The night before her wedding…
In a dimly lit room, Karina Briggs' legs were sprawled out as she leaned against the wooden crates when she suddenly felt a searing ache pierce through her body while an unpleasant scent permeated her nose. Her hands were tied behind her, adding to her unease.
Despite her blurry vision, she noticed the room was obviously poorly furnished and could still see the man looking at her intently while seated on a chair a few feet away from her. He had a prominent scar on his cheek, which made Karina shiver as she recalled how she got into that predicament.
At her side, her stepsister, Chloe, yelled, "You scumbags, this place stinks! I want to leave right now! Help!"
Hours ago, she was preparing for her lavish wedding to Zach Lewis at the Grand Garden Hotel, which was scheduled for tomorrow morning after a five-year engagement. Chloe, who was a year younger than she was, had arranged a bridal party with their cousins.
Even though Karina did not get along well with her sister, who constantly picked on her, she accepted regardless to avoid offending the other women in their family, whom she was told were expecting her. However, a gang of men stopped their vehicle as they were on their way to the bridal party and forcibly took them somewhere.
The man with the scar smirked, saying, “Finally! The princess has opened her eyes!”
“Wait! I know you!” Karina said, thinking she would have recognized the man if the baseball cap and scars were taken off. “You were Lewis' former bodyguard from years ago, who had been fired from the job!”
Gritting his teeth, the man remembered how he ended up taking both of them hostage. “This is your fiancé’s fault! Not only did he fire me, but he’s the one who caused this!” he snarled, referring to his scar.
One man, who had been watching them and obviously one of the leaders, warned him. “Hey! Before you get emotional, call that guy Zach! Tell him we have his women!”
‘Women?’
Karina shifted her attention to Chloe. Her sister arched one of her brows in a way that suggested she didn't care what she was thinking. Karina, though, had already imagined several scenarios. She had noticed the unusual closeness between her fiancé and Chloe, but she had let it go to avoid upsetting Zach, who always seemed to be disgusted by her.
‘No way! They didn’t!’
Her grandmother had arranged her marriage with the Lewis family before the woman passed away.
When she turned sixteen, she had been trained for five years to be the perfect daughter-in-law of the Lewis family, following all the traditions and studying various courses related to being the perfect Lewis housewife, like cooking, learning different languages, creating art like painting or playing the piano, and knowing how to answer reporters' queries.
“We demand 10 million dollars for each woman,” the man holding a phone declared firmly, causing Karina to regain her attention. He was probably speaking with Zach or their father, Mr. Briggs.
“Dad! Dad, help me!” shouted Chloe, following her pitiful cries. “Dad, help me! They're ugly and stink!”
“Shut it!” warned the man.
The man turned the speaker on so they could hear what the other person was saying. It turned out to be Zach’s voice. “Bring back my woman! I will pay you 10 million dollars! Right now!”
“Zach!” said both of them.
Their kidnapper smirked. “See how much of a jerk you are? Do you mean to say that you would only spend ten million? Who, by the way, was it? Your mistress or your fiancée?”
When Karina realized what she had heard, she looked at her sister, who had the audacity to return the glare.
‘Had he said "mistress"? And was he referring to Chloe?’
She felt the tie on her hand loosened a bit, but pretended it was still tight to not alarming the men.
Chloe continued to cry, “Zach, help me! I want to go home!”
“Chloe! Don't worry. I’ll take care of everything for you.”
“But since you were getting married to my sister, I can understand if you wanted to be with her and pay for her ransom. I'm going to let these disgusting men kill me and take your baby with me to my grave.”
That made Karina’s eyes grow wide. She couldn’t take it anymore and questioned them in that instant. “What do you mean?”
“I’m sorry, sister… I love Zach so much! You see? I don’t want to end it this way, but I’m carrying his child.” Since her fiancé was simply on the phone, the woman's corner lips rose, seemingly mocking her stupidity.
