Chapter 253Riley Burke ~•~I started moving back slowly as he walked into the room. I never liked him. I never imagined I would even see him again. What did he want from me? Why did he take me? What did he plan on doing with me? I screamed as he came closer, a bloodcurdling scream. “Get away from me, you monster!” I yelled at the top of my voice as tears flowed down my face, as though it was a waterfall. “It’s nice to see you again. After so many years.” He said as his lips curled into a mischievous smile. “You’ve grown into a fine young woman. I mean, it was hard for me to recognize you at first.” “What do you want from me, Maxim?” I asked, trying to steady my voice. “Please, let me go!” I pleaded, my tone desperate. Yes, Maxim was the person who kidnapped me. I had forgotten about his existence and was shocked to see him come inside the room. Maxim was one of my mother’s boyfriends who turned out to be a fraud. Rowan and I never liked him. We also made it clear that
Chapter 254Olivia ~•~After finding out that Riley’s car had been at the gas station for over two days, the detectives told us to hold on as they requested access to the CCTV from the first day. Alexander tried his best to comfort me but I couldn’t stop crying. Riley wouldn’t just dump her car at a random gas station. The situation was even worse than I had imagined. I couldn’t help but wonder how my baby was feeling. I couldn’t help but wonder where she was. I prayed silently that she was okay and we would find her soon. Amanda, Maya, Rowan, and Jason were blowing up my phone but I couldn’t bring myself to respond to any of them. I didn’t want to believe that my daughter was missing, so I didn’t want to have to tell them that she was actually missing. After what felt like an eternity, the detective came outside again. “Come in.” He gestured for us to come into his office with him. When we got inside, he showed us footage playing on his computer. My hands flew to my mouth as I
Chapter 255Riley Burke ~•~I summoned every last ounce of strength in my body and dragged myself to the door.Even if he wanted to trap me, the least he could do was provide me with food and water, so I wouldn’t die of hunger and thirst. As I got close to the door, I banged on the door multiple times, yelling at the top of my voice for someone to open up. I spent about five minutes hitting the door but nobody answered the door. I didn’t give up though. I kept on hitting the door until I finally heard footsteps coming in the direction of the room. I moved back a bit as I waited in anticipation to see who would open the door. They twisted the door knob and slowly pushed the door open. It was the same man who had given me a glass of water the first time. “Please can I have something to eat and drink?” I pleaded, not caring about the fact that I had been kidnapped. My stomach rumbled whenever I realized that I had been there for two days without food. I needed to eat something a
Chapter 256Riley Burke ~•~As I lay in the bathtub, my mind wandered back to Mason.We still didn’t speak after he walked me to my car a few days ago. I couldn’t help but wonder if he had realized that I was missing. Was he also trying to look for me or has he completely forgotten about me? Everything happened so fast and it was baffling how I ended up being kidnapped. It felt so surreal. I couldn’t live like this anymore, I needed to find a way to escape. I had a life and it wasn’t fair for someone to just trap me because he was in his feelings about a breakup that happened so many years ago. I was curious to see how my mother would react when she found out that it was Maxim who took me. My father would be so upset too. He didn’t like Maxim either. But I still wasn’t sure if my father would even want to talk to me anymore. I disrespected him and caused so much trouble for them. Maybe if I had listened and agreed to stay away from Mason, I wouldn’t have been in this mess I w
Chapter 257Mason Craig ~•~I had been restless ever since I realized that Riley was missing. At first, I thought she finally gave in to her father’s wishes and ghosted me. I tried reaching out to her. I even tried reaching out to her roommates but I couldn’t get a hold of her. I was so desperate that I even had to reach out to her friend from class, Liam. I wasn’t really his biggest fan. I was always jealous that he got to be with her every time in class. When Liam told me he had no idea where she was or hadn’t heard from her, I thought he was just saying it to make me back off. But little did I know he was actually telling the truth. It was only when Riley’s family reached out to me that I knew something was wrong. Then earlier in the morning, the news of her disappearance was all over the internet. I felt so terrible and I couldn’t help but wonder where she had wandered off to. I blamed myself for everything that was happening in her life. It was my fault. I was the reason
Chapter 258Olivia ~•~“They’ve been able to track those men to an address, we’ll be on our way right now,” Alexander announced to me as he came outside to meet me. I wiped off my tears with the back of my hand because I couldn’t stop myself from crying earlier after he left me alone. “I’m coming with you,” I told him before he could even say I should go back home. I was patient enough to sit outside and wait while they were looking for her. But I couldn’t go back home. I needed to go with them to the location. Alexander’s face fell. “Olivia, we don’t know what we are up against. What if the place is really dangerous?” He asked. “It took me a lot to even convince the detectives to let me go with them.” Everything Alexander said to me fell on deaf ears. I was determined to go and nothing any of them could say would make me change my mind. If Riley was in danger, I didn’t mind being in danger too. Alexander let out a defeated sigh when he realized that I wasn’t taking no for an
