2

 Chapter Two

•KIANA•

I watched in confusion as my father's face went pale in shock when Aria mentioned that some huge men were in the sitting room demanding to see him. I wondered who the men could be as I silently followed behind my father and Aria to the sitting room. I noticed that my father's hand was shaking and he looked nervous as hell. By now, I had forgotten about the laundry and the only thing on my mind was to quench my curiosity and see who the men that made my father nervous were.

My father and Aria got to the sitting room while I stayed behind a wall, where I hid so that Aria wouldn't see me. I could see everything that was happening in the sitting room from this angle but someone could hardly see me.

Indeed there were big men in black suits and dark shades and each of them were bigger than my father. They all had hard expressions on their faces and even a blind person could see that they were dangerous. That made me shiver in fear.

My eyes drifted off to Candice who was sitting on the couch and she was openly gushing at one of the men, he had on a navy blue suit and dark shades and he looked like he was the one leading the rest of the men. Candice was staring at him dreamily but he didn't pay her any attention. His eyes were fixated on my father.

"Peter, where is the money?" Was the first thing he demanded from my father who still looked nervous and was trying to put up a strong front but was failing.

The guy didn't even bother to exchange pleasantries and that was a clear indication that he was here for business and business alone.

"Don't make me repeat myself." He walked closer to my dad who was already shaking like a leaf. Thee stranger's voice boomed through the house, echoing as he crutched in front of my dad, his face dangerously close to my father's.

"Where. Is. The. Money!"

I winced at how loud he was. His dark orbs darkened even more and I felt my inside sink. He was going to do something to my father if he doesn't respond.

It took a while for me to register what the guy asked my father. My father owes his boss some money? How come I didn't know about it and when did he even borrow the money? So many questions were running through my head.

"I... The money... Please..." My attention got back to the sitting room when I heard my Dad begin to stutter. He was a nervous wreck, he couldn't even form a sentence.

"This is the last time going to ask." The man gritted his teeth. "Where. Is. The. 10. Million. Dollars. You. Borrowed. From. My. Boss?"

He spelled out each words and I staggered when I heard the amount of money he made mention of. 10 million dollars?! How the hell could my Dad borrow such a huge amount of money and what could he have used it for?

"I don't have the money yet please. If you could give me six more months, I'll find some way to gather your money." Dad pleaded, almost going on his knees and the man chuckled darkly.

"It's been two years. Two freaking years and there's no fucking way we're giving you six extra months." The man said, his voice growing louder by the second and my Dad cowered back in fear.

"Please. Okay, give me a month. A month and I'll gather your 10 million dollars for you." Dad tried again but the man seemed to have made up his mind.

"No! You might as well give up the daughter you used as collateral." The man said coldly and I froze in shock.

Did I just hear him say "daughter used as collateral?" That cannot be me, right? Yeah, it's definitely not me. Dad was known to be quite promiscuous so he might have some other daughter outside and their referring to her. Yeah... That must be it.

"Not my daughter please... I'll pay back your money, just give me some time." Dad begged, he was on his knees now.

"I don't have time for this. Bring out your daughter now. Or is it this bitch sitting here?" The man stated then asked, pointing at Candice who was still gushing at him.

"My daughter is not a bitch, and she's not the one he used as collateral. The one he used is upstairs. You can send your men to bring her or I will fetch her myself. She's of no use to this house anyway." Aria uttered, wicked smile on her face as she dragged Candice behind her.

I gaped at her in shock. I knew that Aria was wicked but not to this extent. She was willing to give me up to some unknown men. She's a freaking witch!

"My men will go get her." The man said and signalled to the men behind him and the men spread out.

I got scared as the men began walking towards my direction, they couldn't see me as I hid deeper into the shadows. The men walked past my hiding place and were about to turn the corner when I mistakenly knocked the vase beside me. It crashed loudly on the floor and I shivered. My bad luck just decided to show itself. The men heard the sound as they turned to the direction where the sound had come from but I had moved away from there and was stealthily walking to the backdoor where I could escape if I was careful enough.

"Going somewhere?" I heard the deep voice ask behind me and I jumped in fright. I looked back to see one of the men in suit, the rest of them standing behind him. I had been caught and there was no way I could escape, but I wouldn't go down without trying.

I faced my front, the backdoor was a few feet away from me and if I took some steps, I'll be out of the door in no time. As I attempted to run towards the door, hands grabbed me from behind. Two of the huge men were holding me.

They began tugging me to the sitting room while I struggled against their hold, screaming profanities.

They got to the sitting room and they held me in place, in front of their leader. I looked towards Aria's direction to see a wicked glint in her eyes. She was glad to see me like this. My Dad was on his knees, begging the man in navy blue suit.

"Now that we have your daughter, we can leave." The man said icily.

"Just give me another chance please, I'll gather your money." Dad begged once more but the man bad made up his mind.

"There's no chance left for you. You should have thought of how you were going to repay the money before borrowing and using your daughter as collateral." The man replied and my Dad's shoulders sagged in defeat.

"Dad! They can't possibly be taking me away, can they?" I quizzed, looking at him hopefully.

"I'm sorry, Kiana." He muttered, looking resigned and the tears that had been in my eyes began falling in torrents. I felt betrayed, by my own biological father.

"No!!! You can't just give me off to him like that!" I wailed, struggling against the hold of the huge men that were keeping me in place.

"I'm sorry, Kiana. But this is beyond my control. You have been promised to him ever since you turned 18. I used you as collateral in case I couldn't pay back the money I borrowed." My father said, his head bowed in despair.

"Nooooooo." I screamed as the huge men dragged me out of the house like I weighed nothing, like I was a sack of potatoes. I heard Aria and Candice snicker while my Dad sobbed quietly as the men took me out of the house.

The two men that were holding me threw me into the backseat of a black SUV and they each got in after me, sitting on either side of me. There was no way for me to get out of the car. I thrashed against them and tried to punch the one on my left but before my fist could even come in contact with his face, I felt an handkerchief pressed against my nose and my body sagged as my eyes drooped. The last thing I heard before getting pulled into a dark abyss was: "She was being such a bitch."