Khai's POV
My hands trembled as I fumbled with my phone, quickly pulling up Dad's number.
The line barely rang before he answered.
"Khai?" His voice was calm, but I could hear the underlying concern.
I sucked in a shaky breath, my throat tightening.
"Dad... something happened to Rain."
There was a heavy pause on the other end.
"What do you mean?" His tone sharpened, the calm slipping.
"I—I think someone took her." My voice cracked. "She sent me these texts, but they don't feel like her. I went to her apartment, but it was locked. Mrs. Letty hasn't seen her. She's not at the office. No one knows where she is."
Another pause. Then, his voice turned cold and steady.
"Where are you now?"
"At the office," I whispered.
"I'm on my way."
The line went dead.
While we waited for Dad to arrive, I paced the office, my thoughts spiraling. Every second felt heavier than the last.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Therese sitting quietly, her expression distant. Her fingers were absentmindedly turning something over and over.
A silver ring.
She kept twisting it between her fingers, rubbing the smooth surface with her thumb. It wasn't like her to be this quiet. Normally, Therese would be the first to take control, but now she just stared at the ring like it was the only thing grounding her.
Maybe she was just tense—just as restless and worried as I was.
But for some reason, I couldn't stop watching the way she held it.
The office door swung open with a force that made everyone jump. Dad stepped in, his expression dark and serious. Behind him were Harold and his security team, their presence commanding and alert. Patrick, Kroft's hacker friend, followed close behind, his laptop already in hand.
Without wasting a second, Harold's men moved swiftly. They closed the blinds on the marketing team's office, blocking any view from the outside. One of them gestured for the employees to leave, and they quickly filed out, sensing the tension in the room.
Now, it was just us.
Me.
Dad.
Harold and his team.
Therese.
Kroft.
And Patrick, quietly setting up in the corner.
The room felt suffocatingly quiet, the weight of the situation pressing on all of us.
Dad's eyes locked onto mine. "Tell me everything."
I took a deep breath, trying to steady the shaking in my hands as I handed Dad my phone.
"These are the messages Rain sent me," I said, my voice breaking slightly.
Dad's eyes darkened as he read each word, his grip on the phone tightening. The room was dead silent, except for the rapid clicking of Patrick's keyboard as he worked to track Rain's location.
Harold leaned over Patrick's shoulder. "Can you ping her GPS?"
Patrick didn't look up. "I'm trying. Her phone's active, but whoever did this is smart. It's bouncing off different towers to mask the location. Give me a minute."
"A minute might be too long," Dad muttered, pacing.
Therese and Kroft stood off to the side, pale and tense. Therese clutched that silver ring in her hand again, twisting it anxiously.
"I should've known something was wrong," I whispered, guilt tightening around my chest. "Rain would never say those things."
Dad placed a firm hand on my shoulder, steady and grounding. "We'll find her, Khai. I promise you, we will."
Patrick's fingers flew over the keys. "I've got something. It's faint, but her last ping was near the old industrial district. The signal's weak, like the phone was turned off or destroyed shortly after."
Harold straightened up. "That's too coincidental. We need to move."
Dad turned to his security team. "Get the cars ready. We're going now."
I didn't wait for orders. I was already moving.
Rain's POV
Hours felt like days. My body was stiff and sore from being tied up for so long. The stale air in the room made it hard to breathe, and the ropes had left deep marks on my wrists.
Suddenly, I felt cold hands yank me upright.
"Get up," Lia snapped.
Before I could react, a black hood was shoved over my head, plunging me into darkness. The rough fabric scratched against my skin, and a new set of zip ties bit into my wrists, tighter than before.
Panic flared in my chest.
"Is the airplane ready?" Lia's sharp voice cut through the still air, her tone laced with impatience.
A pause.
"Damn it, how long will it be ready?" she hissed.
Then Alex's voice, calmer but edged with urgency, spoke up behind me. "Lia, we need to move. If we wait any longer, Lucan's team will swarm this place. We won't make it out."
Lucan.
The mention of his name sparked a flicker of hope in me. They knew. They were looking for me.
But that hope was quickly overshadowed by fear.
"Fine," Lia spat. "Get her to the van. We leave now."
Rough hands shoved me forward, nearly making me trip. I stumbled, the hood disorienting me, my hands useless against the restraints.
"Move!" Lia barked.