Chapter 259Olivia ~•~Alexander didn’t hesitate, he started the car engine and reversed as fast as he could. But before he could even start driving, we saw that the black SUVs had already been blocked by a new set of policemen who were already on their way. “That’s strange,” Alexander muttered under his breath as he put the car to a stop. “I have no idea who those people are unless the other officers called for backup.” It was a good thing they came because they were able to stop the men. We watched from a distance as they brought them out of their cars and handcuffed them. Some of the other policemen we had followed earlier finally drove out of the gate and stopped where the black SUVs were blocked. I didn’t see any sign of Riley as they brought out the men from the SUV’s. “Alexander, turn around and drive to the house. What if they left her there?” Alexander responded with a nod and turned the car around. He increased the speed of the car as he drove into the compound. As he
Riley Burke ~•~I had no idea what was happening but as I saw everyone fleeing away from the house, I decided to find a hiding spot too. For a moment, I thought help might have come but I could be wrong. What if it was a rival gang or something who had come to attack them? Last I remember, Maxim was part of the mafia. I couldn’t take any chances. I ran to the garage and stayed inside. I could hear footsteps, I could hear noises but I couldn’t dare look outside. I just slid down and hugged my knees tightly as I waited for the noise to be over. The sound of cars coming in and going out frightened me the most. At first, when the other man abandoned me and ran away, I wanted to run out of the house too. But I wasn’t sure I would be able to escape on my own from such a deserted area. When everything was over, I planned on going back inside the house to find a telephone or something. Maybe I could even find the keys to one of the cars and drive out of the house. I had been inside t
Chapter 269Riley Burke ~•~I wanted everything to be perfect! For the past two weeks, I’ve been looking forward to this day. Mason and I were finally going on our date. I had no idea why I was nervous. It wasn’t like it was the first time I was going out with him. Maybe I was just having PTSD from our last date. But I knew I had nothing to be worried about. My father had assured me that he was okay with me being with Mason. He wanted me to be happy, even if my happiness included being with someone who had hurt us in the past. It wasn’t Mason who hurt us but I just didn’t focus on that part. As long as he was ready to move past the whole situation, I didn’t care to correct him anymore. “The makeup artist is here!” Rowan yelled loud enough for me to hear after knocking on my room door. Yes, I had to ask for a professional makeup artist because I was hellbent on making everything perfect. “I’ll be downstairs soon,” I replied as I wore my hair bonnet to protect my hair while getti
Chapter 268Mason Craig ~•~Ever since Riley’s father picked her up from the restaurant and interrupted our date, I had this lingering feeling of sadness inside me. But I acted like everything was fine and normal. I didn’t want to put too much pressure on her. I felt hurt because every day I woke up, I was reminded that she wasn’t my girl and could easily give another boy a chance. I didn’t want that to happen but at the same time, I didn’t have any control over it. Every day felt like torture but I was glad that it had finally come to an end. Riley’s father had finally approved of our relationship. A wave of excitement surged through me but I tried my best to remain calm when she told me about it. I would finally be able to be with the girl of my dreams. I had a feeling that he changed his mind because my father agreed to help when Riley had gone missing. I also had my father to thank. He finally fixed the mess he had caused earlier. Everything was finally going smoothly. I h
Chapter 267Olivia ~•~“Are you sure you don’t mind seeing them together?” I asked Alexander for the umpteenth time when he said he wanted to tell Riley that she could be with Mason. I didn’t want a situation where he would second guess his choice and regret his decision. Or a situation where he wouldn’t be nice to the boy later in the future. It wouldn’t be fair on Riley. Alexander nodded his head as he parked the car in the driveway. “Yes, I’m sure.” He assured me. “I shouldn’t be the one to take away my daughter’s chance at teenage love.” He added, smiling at me. I shrugged. “Okay, if you say so,” I replied as I loosened my seatbelt. “I hope you don’t have any secret animosity towards him that will reveal itself later.” Alexander laughed. “Don’t you trust me?” He asked, raising a brow at me. “I’m not holding anything against the boy. Not even his parents.” “Fine.” We stepped out of the car and made our way into the house. On our way back home, we stopped at the mall to get
