Hana blinked slowly. Her eyelids were too heavy for her, and everything seemed slow. Bitterness flooded her mouth as she sat up. This… this was not her bed. This was not their apartment. Where was her husband?
On her feet, she went to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. Hana didn’t want to panic. This could be a misunderstanding or a game, though she could hardly picture Kyle setting her up for this type of game without a notice. She tried the other door in the room. It opened and gave way to a bathroom.
Nausea made her head spin. Bile filled her mouth as she rushed inside and threw up in the toilet bowl. She tried to flush down the vomit but the handle wasn’t working.
There were empty buckets beside the concrete wall, and a tap continuously dripping water. She picked up one of the buckets and turned on the tap. It worked. After getting a bucket of water, she flushed the toilet and got some more water to rinse her mouth and wash her face
Everyone gathered around Calvin. His sister, brother, mother, and father. They all stayed beside him, waiting another message. The police left a few hours ago, assuring him they would get his wife back, but he didn’t believe them. Angel had been gone for five days without a trace except for the media messages he had been getting from the unknown number. He was safe, and his wife wasn’t. The last picture was of her on a bed, her face screwed in fear. Whoever took that picture had signed his death warrant. He would kill the person when he found them. His plan to keep everyone out of this while he and his father solved it had flown out of the window the moment he received those set of texts. Now, they spent their days at the house, waiting for another message. Anything that could tell about her location. The police had suggested calling or texting back the number who sent those texts, but easy time he did, it was unreachable and the messages bounced back. Undelive
Hana had lost count of the number of times she threw up. She had long gotten used to the bathroom but couldn’t get used to throwing up. It wasn’t normal. She wasn’t a vomiting type of person, even when her period was near. But it had happened so many times in the last few days of her captivity that she had began considering other options. Options like pregnancy.Throwing up was a popular sign. But she was on the pills. A child with Kyle was a welcome idea, but if her father found out, he could do something disastrous. In the few days she had been here, she had lost weight. Her clothes no longer fitted like they used to do. Cara was still silent as ever. Something happened in her absence. Something sinister. What about her mother?Sitting up on the bed, she touched a hand to her belly. What if life was growing inside her? Bile filled her mouth, and she rushed to the bathroom to throw up. A groan escaped her as she rinsed her mouth. Knowing
They found her. It had been a week since Calvin’s mother gave them the tip about the tracker in the pendant. In that time, they had all worked tirelessly to find Calvin’s wife. Within that time, Calvin experienced too many breakdowns to count. This ordeal wasn’t one he would wish on anyone, not even people he loathed. He sat in his wife’s office, phone in his hand, waiting for a call or something that would take him to her. His heart was broken and hollow, and had stopped beating right a long time ago.This was pain. This was torture.Coming to the office wasn’t actually for him to work. Her absence was driving him insane because her scent was everywhere. He was tired of his whole family fussing over him, so he had promised them he would show up at work to use it as a distraction. That didn’t work. Because he found himself in her office, sometimes just touching all the things she touched, staring into space or pacing the
Hana’s eyes peeled open slowly. She had gotten so used to her new home that the change had her shutting her eyes again to be sure this wasn’t a dream. This… this didn’t look like where Baba kept her.Where was he? Where was Cara? Each time she tried to remember everything that could have led her to this point, her head throbbed. Someone squeezed Hana’s hand. Groaning softly, she turned to the side and saw Kyle. A minute or two passed. That, that couldn’t be real. Was she dreaming? Was this heaven?“Baby,” he whispered, his fingers brushing her cheek. He was real. Wait, were both of them dead? Did Baba kill her? How did he get here? The heart monitor beside her beeped out of control, and Kyle palmed her cheeks. “Hey, princess. Relax, it’s me. Your dragon prince.”“Kyle?”“Yes. Yes,” he whispered. “I’m here.” Hana winced as she tried to sit up. Her h
Calvin should be a happy man since his kidnapped wife was back home, but he hadn’t gotten the courage to tell her about the babies. He also couldn’t get rid of the guilt that had taken over his chest. No matter what anyone told him, it was his fault. His stubbornness brought them here.Someone tapped him. He looked up, and a fake smile took over his lips. It was his wife.“What are you thinking?” she asked.“Nothing. Just getting ready.”Angel placed a hand on her waist. “Really?”Calvin hadn’t heard his beautiful wife enter the bathroom. She must have caught him staring into space. He tended to do that more often these days. They were getting ready to head to the hospital for their evening checkup. Cara was still there, but she was feeling better than she did last week. His wife had formed a habit of reading a chapter from her favourite romance book to her sister.
Night rolled by without Kyle showing up to the guestroom. Hana curled under the sheet, her eyes filling with tears. Should she have been upset about the loss of their child? Yes, she was. She was hurt. Her heart was shattered for their child, but at no point did she blame her husband for that.If any one should be blamed or punished for it, it was Baba. But Kyle was driving a wall between them with his constant self-blame. They lost a child and should grieve together not push each other apart. She meant what she said about not wanting a fight with him. She had missed him too much to let what was supposed to be a shared suffering drive them apart. He was seeing it as a loss, but she saw it as a gift.Maybe others wouldn’t see it that way, but that was her. Baba pushed her. She fell on her belly but lost only one baby. What if she had lost all? She had so many more positives to be thankful for. One, her sister. Two, her babies. Three, her husband. He mi
Christmas was a big deal for the McKenna family, but that wasn’t always the case with Hana. She adjusted her dress a few times, and her husband scooped her up before she could tug on her sleeves one more time.“Baby, you need to stop that,” Kyle warned. She hugged his neck, her eyes closing as she let out a breath. “Everyone already loves you, there’s no need to be nervous.”“Well, yeah, I guess.”Hana’s stomach grumbled. He frowned and placed a hand on her stomach. “Hungry?” “No. Just a bit nervous.”“Don’t be, okay?” he said in a patronising voice. “I love you, and my family loves you.”Hana wasn’t only nervous for herself, she was for her sister too. It was the first family dinner with Cara, Hana, and the entire McKenna clan. After her discharge from the hospital, Cara had gone cold. Or should she say,
Calvin waited in the car while his wife and sister-in-law visited their mother’s grave. His fingers drummed on his knee as the seconds went by. He couldn’t understand what they felt. Losing both parents would drive him insane. But the ladies had taken it in stride. Cara seemed to be the most affected.It was only a few days after the new year. Cara had spent it with them but returned to school the next day. These days, she spoke more often without prompting. The cast of season two had already been selected, but he wanted to give her a spot as an extra.IfLance agreed. But Lance would have to.Browsing through his phone, Calvin sat up when he heard approaching footsteps. He looked up to see Cara and Angel. Cara’s eyes were red with tears, and Angel looked to be consoling her. They stopped a few feet from the car and Angel hugged her sister. He waited behind, not sure his presence would be wanted in such moment.Soon, both lad