Tom's POV"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" I yelled the moment Chris picked up the call."What do you think I am doing, smarty pants?" Chris laughed."I promise you, if you lay a finger on her, I will tear you apart!" Every word I spoke was filled with an intense desire to pummel him until he bled.How could he play with someone's life?"Why don't I do with her what you did with Dora?" he asked with an annoyingly calm tone."You have serious mental issues, Chris. You should be confined in a psychiatric facility, and I will ensure that happens. Now, tell me, where is she?" I demanded, and I could hear him let out a mocking laugh."I don't know what you're talking about," he said, and it felt as though my head was a train going off its rails. Was he purposely trying to irritate me until my head exploded?I felt a surge of hot blood rushing through my veins, making it difficult to breathe calmly.My grip on the steering wheel tightened."You don't know what I am talking about?
Tom's POVInitially, his words appeared absurd to me, leaving me unable to understand their true meaning.My company, and not Vance Tech?"Why did you suddenly change your mind?" I asked, trying hard to sound steady."It was exactly what I had always wanted. I had only wanted to take small steps forward, but with her, I believe it's safe to take this significant leap. Undoubtedly, a person's life surpasses that of a mere company," he scoffed, followed by a laugh."Chris. I don't know what you're playing at, but this is a dangerous game. If …""You're going to call the cops? Come on, I thought we already discussed this and agreed that no one would call the cops. But if you want to, go ahead. You have complete freedom to do so."Once again, he didn't mention the cops much. Instead, he was determined to make it clear to me that he intended to harm Ava.Ava had Indeed been correct in her assessment. Time had passed, and I no longer recognized him. He had transformed into someone even more
Ava's POVSaliva formed in my mouth, and my palms grew sweaty.They hadn't picked up any weapons yet, so there was still a glimmer of hope.I instinctively moistened my lips as my eyes darted back and forth between the weapons and the men.Surely Tom wouldn't allow them to cut my finger?I knew their request was absurd and impossible, but a part of me desperately wanted to believe that Tom wouldn't allow such harm to come to me. I wanted to believe that he would take action."Go ahead. Make him listen to her scream," Chris said abruptly, his anger evident. I let out a scream before they could even grab any of the weapons.I tried to stand, but my legs, tightly bound, forced me back down onto the floor.The men burst into laughter and pulled me back."No, no, no! You can't do this! You can't!" I screamed as they examined the weapons.I fought, even though I knew it was pointless.But they easily pinned me down, making it difficult for me to move a muscle.My finger was forcefully slam
Ava's POVWhen I woke up, I found myself alone in the room.My head felt a bit foggy, and my body was too weak to move. However, the best thing I noticed that morning was that my hands and feet were no longer bound.I quickly glanced around, searching for any signs of someone hiding nearby, but I couldn't see anyone. The room was in disarray, and after a few minutes, memories of the previous night flooded my mind.Last night, they had placed a powdery substance in front of me and instructed me to sniff it.Initially, I found it absurd, but they reminded me of their torture tools, making it clear that they were serious.Scared, I lifted the flat tray holding the powdery substance and brought it closer to my nose.As soon as I had taken a whiff of it, it hit me hard, almost like I had sniffed too forcefully. I ended up sneezing uncontrollably, tears streaming down my face. But instead of offering help, all they did was laugh and record videos.I felt disoriented as if my head was spin
Tom's POV I glanced at the address on the paper and realized it was a place I was completely unfamiliar with. This made me wonder if she was trying to play a prank on me."Don't believe me? Well, the owner of this mini-mansion went on a vacation, and they broke in after doing their boring research," she casually mentioned, nonchalantly brushing her sleek fingers."Broke in?" I asked, my brows furrowed in confusion."He took a flight, so they assumed he wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. And even if he did, they believed he wouldn't take any action once they threatened him," she explained further, but it only increased my doubts."How do you know about this?" I asked, and she looked at me with a bright smile."My brother talks a lot in here because he thinks I am not listening," she said and started laughing while hitting the bed. She made me feel sick, and yet sorry for her and guilty too. "Why are you telling me this?" I queried, puzzled."You're my boyfriend," she said simply a
Ava's POVAs I looked at the men, a grin slowly spread across their faces. It was then I realized that they had been expecting me.They were well aware that I would take advantage of the fact that I wasn't bound, and they had been patiently waiting for me to come to them.At first, some of them seemed annoyed that I had tried to escape, but for some unknown reason, their annoyance was replaced by silly grins."I asked you a question," Chris pressed, his smile not reaching his cold eyes as he stared at me. "Did you enjoy dancing with me last night? Or rather, did I help you put your fingers to good use—one last time?" he drawled. It was then that I understood why everyone around us was grinning foolishly."You are quite daring but also foolish. You willingly jumped into a pit, thinking it was an escape route," one of his men remarked, rising to his feet.I had no idea where he was headed or what he was about to do, but I couldn't just stand there. My first thought was to run, but befo
Ava's POVIf I had been crying earlier, those were not tears.When I realized that Tom actually had feelings for me too, my cheeks flushed, and it felt as though I was shedding tears that had been heated to a boil.I didn't want him to see me in that vulnerable state, so I quickly grabbed a nearby pillow and hid my face behind it."What's wrong?" he asked as he moved to sit on the bed, leaving the chair he had been sitting on."Nothing. I'm just… I'm just… I don't know, Tom," I cried, my voice muffled by my pillow. I couldn't understand why he liked me or what he saw in me. How did I not see it coming?He gently tugged the pillow away from my face, and I sniffed."You're as red as a tomato. Would you have believed me if I had told you that I was scared you wouldn't have feelings for me in return?" he asked, and I shook my head.This moment was supposed to be joyful, but maybe it was the recent events—I just didn't feel good.I blinked several times and gazed into his eyes. He appeared
Tom's POVMr. Roger looked nervous as he had finally confessed their greed, and as he met my expressionless eyes, it seemed he understood the gravity of what he had done."That's why they were so adamant," he explained, his eyes darting from Henry to me. "I actually wanted to pull out, but I had already used the money for my wife's surgery, and there wasn't really any way of getting it back." He moistened his lips nervously as he spoke."So are you saying that he successfully bribed the entire board too?" Henry asked.Mr. Roger shook his head. "No. A few persons rejected the money because they wanted to stick with Mrs. Lockwood. And I really wanted to, but I …""I can imagine the others saying exactly what you're saying - making excuses. But excuses don't cover up what you've done. Mrs. Lockwood will be the one to decide whether or not to expose you," I announced, noticing fear crossing his eyes."I… I know what I did was wrong…," he stuttered, avoiding my gaze.**************Ava wen