Every step felt heavier, dread pooling in my stomach.
Where were they taking me?
And would Khai ever know the truth before it was too late?
Before they forced me into the van, Alex yanked the suffocating black hood off my head, and for a brief second, I gasped for air. But before I could even catch my breath, she tightly wrapped a thick blindfold around my eyes, plunging me into darkness again.
"Can't have you seeing where we're going, princess," Alex sneered.
Before I could say anything, she shoved bulky headphones over my ears.
Then—blaring, deafening music.
The pounding bass rattled through my skull, vibrating in my bones. It was so loud it felt like my eardrums might burst.
Every sound from the outside world was drowned out.
I couldn't hear their voices. I couldn't hear the engine starting.
I couldn't hear anything.
Only the relentless, thundering noise that made it impossible to think.
My heart slammed against my chest.
I was completely cut off—blind, deaf, and utterly helpless.
Wherever they were taking me, I had no way of knowing.
The cold, unforgiving floor scraped against my skin as I was shoved forward. I winced, disoriented and weak, the aftereffects of the long journey still buzzing through my body. The moment the headphones were ripped away, the silence was oppressive, and my ears rang from the loud music.
Then, the blindfold was pulled off.
A searing light pierced my eyes, and I flinched, instinctively trying to shield my face from the blinding brightness. My eyes watered, struggling to adjust. I could hear my own breath, ragged and panicked, but I couldn't make sense of anything around me.
"Hello, Rain"
The voice sliced through the darkness, familiar yet distant, as though it was calling from another world.
It sounded like a woman—her voice rough with age, somewhere in her 60s, maybe. But she stood behind the blinding light, her face obscured.
I tried to steady my breathing, forcing my vision to clear, but all I could make out was the outline of her figure—too distant to see any defining features.
"Who are you?" I gasped, my voice hoarse.
I could hear the soft, unsettling chuckle that followed the woman's words, and my heart raced, a sense of dread tightening around my chest. The air was thick with tension, and I could barely make sense of it all.
The woman's voice came again, calm but laced with something darker.
"Oh well, don't worry about me."
Then Lia's voice cut through, icy and taunting.
"We made sure there were no traces after we left," she said. I could hear the satisfaction in her tone, as if savoring the destruction she'd caused.
"Good," the woman responded, her words deliberate, calculated. "Now, Lia, would you mind giving our visitor here her favorite meal?"
The words hung in the air like a promise—or a threat. My stomach churned at the thought of what was coming next, my mind racing to make sense of the situation. But nothing made sense. What did she mean by my "favorite meal"? What game were they playing?
I tried to push myself up from the cold floor, my body weak, but the strain in my limbs made it impossible to move quickly. The world around me felt hazy, and distant, as if I was barely holding on.
As Lia placed the plate of waffles, bacon, and eggs in front of me, my heart twisted. The smell was all too familiar, and it brought back memories of better times. The irony wasn't lost on me—this was my favorite meal, but in this moment, it felt like a cruel joke. I couldn't bring myself to touch it, despite the growl of my empty stomach.
Lia's voice broke through the haze of my thoughts. "Eat," she commanded, her tone cold and matter-of-fact.
I was too exhausted to argue. I barely had the strength to lift my hands, let alone eat, but I knew if I didn't comply, things could get worse. I glanced down at the food, my mind racing with conflicting thoughts. Was this a gesture of kindness, or another trap?
Before I could make a decision, the sound of footsteps echoed through the room. Alex walked in, flanked by a few men, her eyes scanning the area before landing on Lia.
"Lia, we secured the perimeter," she said with a tone of finality.
Then, her gaze shifted toward me, cold and calculating. "Where's the grandmother?" he asked.
The question left me confused. The grandmother? What were they talking about? My mind tried to process it, but it felt like pieces of the puzzle were slipping through my fingers. What did she have to do with any of this?
Lia didn't respond right away. She simply nodded toward the door where the woman had gone earlier, as if signaling her absence.
"She'll be back soon," Lia said, her tone dismissive. "Now eat. You'll need your strength for what's coming next."
The uncertainty in her words left a pit in my stomach. What were they planning to do? And why did they keep bringing up food as if it was some kind of comfort?
I stared at the plate of food, my stomach churning with nausea and fear. The waffles, bacon, and eggs sat untouched, taunting me. I couldn't bring myself to take a single bite. The room felt suffocating, every second stretching endlessly.