Karina was dumbfounded, causing her head and heart to break. She had spent five years just to be the ‘perfect wife’ of the Lewis family. She agreed to their family agreement because she had a great relationship with Zach during their younger days and eventually loved him. But the man’s affection for her gradually dissipated over time.
The scarred man laughed loudly, filling the small room.
“Please do not touch Chloe! I’ll give you the money you want!” Zach pleaded as if she, his fiancée, weren't around.
Her sister smiled widely while she was still in a daze, feeling the piercing pain in her chest.
“I’ll give you three hours!” said the leader.
‘No!’
“Wait!” Karina exclaimed. “Zach, I am your fiancé! What do you mean by this? I've worked really hard over the past five years to become deserving of being your wife!”
“You’re funny! Is it my fault that I wasted your five years? Just so you know, I was disgusted with you for the same period of time! I have never wanted to marry you! So please go to hell and die!”
“Zach!” Karina exclaimed as her tears ran down her cheeks. ‘No way! This isn’t happening.’
“Ten million!” said the leader.
‘Karina, you have to think clearly!’
Gritting her teeth and still not losing hope, Karina said, "Call my dad! Considering that my wedding is tomorrow, he'll pay the ransom!"
As they concluded the conversation, Chloe laughed, got to her feet, and moved towards the leader. Her ties were cut off by the man, who then gave her sister a bottle of water. Karina couldn't believe what was taking place in front of her. She would have awarded the woman for her outstanding acting if she could.
She could tell right away that Chloe was part of this.
“What is the meaning of this?!” Karina asked with her mouth agape, still unable to believe.
“I can’t believe you are this much of an idiot!” said the man with a scar on his face.
“You know these men! I will tell Zach about this!”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Go ahead and try, sis! Anything you say won't be believed by Zach, Dad, or anyone else—because they adore me while despising you. Are you sure I organized a bridal party for you? Even you believed in me that much!”
“But why? Why are you doing this?!”
“Because I hate you! You are the ideal woman in Zach’s grandmother's eyes, and I despise you for it!”
One kidnapper received a signal from her sister. The latter nodded before firmly slapping her face.
“Zach expected me to take your place, so I performed everything you do, but his family kept treating me like shit! ‘Karina is the perfect daughter-in-law... Karina does this, Karina does that—’ Screw them all for maintaining a long-standing tradition!”
She received another slap. The Lewis family had been known by the public for having a respectable tradition; they should be perfect in the public’s eyes.
“I will tell Dad about this!” Karina warned as her body continued to tremble, her head was spinning, and her lips began to bleed.
“Dad won’t spend a penny for you.”
Karina cried because she knew Chloe was right.
“Let’s skip calling Dad because I would feel awful for you if he rejected the ransom for you too!”
She glared at the woman.
"While I'm having fun with your fiancé tonight, I'll make your wedding night a nightmare for you! Let’s see if Zach’s family would still like you once they found out their perfect daughter-in-law was sexually assaulted by their former bodyguard!"
With the exception of the man with the scar on his face, her sister followed their captors out of the room, laughing. Karina feared for her life as the man licked his lips and gave her an unsettling gaze.
“I’m giving you money; just let me go!" she yelled, but a scream immediately followed as the man dragged her foot to get closer.
“I have to do it right away! The drug is probably working by now,” the man muttered, widening her eyes.
She had been drugged, which is presumably why she noticed her head felt heavy when she first opened her eyes in that filthy situation.
Nevertheless, it urged Karina to slap the man after the tie had let go of her hand, causing the man to become enraged and respond to her cheek in the same way.
She forced herself to stay awake as she tripped over the wooden crates. In an attempt to secure himself over Karina, the man jumped over her, but she rolled to avoid him.
The wooden crates collapsed over him.
When Karina saw the man being restrained by the wooden crates, she didn't hesitate and forced herself to leave that place. Despite her feeble legs, she managed to leave when she discovered the door was unlocked.
‘Run!’
She didn't know where to go in the dim, unknown alley, yet she continued to run away from the man.
Since her vision had already become so hazy, she hit the black Maybach near the passenger side.
