“Long time no see, Athena. Did you miss me?” Ina sneered while slowly walking towards her, making Athena tremble and step backward. Instinctively, she held her belly, trying to protect her baby from whatever Ina might do to her. Ina looked at her belly.“Don’t you dare come near me!” Athena pointed the gun at Ina, which stopped her in her tracks.Ina scoffed. “So, you’re pregnant again, huh?” Ina smirked. “Ahh…” Ina moaned like a psychopathic killer, tracing her face with the knife she was holding.“I remembered six years ago. You were also pregnant with Ethan’s baby. Do you still remember what I did to you?” Her voice felt cold and eerie, sending shivers down the spine of whoever heard her talk. Athena clenched her jaw. She tried to be strong and not get affected by Ina’s presence.“We were also on the second floor, and I pushed you down the stairs, remember?” She turned her head and pointed to the stairs behind her. “It looks like history is repeating itself.” She smiled evilly.“I
“It seems that you were somewhere else. Is there any problem?” Maxime asked worriedly. Athena smiled as she shook her head.“No, it’s nothing,” Athena muttered.“The food is ready. Let’s eat!” Ethan suggested. His arms snaked around Athena’s waist and guided their guests to the kitchen.“Are you okay?” Ethan whispered which made Athena look him directly in the eyes.“I’m alright. Don’t worry about it.” She smiled reassuringly.Ethan sighed. ‘Maybe, she is still worried about her dream. It won’t happen… I won’t let it happen,’ He thought. Ethan kissed Athena on her forehead."Everything will be fine, love. Trust me, okay?" He smiled reassuringly which made Athena sigh in relief.After their lunch, Ethan and Austin went to Ethan’s office leaving their wives in the living room, while the kid fell asleep in the guestroom. “I’m sorry,” Maxime lowered her head, she was feeling guilty that all those years she lied to her friend. “I’m sorry if I kept secrets from you. I should have told you a
Ethan“Thank you, Mr. President, for your welcoming remarks. Now, may I request the couple to head to the dance floor for their couple’s dance?” Ethan stood up and offered his hand to Athena, which she gladly took it. They waltz around the dancefloor perfectly, and for the finale, Ethan twirled Athena away from him so she could twist back into his arms, and they could end it with a kiss. But as soon as she twirled away, the lights suddenly turned off. “What is going on?” Athena muttered, stopping in the middle, blinded by the darkness.Ethan wondered why the lights suddenly turned off. This was not part of their dance routine. “Dammit,” He muttered in frustration. Someone had surpassed his tight security.At first, the guests thought of dimming the lights as part of the program, but when they heard gunshots and a woman screaming, they knew they were in trouble, and the guests started panicking.“Athena!” Ethan headed to where he saw Athena was standing before the blackout. He grabbed
“Ethan… Ethan… Ethan,” Max called his attention when he kept on cursing Ina until she left the scene. "Don't hate Ina that much… You should be thankful to her that she asked me not to kill you. If I wouldn't owe her, I would definitely kill you."Ethan glared at Max, which made him raise his brows. “Stop glaring at me, will you?” He signaled his men to get his whipping rod and knife.Max stood near his prisoner. He was afraid that Ethan would fight back so he ordered his men again to tie his feet. A smirk appeared on Max’s face as he saw Ethan’s miserable state. He took the whipping rod from one of his men and started to whip Ethan from behind.Ethan winced in pain for every lash he received, but he tried to be strong. The back of his white long sleeve shirt got shredded and was stained by blood. He groaned and gasped as he kept on receiving each whip. Max was not satisfied with exacting his torture so he took a paddle and began hitting Ethan at the back of his legs. He was starting
Athena woke up feeling dizzy. She held the back of her head, finding a lump where they knocked her out. ‘Where am I?’ she wondered. Athena sat on the bed and looked around.The room looked decent, nothing special. It had a table, chairs, a mini living area, bookshelves on both sides of the television, and a couch. She jumped in surprise when the door suddenly opened and saw Andrew, holding a tray of food. He was the sole person responsible for her pain all those years, kidnapping her from her family and locking her up.“So, you’re the one who kidnapped me. Now, what? Are you going to hurt me again, as you did before? When will you change, huh?!” she asked. Instinctively, she immediately covered her stomach with her hands, trying to protect her child. Andrew walked towards her, but Athena stopped him midway. “Don’t you dare come near me!” she yelled.Deep inside, she felt nervous. Her hands trembled in fear as she wondered what Andrew would do to her this time, afraid that her baby mig
“Hi, Alexa… Or I should say, Athena. It’s been a while.”Athena’s eyes slightly squinted as her nose flared and her hands clenched. Seeing this person in front of her made her blood boil.“Ina,” she said as she slowly hid the pocket knife she was holding under the pillow. “Aren’t you tired? Why can’t you just leave us alone?!”Ina scoffed. “Why should I? I will stop bothering you once I send you to your own grave. Because as long as you are alive, Ethan won’t be mine.” She walked toward Athena and towered over her. Ina held her chin tightly, making her wince. “You should thank Max later, as he requested to keep you alive.” Athena twisted Ina’s hand that held her chin, causing Ina to yell in pain.“You, Bitch!” She slaps Athena hard, which leaves a mark on her face and blood dripping from her mouth.Athena glared at her from the corner of her eye and scoffed. “You think Ethan will love you? Wake up, Ina! Even if I die, the only feelings that Ethan could give will be hatred and nothing
Ethan ‘I need to escape.’ Ethan thought. He noticed that Max’s men who were guarding them were all drunk. ‘If I was their boss, I’d probably kill these incompetent fools.’ He shook his head disappointingly at this thought as he tried to untie himself, but the bonds were too tight. He kept struggling until he noticed Stephen moving. “Stephen,” Ethan whispered. He used his feet to nudge Stephen until he woke up. It startled Stephen when he opened his eyes and saw Ethan beside him with his feet and hands tied up, and bruises all over his face. His long sleeves were torn and soaked with dried-up bloodstains. “I-I’m sorry, Ethan. I never had a chance to tell you their plans, and you ended up here.” He looked at Ethan apologetically with his right eye half-open because of the bruise from his beating. “It’s alright. I’m sorry this happened to you.” He looked around, and only a few men were half awake. “You need to help me. Untie me, but be discreet. We need to get out of here. Athena is
Ethan“Where’s the location?” Ethan asked Austin.They were on their way back to the hideout. “They brought Athena to a remote island far from here.”“So… How can we get there?” Ethan asked.“Here’s the map.” Austin replied.“I got someone to scout the area, and they said if we go by helicopter, it will take one and a half hours to get there. There's a big risk they would detect our arrival right away, which will give them a lot of time to escape, or worse, they could hurt Athena.” Austin explained.“So, what’s our other option?” Ethan asked.“If we go there by boat, it will take a full day before we reach their hideout. But there’s less risk, as you’ve seen on the map. We can go through the forest behind the villa, and they won’t notice us.” Austine said.“What if we use a chopper to go halfway and land on another island? Then, we can hire a boat to get there.” He pointed to the forest on the map. “We need to scatter to make sure nobody notices our arrival. Austin and I will sneak in