Chapter 151 Pick A Side

Chapter 151 Pick A Side
ONE WEEK AGO•••

Living off the grid wasn't easy.

It meant never staying in one place too long. Paying with cash whenever they could. Keeping their phones switched off for days at a time. Avoiding familiar roads and familiar faces. Renting small cabins under false names and moving again before anyone started asking questions.

It wasn't much of a life, it was mostly survival. After Grace disappeared, everything had fallen apart.

The marriage to Vance had been their last hope. Sarah's treatments had drained every cent they owned, and Vance's money had been the only thing keeping them afloat. Then Grace found out the truth—that she wasn't their biological daughter, that they'd hidden her past from her, and that they'd agreed to marry her off to save Sarah's life.

She had walked away, left them, but deep down Sarah couldn't blame her.

Vance, however, didn't see it that way.

The moment Grace vanished, he withdrew every promise he'd made. The money disappeared. The treatments stopped. And it became painfully clear that the man wasn't simply going to accept losing what he believed belonged to him.

So Sarah and Grant ran, It had been Grant's idea, "We disappear," he'd told her. "Until he gives up."

Sarah hadn't believed Vance was the sort of man who gave up and she'd been right.

Still, weeks passed without incident, and slowly, they began believing they'd actually managed to escape him. Their days settled into a quiet routine.

Grant picked up odd jobs wherever they stayed. Sarah rationed her medication, taking less than the doctors had prescribed so it would last longer. Neither of them spoke much about Grace anymore, but neither of them went a single day without thinking about her.

Sarah wondered constantly where she was, whether she was eating, if she was safe, or whether he'd ever forgive them.

Then everything changed. 

Sarah returned to the cabin just before sunset, carrying a small paper bag filled with groceries, she walked up the porch and saw that the front door stood slightly open. Her heart skipped, she pushed the door open further and slowly walked in, putting the groceries down by the front door.

"Honey?"

Silence.

She walked further in, the cabin looked untouched at first glance. The kettle still sat on the stove. Grant's boots were by the fireplace and his jacket hung over the back of a chair. But Grant wasn't there.

"Grant?"Her voice sounded louder and more urgent this time. There was no response, she frantically started to search every room.

The bedroom, the bathroom, even the storage closet. And there was nothing, she didn't see him anywhere. Sarah put her hand on her chest because it had begun to beat really fast as she slowly walked back to the kitchen. They had agreed that he would be here when she got back, heck, she had left him here to go get groceries.

She went to sit at the table when she finally noticed a folded piece of paper rested neatly in the middle of it, her name had been written across the front. Hands shaking, she unfolded it.

'Come alone. If you want your husband alive, don't call anyone.'

Below was an address she'd never seen before and there was nothing else, no signature or explanation. Sarah stood frozen for almost a minute, she wanted to call the police as she wanted to believe they could help.

But if whoever had taken Grant was watching...

She couldn't risk it. So, an hour later she arrived at the abandoned warehouse listed in the note, the place looked deserted. There were rusted gates. Broken windows and much silence.

She barely had time to step inside before someone grabbed her from behind. A rough cloth bag was pulled over her head. Sarah screamed as strong hands pinned her arms.

"Walk."

She struggled and someone shoved her forward, she stumbled over uneven ground as voices surrounded her. Sarah tried counting the turns they were taking.

Left, then right, and down a flight of stairs, they walked across what sounded like concrete. Then into a vehicle, she heard the engine start and kept counting.

They drove for ten minutes, then fifteen, then thirty, and eventually she lost track. When the vehicle finally stopped, she was dragged back out and heard another set of footsteps, they walked through a door, she knew because she heard it open and close behind them. Then the bag was finally pulled from her head.

Bright light blinded her for a second and when her vision cleared, she saw Grant. He was tied to a metal chair, his face was swollen beyond recognition, and blood had dried beneath his nose and across his shirt. One eye was almost completely shut, and fresh bruises covered his arms.

"Grant!"

She rushed toward him and a man caught her by the shoulder before she reached him. Grant lifted his head with obvious effort.

"It's okay..." he managed weakly. "I'm alright..."

The words hadn't even left his mouth before one of the men beside him drove a fist into his ribs. Grant cried out and Sarah screamed.

"Stop! Please!"

Another punch landed across his jaw, Sarah almost fainted at the sight of her husband being beaten to a bloody pulp, his chair nearly tipped over.

"Please!" Sarah fell on her knees, pleading and crying.

Slow footsteps echoed through the warehouse and Sarah looked up, towards the footsteps. A man in an expensive charcoal suit emerged from the shadows, adjusting the cuff of one sleeve as though he had nowhere more important to be.

Vance.

He looked exactly as Sarah remembered, perfectly groomed with that sick glint in his eyes, it was creepy and downright terrifying. She couldn't understand how they had once tried to force an innocent girl to get married to this man.

He stopped a few feet away and looked at the couple with mild disappointment.

"I really did try to handle this properly," a slow smile spreading across his face. "I offered your family a solution."

He smiled faintly. "A very generous one."

Sarah stared at him, her breathing uneven. "You were going to force my daughter into marrying you."

"I was going to take care of all of you."His expression hardened. "But that girl decided she'd rather run." He looked down briefly before meeting Sarah's eyes again. "And then you two made the incredibly foolish decision to disappear."

