Regaining her composure, she took a breath, her voice steady but urgent.
“Felix, you have to let me go. Do you grasp the gravity of what you’re doing? Kidnapping isn’t a minor offense. If you don’t stop now, there’s no turning back. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life in prison?”
Her words slid off him like water off glass.
He chuckled, the sound laced with unsettling confidence, and leaned closer, eyes narrowing.
“Once we have sex, Linsey, you’ll see things my way. You won’t even think about leaving me again.”
His gaze darkened, the corners of his mouth curling into a sly, unsettling smile.
“Feeling a little… warmer now?”
Linsey’s body stiffened.
A strange and overwhelming heat surged through her, and a shiver ran down her spine.
She saw the malicious gleam in Felix’s eyes, and a wave of dread flooded her chest.
“What have you done to me?” she whispered, her voice hoarse and strained.
Felix’s smile widened as he leaned in, his breath laced with menace.
“Just something to enhance the evening. I’ve waited too long for this moment.”
His tone turned cruel.
“I know you married Collin-that poor cripple. There’s no way you two could be intimate. Tonight, I’ll show you what you’ve been missing. After this, you’ll be begging to come back to me. I’m sure of it.”
His grin twisted into something vile, his confidence swelling.
In his mind, once he claimed her, her heart would inevitably follow.
Driven by that delusion, Felix lunged toward Linsey, his intentions vile and unmistakable.
“NO!” Linsey cried out, her voice echoing with raw terror and fierce defiance.
Meanwhile, over at Vista Villa, Collin waited patiently for Linsey’s return.
The thought of finally coming clean to her made him unusually anxious.
His heart pounded, each beat growing more insistent-like a drumline echoing his unease.
He had lost count of how many times he’d checked his watch. Time had never dragged this painfully before.
Yet as the minutes crawled by, Linsey was still nowhere in sight.
A nagging sense of dread crept in, tightening around his chest.
Collin knew exactly where Linsey worked, and Vista Villa wasn’t far. Even by bus, the trip should take no more than thirty minutes. There was no reason for her to be this late.
Frowning, he pulled out his phone and dialed her number, wondering if something had come up.
If she was in trouble, maybe he could help.
But the call went unanswered. He tried again. Then a third time. Still nothing.
His expression darkened, frustration tightening his grip on the phone.
With a sharp exhale, he called his subordinate.
“Track Linsey down-now. I have a bad feeling something’s wrong.”
It wasn’t long before the subordinate called back.
“Mr. Riley, the park’s streetlights were down for maintenance, leaving entire stretches in darkness. We pulled footage from nearby cameras-Mrs. Riley was ambushed at an intersection, knocked unconscious, and dragged into a car. We ran the plates. It’s her ex-boyfriend, Felix Wells. A team is already on his tail. We should have an update soon.”
Collin’s expression hardened, his entire presence taut like a coiled spring.
“Get the car. Now.”
“Yes, Mr. Riley!”
Back in the decaying room, as Felix closed in, Linsey’s eyes burned with defiance.
With a sharp breath, she wrenched herself free from the loosened ropes and dodged his lunge.
Thrown off balance, he crashed into the chair that had held her captive.
“Ah!”
He staggered upright, rage contorting his face.
“You ungrateful wretch! You never know when to give up!”
Linsey’s pulse thundered as her gaze locked onto a wine bottle perched on a nearby cabinet. She lunged, fingers curling around its neck, ready to swing.
But Felix was faster. His hand clamped around her wrist, twisting viciously until pain shot through her arm.
“Ah!” Linsey cried out as the bottle slipped from her grasp and shattered against the floor.
Felix’s grin curled into something cruel, his eyes gleaming with amusement at her struggle.
“You’re sharper than I thought,” he mused aloud. “Trying to escape? Clever. But pointless. You’re not going anywhere. Be a good girl and cooperate-maybe I’ll go easy on you…”
Before he could finish, Linsey lunged. She sank her teeth into his arm, biting down with all her strength.
Felix’s scream tore through the air.
“Ahhh!”
As his grip loosened, Linsey shoved aside the pain and whirled around.
This was it-her last chance.
She had to escape. She had to find help.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.