It had been ages since Denise heard anything about him, because first of all she was in another country, and his family clearly wanted privacy and kept their affairs out of the eye of the media.This was to be expected since they were mourning the loss of Derek's father, as well as Derek’s unfortunate accident.On TV, Derek looked … different. She did not know how to describe it, but there was something about him that she could not put her finger on.The news was talking about how his company’s values and profits had skyrocketed more than anyone could have imagined would be possible in such a short time … especially since he spent some time recovering from his accident.Denise stared at the TV screen, unable to believe her ears. It had been almost a year and a half since she left and in that time, Derek had morphed from an ambitious twenty-six-year-old who staked his entire trust fund, on his dream company, as well as took huge loans from his father to well being on his way to becomin
That was how Denise became a sex slave for the next several months. She was kept in a house and never allowed to leave that house and was plied with drugs to keep her pliant.It was unbelievable to think that this was happening to her of all people and in the modern world too. Soon, all Denise could think about was when she would get her next fix of drugs. Nothing else mattered.She remained there for months, totally at the mercy of her captors, because they were the ones who supplied her with the drugs that kept her sane.There were other girls in the same plight as her in that house as well. Several men came to the house each day to have sex with them against their will, and in time, they just learned to lay back and accept their fate so as to avoid the punishment that would surely follow if they tried to resist or cause problems.And then one day, after that had gone on for a few months, the place was raided by the police, and all the people there were rescued, including Denise. I
Derek’s mother wiped at her tears as she sat in front of the police officer at the police station, but the tears immediately began to flow again. She could not understand how a grown man could disappear just like that from the surface of the earth and not be found, despite all the resources that were available. “Madam, we’re trying our best. We hope to be able to give you some solid information … either good or bad soon enough.” The officer told her helplessly. He was at his wit’s end here and everyone was blaming him for not taking Derek’s bodyguard seriously when he first came to make a report. "No, please, I beg of you. Don’t say that. His son, my grandson, is dying in the hospital as we speak. I can't lose both of them.” Mrs. Turner cried. This incident had aged her. She usually looked young for her age, but now, her hair was unkempt and her face and whole self looked haggard and tired. “Mom, come on. Let’s go. We’ll leave the police to do their job.” Amanda urged her mot
SIX YEARS AGO It wasn't in the least bit difficult for Denise to fall into the role of a classy lady, even though the events of the past few months made her anything but that. Along with getting her the role that would bring her into contact with Derek's company, Tom had given her a good sum of money to buy her silence, so she used this money to purchase beautiful and classy clothes that brought back her confidence. Andy followed her back to the country, saying that he had some business to attend to there, not that Denise cared what he did or what he didn’t do. She was just glad that she could stay with him in his apartment without having to worry about spending her money on rent while she perfected her plans to get back into Derek’s life. Now that she was back in the country, she realized that getting back the kind of closeness she used to have with Derek was easier said than done. For one thing, now that he was a very rich man, it was going to be very difficult to get acc
“I don't think you were listening to me, Andy. I said the guy doesn't like me anymore but is being polite to me for old time's sake and because he has to work with me. How then am I supposed to trap him with a baby? Club him over the head and make him have sex with me a few times until I get pregnant?” Denise asked him in irritation. “No, of course not. I can get you pregnant, then you will stage a scene that will make him believe that he had sex with you. After that, you can pin the baby on him.” Andy replied as though this was the most natural thing in the world to say. “You’re crazy!” “Well, it’s your call. I was under the impression that you wanted to get him back.” Andy replied, shrugging his shoulders in an I-don't-care gesture. “What’s in it for you?” She asked Andy who shrugged again and assured her that he just wanted to see her happy after all that she had been through and that he felt guilty for being the one to take her away from it all in the first instance. The
PRESENT DAY “That is why I told you that it is best that Derek never resurfaces.” Andy had said only minutes ago. “I don't know what you want me to do. Seek out his abductors and ask them to kill him? Like I told you earlier, I love Derek and this time around, I'm prepared to make our relationship work and give him all the love that he deserves but has never gotten.” “Well, if that is what you want, then I guess I can't stop you. I will still be needing money to keep my mouth shut though.” Andy told her. Denise burst out laughing at this “Unfortunately, it is not going to make a difference whether you close your mouth or not.” “What do you mean by that?” “What I mean by that is that Derek already suspects that Barry isn’t his.” “What makes you say so? You and Derek share the same blood group, which is the same one that Barry has, isn’t it? What on earth will make Derek begin to suspect that Barry isn't his biological son? Did you give him any reason to doubt you and carry
