Chapter 3

    Tanya opened her eyes slowly as the little Ray of sunlight peeped through the slightly opened window. She soon became alert of her surroundings. She remembered she was taking a walk at the beach when all of a sudden, someone covered her nose with a kerchief, which made her loose consciousness, and now, she ended up in a God-knows where place.

   As she was busy checking out her surroundings, she heard the sound of footsteps from distant. And from the sound of it, the owner of the footsteps was getting closer to her.

  Soon, she saw a person standing tall in front of her. His eyes looked down at her like a cat looking at its prey before devouring it. For the first time in her life, she felt extreme fear rushing through her body. The hairs in her back stood straight. As her eyes met with the man's eyes,She felt a cold chill pass through her spine.

    "Wow, my client didn't tell me you were this beautiful,if not, I would have brought you here earlier." The man said with his deep chilly voice. 

   Tanya stared at the man in horror as she wondered who paid this man to kidnap her or maybe kill her. With shaky voice, tanya asked, " What do you want? Who paid you to kidnap me?" 

  But instead of the man answering, he laughed out loud, " Do you expect me to tell you that? How can you be such a fool with that pretty face of yours?" The man said.

   "Anyways, I'm just a kidnapper, and what do you think kidnappers want when they kidnap someone? Money, of course!!! I want money, and when i mean money, I want a large sum of money. So, I'll call your parents now and tell them to bring the ransom demanded before five hours, or else I'll fuck you hard and still have all my boys have their turns with you, then after that, I'll cut off your head and present it as a gift to your parents." 

  Hearing the man's plan, Tanya's heart skipped several beats. There was a time in her lodge when she had never feared death,instead, she had always been the one to seek out death. But now that her life has meaning, she had already regained her sight. She feared death more than any other thing. 

    Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to push aside her pride to beg the man not to do anything to her. In over eighteen years on her being alive, she had never begged anyone for anything, which made it harder for her to beg the man.

   She looked around the dark room she was kept and wondered if she could escape if there was a chance to, but no, even if there was, she was tied up tightly to the chair.

   The man smirked at her and walked over to a table, which tanta never noticed. Right on top of the table laid a telephone. 

     The man then dialed a number. After about five rings, it was answered. "Hello dear moses, how are you doing? Oh, sorry for asking you that, I'm sure you must be very panicked right now because of your missing daughter. " 

    At the other end of the call, moses was sweating all over as he heard what the caller said. The news about tanya being kidnapped was known only to him, Lydia and luna only, they haven't even informed the police.

   "Who are you, and how do you know my daughter has been kidnapped?" Moses asked.

    The man chuckled lightly and said." Who I'm I, I'm the person who kidnapped your daughter, and I have no other mission other than to extort money from you in  exchange for her." 

  "How much do you want? Please don't hurt my daughter, I'm begging you, please don't hurt her." Moses said.

   "Hmm, I don't really want much. All I want is ten billion dollars, and I want it within the next five hours, or else, you won't like what I'll do to your daughter." The man said in a bone, chilling voice.

   "Whattt!!! Ten billion, where do I get that money from. Even though I'm a rich businessman, ten billion is too much, and my company will go bankrupt. Can't you please reduce the money?" Moses said desperately, almost in tears. 

   Soon, he heard hurried footsteps behind him. "Is that the kidnapper? How much does he want? Any amount, please give him. I'm willing to sell all my belongings and jewelry as long as Tanya comes back to me safe and sound." Lydia cried. 

      The man, hearing Lydia's voice,  laughed out loud. "That's the spirit.  As for the father, you better choose between your company or your daughter. The choice is yours." 

  Just as he was about to hand up, Lydia snatched the phone from Moses and said," Please let me speak to Tanya just to be sure she is alright." 

      The man seemed to hesitate a little, but finally, he took the telephone to Tanya and placed the phone close to her mouth. 

    "Mum." Tanya called out in a shaky voice. 

   Soon, she heard Lydia snuffling her tears. Her heart ached as she imagined Lydia's crying face.

    Lydia tried to control her tears, but it just kept flowing out. Tanya rarely called her mum. It's been more than five years since she last heard tanya call her mum, but now hearing the word 'mum' from tanya made her heart ache.

   "Tanya, my dear, nothing bad will happen to you, I promise you, I'll save you from that heartless man." Lydia said amidst her sobs.

  Just as Tanya was about to speak, the man pulled the phone away from her mouth and said, "Enough of the lovey dovey chat. I'll send the address you will bring the money to. Remember, don’t involve the police, or else, you won't see your daughter again. Get me my money before dawn, and you'll see your daughter safe and sound." With that, he hung up the phone. 

   ###############

      In a deserted house near the ocean, Lydia held moses' arm tightly as if she were holding unto her life. Moses had a grave look on his face as he dragged a suitcase along with him.

    As soon as they entered the house, they met the man sitting on a dirty sofa with a cigarette in between his fingers. " You are quite fast. I see you love your daughter a lot." The man said.

    The man walked towards them and smiled cunningly. " Where's the money." He asked. 

  " It's here, now where's my daughter." Moses asked as he handed over the money to the man.

  "Are you sure the money is complete?" The man asked as he opened the suitcase and found the suitcase filled with dollars.

   "Yes, it is. Now, where's tanya?" Moses asked again.

   "Chilax, old man, she's safe and sound." As he said that, he clapped his hands twice, and immediately, a huge man entered the house with a blindfolded tanya beside him. 

     Seeing Tanya, Lydia rushed up to her and pulled her into her embrace. Tanya, who had always hated people's touch, didn't push Lydia away. Instead, she embraced her back. Though tanya was blindfolded, she could still recognise people by their voice and their scent.

    "Tanya dear, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" Lydua asked as she removed the blindfold away from Tanya's eyes.

    "I'm fine." Tanya replied, and then she pulled away from Lydia.

  Moses watched from behind and saw that Tanya wasn't hurt at all. He wanted to run up to her, hug her, and ask if she's alright, just like Lydia, but he knew he couldn't do that. Tanya had never loved him, and she would never love him.

     Soon enough, after rescuing Tanya, the duo left together with her. As soon as they got back home, they called the doctor to check up on her to confirm if she's fine. 

   Lydia had tanya rest in bed for two days just because she was concerned about her.

     ##############

    Two months later. 

  "Lydia, I don't know what to do now. I've tried my best to convince that devil to invest in the company, but he just won't budge. And if he doesn't invest in it, we'll lose everything, including the house." 

     Just as Lydia was about to reply, another voice asked from behind, " Why are we going to lose the house?"