Chapter Three

Sophia

"Contract marriage?" I exclaimed, unable to believe my ears. "Yes, the only reason he's getting married to Samantha is so that he can form a partnership with her father," Reggie replied.

 

"But Leo is a drug lord. Since when do drug lords even form partnerships?" I asked with a scoff. "They do. It's not common because of the lack of trust in the drug business, but Leo is sure that Sam's father won't hurt him if he's married to Sam."

 

On hearing that, I realized that Leo cared more about his business than he did about me, iif he cared at all.

 

"I have to go, Reggie. Thanks for bringing me here," I said and got out of the car to leave. I couldn't handle hearing about how Leo never loved me any longer.

 

"Sophia!" Reggie called out. I stopped in my tracks and turned to him. "He still loves you, he's just in a really tight position right now," he said. I almost scoffed at his words. "Sure," I muttered and slammed the door shut.

 

I walked into my new condo. It wasn't big or fancy, but it was quite homey. I felt more at peace there than I ever had at Leo's in the last two years.

 

I grabbed a bottle of wine from the counter and popped it open, pouring the contents into my mouth. I don't remember how much of the wine I drank, all I remembered was drinking on the couch until I passed out.

.

.

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The ringing of the doorbell woke me up the next day. I got up too fast and was immediately knocked back down by a banging headache. "Shit!" I cursed and massaged my head with my fingers.

 

The doorbell rang again and again, making my head hurt even more. When I couldn't take it anymore, I forced myself to get off the couch and practically dragged myself to the door. I slid it open expecting to see someone, but there was no one there.

 

"Is this thing broken?" I mumbled and took a look at the doorbell, but it seemed fine. I poked my head out and looked around to see if someone was hiding in a corner, but there was no one.

 

"Must be a ring and ditch," I thought to myself and made to close the door. Suddenly, a tall man jumped in front of me, and before I could react, he grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.

 

I screamed, punched, and kicked, trying to attract the attention of the neighbors, but since it was a Monday, everyone had gone to work or school.

 

The man carried me to a red car and threw me into the trunk. I was extremely claustrophobic, so being stuck in the trunk was traumatic for me. I kicked the trunk, hoping a cop or passerby would hear and become suspicious, but it seemed like everyone in the world had disappeared.

 

I finally gave up kicking as I was running out of air in the enclosed trunk. I still had a headache from the hangover, and I was beginning to feel nauseous.

 

I felt the car finally come to a halt, and the door opened and shut. I guessed we had arrived at our destination, wherever that was. The trunk was finally opened, and I was hit with a wave of fresh air and light.

 

The man dragged me out of the trunk, and I saw that he had parked in front of an abandoned warehouse. He pulled me into the warehouse and made me sit in an old chair. "What do you want from me? Who sent you? How much did they pay? I'll pay triple," I promised in a desperate attempt to be let go.

 

"Shut your mouth while I'm being gentle," he threatened, and I quickly went quiet. He was really muscular, and I feared one hit from him would leave me dead.

 

The door to the warehouse slid open, and two women walked in. One had her face covered by a mask, so I couldn't make out who she was, but the other person I recognized right away.

 

"Sam!" I gasped. Why did she have me kidnapped? Hadn't she done enough by stealing my husband?

 

"Hello, Sophia. How are you doing?" she asked with a stupid smile on her face. "What is wrong with you, Sam? Haven't you done enough?" I yelled, wanting to break out of the chair and slap her across the face.

 

"Easy there. We don't want you straining your voice now. You can scream your lungs out later," she said, and I wondered what she meant by that. "Why are you doing this? Does Leo know about this?" I asked. "Leo gave me permission to do whatever I wanted with you," she replied, and my heart sank on hearing that.

 

"Lies! Leo would never do that!" I yelled, though deep down, I was beginning to think he was actually capable of doing it. "After the stunt you pulled yesterday, he asked me to get rid of you," she replied with a smirk.

 

"So what are you going to do to me now? How else are you going to hurt me?" I asked with a scoff. The worst she could do was hit me. She turned to the man standing next to her and, with a wicked smile, said, "Burn her."