For the first time in over three weeks, Derek saw the sun. It was blinding in its intensity and he had to squint his eyes to protect it from its punishing glare, but he was glad to see the sun. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he took a good look at his surroundings. He had been right. He was being held captive out in the woods in the middle of nowhere. Even if he managed to escape, which was unlikely unless he was kept alive until his wounds healed well enough for him to try to escape, he would most likely die of thirst and starvation out here. “There is water in that bucket over there, as well as some soap. Use it to wash yourself very well.” His captor told him, still pointing the gun at him so that he would not make any funny moves, not that Derek was in the condition to do such a thing. There was no question of wrestling the gun out of the man’s hands except he wanted to wind up dead, so Derek approached the bucket gingerly and began to take his bath, wincing when the
FLOWERSThere was a knock on Ava’s door while she was still sleeping even though it was nearly eleven in the morning It was a Saturday after all and she was sleeping in after the events of the previous evening when Amanda disrupted her dinner with Steve.This was because she had slept late the previous night since sleep eluded her, either because of the altercation with Amanda or for some other reason.Her maid answered the door and came to wake her up with a huge smile on her face and a large bouquet of roses in her hands.“What the hell? Where did you get those from?” Ava asked groggily.“They’re from Mr. Steve. He’s in the living room if you want to see him, otherwise he said it is not a problem if you're not up to having visitors just yet. I informed him that you were sleeping."“No, no. It’s fine. I’ll see him.” Ava replied, blushing like a schoolgirl with a huge crush on the star football player in school.She couldn’t remember when last she got flowers. Actually, she could and
After several seconds had passed, during which Derek continued to stare at Ava with a polite but blank expression on his face, Ava decided that he was joking.After all, he had done the same thing the first time after he came out of his coma when Harper was still missing. So she uttered a small laugh and chastised him.“That’s not funny, Derek. How are you feeling?” She asked him, coming closer to the bed and placing a hand over his forehead when the doctor didn’t object to it.To her surprise and growing dismay, though, Derek moved his head away, or at least, tried to do so. It was obvious that he was too weak to manage it fully, but his intent was clear and that was that he didn't want to be touched by her.“Who are you? Do we know each other?” He croaked out.She could sense fear in his voice, and when he continued to speak without giving her a chance to respond, she understood why he sounded fearful.“Madam, please. I was on my way to my parent’s place when I got into an accident.
Luckily enough, the surgery was successful, at least, according to what the doctors told Ava.She wasn’t a professional, so she had no way of knowing if this was correct or not, as Derek had been placed in a medically induced coma by the doctors until he was better.All she knew was that he lay in the hospital bed day in, day out, looking as white and still as a corpse, with the machines breathing for him.As for her, she had made a hasty recovery, which was probably fueled by the need to be present to look after Derek herself, and her flesh wound from the gunshot had all but healed.Although all the threats to Derek's life had been eliminated, so to speak, she still had this irrational fear that some other person who had some beef with him was going to sneak into the hospital and snuff the life out of him.Unfortunately, however, since he was in the ICU, she couldn’t be with him as much as she wanted, which made the whole experience even more scary and traumatic, as she had no idea w
“It was by sheer luck, if not, they never would have found you on time, and what would have happened then does not bear thinking about. Apparently, they managed to arrest the guy that Amanda initially hired to do all this sometime yesterday.Once the asshole realized that there was no chance in hell that he would get out of this and that he was well and truly done for, he began to sing like a canary. He led the police right to the house, and the rest, as they say, is history. I'm so thankful we got there on time.” Damien said.“Yeah, me too. It’s still hard to believe that Amanda could be filled with so much hate in her heart and that she was willing to go to such lengths to harm Derek, me, and even our child who has done nothing to her.”“I was surprised as well. I always knew that she was a mean person, but I never imagined that she was downright evil. I'm glad you followed through on your instinct.”“Me too. So is Amanda still …” Ava asked, unable to finish the question.“Unfortuna