Lia's cold voice cut through the thick silence.
"Eat," she ordered again, sharper this time.
But I didn't move. I couldn't.
Her patience snapped. Suddenly, she yanked me by the hair, forcing my head back. Pain shot through my scalp as she snarled into my ear.
"I said, eat, you bitch!"
Before I could react, she shoved a piece of waffle into my mouth, pressing it down my throat. I gagged, my tears spilling over, choking on the dry, suffocating bite. But I didn't give her the satisfaction of breaking. I clenched my fists, swallowing the pain, the food, and the humiliation.
Then, a voice boomed through the empty warehouse, cold and commanding.
"ENOUGH!"
The sound echoed off the walls, freezing Lia in place. Her grip on my hair loosened, and she slowly turned toward the source of the voice.
It was her again—the woman from earlier. Her voice was low, dripping with authority.
"Turn off the lights," she said smoothly. "Make it dim."
Without hesitation, the harsh lights above flickered and dimmed, casting a soft yellow glow over the vast, empty space. The room shifted from blinding to ominously intimate.
The woman stepped forward, her heels clicking softly against the concrete as she approached. She moved with eerie grace and settled into the chair across from me.
I hesitated, blinking away the blur of tears. Slowly, I lifted my gaze to see her face clearly under the dim light.
And when I did—my breath caught in my throat.
My entire body went rigid.
It couldn't be.
But it was.
Mrs. Letty.
My chest tightened painfully, and my mind reeled in shock. The woman who had always been kind, gentle, and warm. The woman I trusted.
She's here.
Sitting calmly across from me.
Watching me with cold, calculating eyes.
My lips trembled, and the words barely left my mouth.
"Mrs. Letty...?"
But the warmth I once knew was nowhere to be found.
Her expression didn't soften.
She only smiled.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My mind struggled to process the impossible reality in front of me.
Mrs. Letty.
The woman I trusted. The woman I treated like family.
Lia's cold, mocking voice snapped me back to the present.
"Rain, meet my grandmother—Letty Harrington. The Master of all the Musters."
My stomach dropped.
Mrs. Letty tilted her head slightly, a devilish smirk curling on her lips.
"Rain, my apologies if my granddaughter didn't treat you right," she cooed mockingly, then let out a cold, hollow laugh. "Oh, but did you know? Khai dropped by the house earlier."
Her tone dripped with mockery, baiting me for a reaction.
But I didn't flinch.
The rage swelling in my chest burned hotter than my fear. Without thinking, I spat in her face, my breath ragged.
"I treated you as family!" I snarled, my voice shaking with fury.
Her face didn't even twitch. Slowly, she wiped the spit from her cheek with eerie calm.
"Yeah, you did," she sneered, eyes gleaming. "But it was all part of the plan."
Her words sliced through me.
"You see," she continued, her tone casual yet dripping with venom, "after that tragic accident that took your parents' lives, my granddaughter and I found the perfect leverage against the Stantons."
I froze, breath caught in my throat.
She leaned in, her eyes dark and cold.
"When the Stantons made that generous settlement for you and your dear aunt, I made sure to buy the house near your apartment. Close enough to watch you... closely."
My stomach churned.
"For years, we built trust," she purred. "We got close—very close. But fate, oh fate, was on my side when you met Khai."
Her wicked smile stretched wider.
"What a beautiful coincidence. From there, Lia and I began to visualize and execute the perfect plan."
She chuckled, the sound sending chills down my spine.
"Of course, our first attempt didn't work out." She paused, licking her lips as if savoring the memory. "But this?" Her laugh turned dark and guttural. "This is far more satisfying."
Her eyes glinted with hatred.
"Watching you suffer, watching Khai break, and Lucan Stanton crumble under the weight of it all—this is the perfect revenge."
She slowly leaned back, eyes glimmering with unhinged glee.
"And now," her voice dropped to a near whisper, trembling with emotion, "I can finally avenge my son."
Her hands trembled, and suddenly, her expression twisted into something even darker—an unsettling mix of laughter and sobs.
"Oh, my poor Travis!" she wailed, laughing and crying at once, clutching her chest like a grieving mother.
Her voice echoed through the empty warehouse, and I felt the walls closing in around me.
Mrs. Letty wasn't the kind, warm woman I thought I knew.
She was a monster