Chapter 266Riley Burke ~•~It was fun having my friends over for the weekend. And it was a total flop trying to pretend like I was surprised when they first arrived. They saw right through my pretense. Even if we hadn’t been friends for so long, they knew me well enough. I barely even thought about what I had gone through while they were around. Having them around was a good distraction. I was sad that they had to leave. But I couldn’t do anything about it as I walked them to the car. During their stay, I realized that it was actually my mother’s idea to invite them over. Now it made sense why she was so welcoming. My mother didn’t usually like it when I had my friends over. I mean, my friends from high school. Our family was always under scrutiny, so she didn’t trust anybody. It was nice to see her giving my new friends a chance. The weekend was over and it was a new school week. I hadn’t completely healed but even when I assured my parents that I would be okay, they claime
Chapter 265Riley Burke ~•~As soon as my dad handed me a new phone, I found my friend's phone number and called them immediately. It was already noon and on the weekend, so I was confused about why none of them answered their phones. I mean, those girls were literally always with their phones. I really wanted to speak to them, but I guess I had to wait until later to try calling them again. Maybe they were busy with something. I spent most of my time inside my room and I was getting bored. Normally, my mother didn’t like it when l took my food upstairs but this time, she brought the food to my room by herself. I hadn’t gotten any reason to go downstairs. I needed a change of environment, so I decided to freshen up and head downstairs. I was pretty sure Rowan and Jason were playing video games in the living room. After spending about thirty minutes in the bathroom, I dressed up in my comfortable sweatshirt and shorts before making my way downstairs. “Hey,” Jason said as soon a
Chapter 264Olivia ~•~I wanted to accompany Alexander when he was going to see Maxim, but he refused. I knew that he didn’t want me to see him, but still, he said I was going to see him later. After helping Riley with dinner and giving her medication, I went back to the room to meet Alexander. I hadn’t talked to him since he came back from the station. “Hey, what happened at the station?” I asked him as I walked into the room. He was standing in front of the closet and searching through it. “I have something to tell you,” Alexander muttered under his breath. My interest became piqued. “I’m listening,” I responded as different thoughts ran through my head. Alexander sounded so serious and I couldn’t help but wonder what he wanted to say to me. He took a deep breath and turned around. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” He cleared his throat and continued. “You remember when you found out that Maxim was a fraud?” He asked and I nodded, anticipating what he had to say next. “Y
Chapter 263Riley Burke~•~When we finished at the restaurant, my father asked my mother to drive me back home. He wanted to go to the station to see Maxim and the other men who kept me hostage. My mother wanted to accompany him but he refused, saying she would see him later. As soon as my father left, I followed my mother to the car. I couldn’t wait to go back home and see my brothers. I was so excited to see everyone. Being free felt so good. “Riley, I’m inviting the doctor over, so she can do a checkup and give you the necessary treatments you need.” My mother said as I settled down on the passenger’s seat. I hated anything related to hospitals or medical care, but I couldn’t protest against it. I actually needed medication because I was still in pain. My legs and my head were still hurting and I needed the pain to stop. “Sure,” I responded with a smile and my mother nodded. A few minutes later, we arrived at the house. My heart leaped for joy as the security guards open
Chapter 262 Rowan Burke ~•~I loved my sister but I had no idea that her absence would affect me so badly. Ever since I realized she was missing, I couldn’t even focus on anything else. My mind was always racing with different thoughts. What if something bad had happened to her and my parents took so long to search for her? Everyone thought Riley had willingly disappeared but that wasn’t the case. My sister was missing. I couldn’t even talk to anyone or go anywhere. I shut everyone out, including my girlfriend, Belle. Until Riley was found, I was certain that I would be restless. While my parents were at the station, I kept on blowing their phones with constant calls. Most of the time, they didn’t respond. A part of me felt bad because I wanted to be kept in the loop, I wanted to know what was going on, or even if they had gotten a lead. But I knew that they were busy and my calls were distracting them from doing their work. When my mother finally answered her phone, she a
Chapter 261Olivia ~•~Different waves of emotions rushed through me as I saw Riley running in our direction. Relief, joy, and gratitude swirled together, overwhelming me.I was so happy to see her. For a moment, I thought we were at a dead end. I thought she had left the house or the men they caught were probably lying about her whereabouts. She looked so scared but also excited to see us. Before I could even move, Alexander rushed and pulled her in a tight hug. I was still in shock as I watched them reunite. After a few moments, I joined them, turning the hug into a group hug. “Oh my baby, um happy to see you.” I smiled at Riley as we broke the hug. Riley looked like she was struggling to hold back her tears. I could only imagine what she had gone through at the hands of those people. Alexander stepped aside to call the detectives. He wanted them to know that we had seen Riley. While he made the call, I led Riley to the car. As soon as we got into the car, I began asking her