He sighed, almost as though they had inconvenienced him.

"I've spent months looking for you."His gaze sharpened. "Now I'm done wasting time." He stepped closer. "I need Grace."

Silence settled over the room.

"Tell me where she is," Vance said quietly, "and this ends today."

Sarah's jaw tightened. "I don't know." Vance held her gaze for several seconds before he smiled again.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

Sarah's composure shattered as she saw him nod his head towards one of the men. "Please..." she sobbed, stumbling toward Grant again as one of Vance's men still held her back. She watched helplessly as the heavy man kept hitting Grant, throwing blow after blow. "Please stop hitting him. He hasn't done anything."

Grant lifted his head with obvious effort, "Sarah..." he rasped, a fist slammed into his stomach before he could say another word. He folded forward in the chair, coughing violently.

"Stop!" Sarah screamed, tears streaming freely down her face. "Please! You're killing him! I really don't know where she is! We both don't, we don't know where she'd been since she left!"

Vance watched the scene with detached patience, as though he were observing a disagreement that had gone on longer than expected.

"You know," he began as a wild grin spread out on his face, like he enjoyed the sight of what was happening, "this didn't have to happen."

Sarah looked at him through blurred vision.

"You and I had an agreement."

"No," she shot back, her voice breaking. "You wanted to buy my daughter."

"I wanted to marry her."

"You wanted to own her!"

His smile faded. "I offered to save your life."

Sarah's breathing hitched, the words landed harder than she wanted to admit, because they were true. When the doctors told her she needed treatment they couldn't afford, Vance had appeared with money and promises. In return...

He wanted Grace. Not simply as a wife, but as something far more valuable.

"I wasn't interested in your husband," Vance continued. "Or your house. Or your savings." His eyes hardened. "I wanted the girl." He took another slow step toward her.

"The Exodus Coven."

The name settled heavily in the room, he didn't need to explain further, they all knew what he meant.

"You had one responsibility." His voice remained level. "Keep Grace where she belonged until the wedding. I needed her pregnant for the wedding. Was that too much to ask, Mrs Ainsley?" Vance asked with a sick smile on his face.

Sarah shook her head, "She found out."

"And whose fault was that? Hmm?"

Sarah couldn't answer.

"You underestimated her, Mrs Ainsley." He grinned, "and so did I." Vance glanced toward Grant. "Now, we're all paying for that mistake."

Sarah was already on her knees, she clasped her almost withered hands together, the veins making themselves really visible, "I swear to you... I don't know where she is."

"I believe you."

She blinked and for the first time since arriving, Vance actually sounded sincere.

"I don't think you're lying." His smile returned. "I think you've genuinely lost her."

Sarah's stomach twisted, she didn't like where it was going as he continued speaking.

"And unfortunately for you..." He nodded toward Grant. "...that changes nothing." One of the men behind Grant rested a hand casually on his shoulder.

Vance never looked away from Sarah. "You have one week."The words hung between them quietly, almost gently. "If Grace isn't standing in front of me by then..."

He shrugged. "...we begin selling your husband."

Sarah stared at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"The kidney first."Her face drained of color and he smiled, inspecting his freakishly perfect manicured hands. "A healthy kidney sells surprisingly well."

Grant looked up slowly and Vance continued as though discussing the weather. "If that doesn't convince you..." He paused. "...his liver."

Sarah let out a broken sob. "No..."

"Then whatever else remains useful."His expression had never looked more sick and inhumane. "The human body is worth far more in pieces than most people realize."

Grant's breathing became ragged. Sarah crawled toward Vance before two men caught her by the arms. "Please!" she cried. "Please don't do this! I'll find her!"

"You'll try."

"I will!"

"You'll succeed."

She nodded frantically. "I promise!"

Vance studied her for several silent seconds, then he adjusted the sleeve of his jacket. "You have seven days." He turned away, "and if I don't have Grace..."

He stopped walking but didn't look back.

"...your husband leaves this building one organ at a time."

PRESENT DAY

Sarah tightened both hands around the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white, the engine idled quietly beneath her, but her heart refused to slow.

Seven days.

She'd spent every one of them chasing rumours, following dead ends, asking questions she never imagined she'd have to ask. Then she'd heard about the hospital, about a woman who fit her description, who hurried into a hospital with a man on her back. Sarah immediately chased the story, she was leaving no stones unturned.

And imagine her surprise and relief when she finally saw Grace and stood there thinking of how to approach her, her husband crossed her mind and she abandoned all thoughts to quickly cross the room to meet her.

Sarah looked at the rear-view mirror that reflected the back seat where Grace lay, unconscious, "I'm sorry," she whispered. The words tasted hollow, she had already failed Grace once, now she was about to ask the impossible of her again. But every time she pictured saying nothing...

She saw Grant tied to that chair, saw the blood running down his face and heard Vance calmly discussing which organ would be taken first.

Sarah swallowed hard. Whether Grace hated her or not, if she ever forgave her or not...

She had to do this.

For Grant.

For the man who had spent his life staying with her, he had never once left her side, he did anything and everything he could just to make her feel better. He was her love and her soulmate, she couldn't just let him die.

Sarah drew a shaky breath, as she drove yet kept glancing at the rearview. This was going to destroy whatever remained between them.

She prayed and hoped that it wouldn't destroy Grace too.