urged, pleading desperately but he didn’t seem to bulge or care as he smirked, leaning into me.

“Let you go?” He echoed, “Why should I?” He quizzed, raising a brow, and leaning into me as his hand caressed my cheek and I almost jumped out of my skin at the contact of his hands on me.

I gritted my teeth. I hated it. He disgusted me and being this close to him made me sick.

His eye patch had never been a problem before but as I stared at him with it, he looked like a beast.

"Fernando... Please, I am begging you. Let me go..." I tried, hoping this would do it but his face contorted into even more anger.

“Have you forgotten our promise? You're my companion forever and that can never change. You can never leave this place. It's our home.”