Chapter 4

Kylan

"Remember Festus, no staff should be in the house until further notice. I can't have my bride be suspicious of anything." I said to Festus who was sitting beside me in my car.

"Of course sir." Festus nodded.

I had already informed him of this information before I had even brought my very lovely bride who had decided I was not worth marrying to the house. But I felt the need to hammer it in. I couldn't have her suspicious of anything.

I still wasn't completely sure what to do with her other than keep her in my mansion as my prisoner but whatever I decided on would be something that left an everlasting mark on her.

She didn't deserve anything less not after humiliating me and making a ridicule out of me among my business associates and family. She and her family would pay for making me a laughing stock and for making me lose my chance at becoming chairman of my father's company. I had my eyes on that chair for as long as I could understand and the bitch had destroyed my chances. How on earth was anyone going to trust a man who couldn't even get a woman to marry him? I know I fucking wouldn't.

Sure she was fucking beautiful and I was having a hard time not touching her. But none of that mattered to me, not when She thought I was a monster, some kind of villain. She was not exactly far from the truth but I was only a monster to people that deserved it and she did.

Maybe I was overreacting, maybe she did what she did because she was genuinely scared of me. She looked shaken when I picked her up.

The memory of the girl running into the church to announce that my bride had run away flashed in my mind and it immediately erased every doubt in my mind. I was going to make her pay for her insolence.

With my hands still gripping the steering wheel, I turned a corner and entered my street. Festus sat beside me, quiet as always. He was holding a few supplies that I had ordered him to go get for Katarina while I quickly drove to my in-laws who were still very worried about their daughter's whereabouts.

Good for them, I needed them to feel the humiliation I felt hours ago. If they couldn't keep their daughter in check, I was glad to do it for them.

Less than five minutes later, I drove into my mansion and came out of my car.

Festus walked ahead of me and opened the front door. We both marched into the house only to stop abruptly in our tracks, eyes wide with shock at the scene before us.

"What the fuck happened here?!" I barked, looking to Festus for answers even though he'd been with me since I left the house.

"I…I am not sure sir." He stuttered, walking ahead of me to inspect the scene.

I scanned the living room, anger starting to boil in my veins. The place was in complete disarray as if it had been bulldozed through by a bulldozer.

My couch was flippied over, my coffee table lay broken in half on the ground and shards of glass were scattered on the floor.

Two of my chandeliers were gone from the ceiling which I now realized were the shards of glass scattered on the floor.

I glanced up at the ceiling and found a few bullet holes.

"Find her!" I growled and headed upstairs, taking the stairs two by two.

Someone had broken into my home and I had a feeling that they had taken Katarina.

This could not be fucking happening! Nothing appeared to be missing, not that I had anything of value in this particular house. It wasn't exactly my main house. It was just one of my many houses in the city.

I got to my bedroom door, a little panicked at what I'd see in there, and pushed it open.

I went straight to my closet and pulled out a gun in case the intruders were still lurking around. Armed with a weapon, I searched the room for Katarina.

"Lisa!" I yelled out her name but couldn't find her. Where on earth was she? Had she been taken? Was this a kidnapping or was this an attempt at taking my life? It wouldn't be the first time.

I came out of my room and searched every room upstairs and still couldn't find a single sign of her.

Still unable to find her, I went back to my room, and as soon as I entered, my eyes zoomed in on a piece of paper on the dresser.

Quickly, I plucked the paper from the dresser and saw that it was a letter.

“Dear Jerome, thank you so much for rescuing me and having me in your home but I am afraid I can't stay for both your safety and mine. By the time you're reading this, I will be long gone.

I took some cash from your dresser, I promise to pay you back someday.

Thanks again.”

Lisa*

"Fuck!" I yelled as I crumpled the piece of paper and threw it against the wall.

She left. How could I have been so naive?

Fuck! I cursed out again, as I ran my hands through my hair. The woman just kept slipping through my fingers.

Well, at least she escaped unscathed, at least I wanted to believe that she was long gone before the intruders came but I couldn't be sure.

Maybe they had taken her. But why? Nothing was making sense.

I needed to find her, and most importantly I needed to know who the fuck had broken into my apartment. This shit had never happened before. I was going to kill every single one of them once they were captured.

I was already halfway down the stairs investigating the situation, when I saw Festus running towards me.

"What is it Festus? Did you find her?" I asked, hopeful.

"No sir but you have to see this." He said a grim look on his face. I had never seen Festus look anything but impassive before so I already calculated that whatever he saw was bad.

Without wasting time, I took the stairs and followed Festus into the kitchen to find my cook lying unconscious on the floor with blood spilling out of her stomach.

"What happened to her?" I asked, ignoring the disarray in the kitchen.

"She appeared to have been shot, sir. She's still breathing." Festus Informed, tremor lacing his usually poised-sounding voice.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Call a fucking ambulance!" I barked, running toward the unconscious maid

Festus frantically ran to the living room to make the call while I crouched down to where my cook lay, eyes shut and face countered into a grimace while placing her head up in my hands.

"Don't move, the doctor will be here soon, and don't die. I need to know what the fuck happened here!"