Mother and daughter hugged each other for what felt like decades, and when they finally pulled apart, Ava's arm was hurting where she had been shot."I'm so sorry, baby. No one will ever hurt you again, I promise. Not when I'm alive." Ava said, ruffling Harper's hair, and wincing when she saw where the area on her head that had been shaved because of an injury there."The bad woman hit me with a gun. She shot Uncle Steve with the gun. Uncle Steve wanted to run away with me and Gracie, Mom." Harper explained, noting that Ava's eyes were on the wound.Ava gulped and averted her gaze immediately, unable to imagine the horror that Harper and Gracie had been through. Little children like them should never have to see someone murdered in cold blood.Seeing such a thing messed with even grownups like her, not to talk of children.The girls were going to need loads of therapy. Once again, Ava damned Amanda and Denise to hell and back in her mind. Suddenly, she realized the implications o
Ava had grabbed Denise because she wanted to use her as a human shield, and her plan worked pretty well, as it was all that saved her from what would have been certain death.The bullets that Amanda had just fired hit Denise point blank and in rapid succession. She died quickly, although the other two women didn’t know it yet.Ava felt Denise’s body jerk with the force of the shots at the same time that she saw Amanda crumple to the ground as though in slow motion.That was confusing, and Ava stared at her in surprise, unable to fathom what had just happened.She glanced down at Denise, whom she still held, and who was clearly very dead, and let go of her body immediately, feeling extremely sickened.She needed to focus on not getting killed, which was what Amanda was bent on doing to her.Amanda was trying to get back up, but before she could manage to do that, someone tackled her, and hit the gun out of her hand,Within moments, policemen swarmed the room, and Ava collapsed in relie
Denise and Ava stared warily at each other after Amanda left the room, and a few seconds later, Ava decided to try to reason with the other woman, even though she wasn’t sure that Denise was going to listen to her. “Denise, please, let us go. I promise not to press charges against you. You must know from all indications that there’s no way the both of you are going to get out of this unscathed. It doesn’t matter what Amanda says now. I can see in your eyes that you know it.” Ava tried to get to Denise. It was all she could do not to rush straight at Denise and grab Harper, who was whimpering in fear and trying not to move so that the knife would not nick her, away from the woman. She could see the fear and indecision in Denise’s face. Apparently, she was wise to realize what Amanda clearly failed to realize, which was that Ava was right and there was no way she and Amanda going to get out of this without being apprehended by the police. “Shut up!” Denise muttered. “Think abou
Ava didn’t wait to see what would happen next. She rushed straight at Amanda, faintly aware that her arm was hurting weirdly, but her adrenaline was too great for her to think anything of the pain right then. She had taken self-defense classes several times in the past, and although it had been a long time since she took them, those classes came in handy at that moment. Her life, as well as those of Harper and the other little girl, Gracie, depended on her. She couldn't let them down. She began to try to wrestle the gun away from Amanda, who struggled fiercely with her. As they struggled with the gun, it kept discharging, but by some miracle, neither of them was hit. Finally, the gun was out of bullets, and Amanda let go of it while yelling for Denise to come at the same time. Ava wasn’t done with her, though. She thought of poor Harper and her friend who were somewhere in that house, scared to death and definitely not in the best shape. She thought about Derek, who had been throug
Adrenaline pumped through Ava’s entire body, and utter rage filled her entire being. She was right! She had been right all along. These evil women were the ones who had abducted her daughter and another innocent child. She would have called for help, but there was no service on her phone, and she could only hope that Damien and the police would be somehow able to find her and soon too, before something bad happened to her or the girls. Had it been she had thought things through earlier, she would have gotten a car tracker before coming on this solo adventure. Unfortunately, never in her wildest dreams had she imagined what the night would bring, and so she had failed to take this necessary precaution. One moment, she was standing outside the house in fear, and the next moment, she found herself beside the door. Without caring what was waiting on the other side of the door, she threw herself against it as hard as she could. She thought fleetingly of the poor soul that was growing in
Ava didn’t go back home after driving away from Denise’s place. Instead, she parked her car the next block away from Denise’s house in a spot where her car would not easily be detected.Then she waited for what felt like an eternity for Denise to leave her house because she had every intention of following the woman to wherever it was that she was going.Her phone was blowing up with calls from Damien, who had left her several messages, asking her not to do anything drastic that could cause Denise to have the power to get her arrested or something.She ignored the messages and continued to wait. After a while, she saw a car, which she recognized as one of Amanda’s cars, come from the opposite direction and drive towards Denise’s house.Ava’s heart immediately began to beat really fast. Amanda was picking Denise up? Where the hell were both of them headed by that time of the night? Several minutes later, the car appeared again and drove off into the night.Ava let a few minutes pass, a