Chapter 5~ His choice

Larisa woke up and found herself tied to a chair. It looked like she was in an abandoned warehouse. 

She recalled having been hit by a sharp object before she lost consciousness. Could she have been kidnapped?

Immediately, fear crept into her. She yelled, “Where am I? Help! Help me!”

“Larisa, calm down. Shouting won’t help… trust me, I tried,” A familiar voice reached Larisa’s ears. 

She turned her head to the right and found Ivy tied to a chair just like her. Her eyes widened in horror. 

“What’s going on here? Why have we both been kidnapped?” Larisa asked, her heart racing wildly in her chest. 

In her heart, she was worried about the safety of the baby she was carrying in her womb. If anything bad happened to her, she could lose her child. 

“Good question,” a man’s voice echoed in the warehouse.  

Larisa turned to the source of the voice and her heart raced when she saw four thugs approaching them. 

One of the thugs who looked like the leader stepped forward. He had a bald head and yellow teeth. One could smell the alcohol reeking from his body from a mile away. 

“Don’t worry, Larisa. Ryan will come and save us,” Ivy said confidently.

'Yes, Ryan, my husband,' Larisa mused, her eyes filled with hope.  

However, when she saw Ivy who was also kidnapped, her hope dimmed again. 

Larisa pursed her lips as she recalled how Ryan rushed out after hearing of Ivy’s disappearance. She thought bitterly, ‘He would probably only come for Ivy. I’m nothing to him compared to her.’

It didn’t take long for Ryan to arrive at the warehouse. He walked in and stopped in his tracks when he saw the two women tied up in front of him. 

He clenched his hands into fists and glared at the thugs. “Let them go! It’s me that you have an issue with. Leave the women out of it.” 

“That was fast. It looks like these two women are very important to you,” The leader said as he played with the knife in his hand.

“Let them go now,” Ryan ordered again. 

“No can do. Since they seem so important to you, they have become a part of this issue,” the thug remarked. “I’ll give you a chance to save one of them. The other one will remain with us as a hostage.”

“Are you kidding me?” Ryan growled.

“You save one or none at all,” the thug stated. He laughed and said, “Oh, Ryan Kingsley, I would love to see who you will choose. I was going to have a little fun but I suddenly have the urge to know who you love more between the two.” 

Ryan coiled his hands into fists. He clenched his jaw as he glanced at the two frightened women. 

“Ryan, choose Larisa. She’s your wife! Don’t worry about me…” Ivy Williams remarked, looking up at Ryan with sad eyes.

She looked pale and weak. But she was still so kind and thought about Larisa wholeheartedly.

Ryan’s heart was filled with guilt. His balled fists tightened, threatening to draw blood from his palms. 

“Go on, Ryan. You’re allowed to save one woman. The clock is ticking.” 

Ryan hissed, his gaze wandering between the two women. Larisa’s heart pounded hard in her chest when she saw his gaze.   

However, Ryan only glanced at her briefly, and then said to the thug, "Release Ivy." 

Larisa’s heart sank to her feet.

“Are you sure? Is that your choice?” The thug asked, a huge grin plastering his face. He was enjoying this. 

Ryan’s jaw clenched harder. His face was devoid of any emotion as he repeated, “Yes, I choose Ivy.”

Larisa’s whole world came crumbling down beneath her feet. She knew this would happen but a part of her hoped Ryan would choose her. After all, she was his rightful wife.

Seeing him choose another woman and leaving her to be the thug’s hostage hurt more than she could imagine. 

‘Ryan… was I really nothing to you?’ She mused as tears rolled down her cheeks. 

"Ryan, it seems that you are as ruthless as rumored." The thug remarked and smiled wickedly. “Are you ok with leaving the other woman with us?”

"Let Ivy go," Ryan demanded coldly. 

The thug chuckled darkly and untied the rope from Ivy's body. Ryan immediately took Ivy into his arms, cradling her to his chest like she was a porcelain doll that would break if it dropped to the ground.

"Ryan, you should choose Larisa. I'm a cripple and I'm going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. I'm no use to you,” Ivy said in a soft voice. 

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here," Ryan promised before carrying her out of the warehouse. 

Larisa had no words. Her heart was broken into a million pieces. The only thing she was worried about was her innocent baby who would be killed because of her foolish love for Ryan. 

If she could turn back time, she would never give her heart to such a cold-hearted man. 

“Since Ryan has made his choice, I have no intention of letting you live,” the thug declared, playing with his knife as he glanced at Larisa.

“Go ahead. What are you waiting for?” Larisa hissed, glaring at the thug. 

“I thought you would beg for your life… I wouldn’t have let you go anyway,” the thug laughed. 

He instructed his minions to douse the place with fuel. 

“But boss, is this the right thing to do?” One of them asked. 

“She wants her gone,” the thug replied. 

Larisa heard that but she had no energy to think about what he meant. Her heart was bleeding. Until the very end, she was never Ryan’s first choice. 

Why did she live like this? Why did she allow Ryan to treat her like trash? She knew these were her last moments and she had so many regrets. 

“Hey, Miss, any last words?” The thug asked Larisa, grinning widely. 

Larisa’s eyes fluttered shut, accepting her fate....

Boom!

 A powerful explosion shook the ground.

Ryan who was running back to the warehouse was thrown back by the sheer force of the powerful explosion.

He looked in shock at the warehouse in front of him, which had turned into a sea of fire, eating up the whole building. 

Larisa, his wife was still in the warehouse.

“Larisa!!”

“NO!!!” Ryan’s anguished cry pierced through the air.