Chapter 47

Two hours later, I was parked outside my house, headlights off, my body trembling with exhaustion and rage. I should have driven off the second he got into his car and drove away, but my heart refused to leave and give up. I sat there for thirty minutes thinking he would come back for me and tell me that this was all a nightmare.

The thought replayed like a broken record. I slammed my fist against the steering wheel, my scream tearing through the silence inside the car. My throat burned, my eyes stung, but the tears wouldn’t fall.

I shoved the car door open and stumbled out, wrapping my coat tighter around me. The night was cold, bitter even, but my skin prickled with heat from the fire surging inside me. I could almost feel it itching beneath my palms, begging to break free.

When I walked into the kitchen, the quiet of the house mocked me. His jacket wasn’t on the hook. The ache inside me twisted into something darker. This means he didn't even bother to come back home and see how I am doing; he's busy gallivanting and having the time of his life.

I gripped the counter so hard my nails dug into the wood. I wanted to smash everything around me, to set the whole place ablaze until nothing was left but ash. But instead, I stood frozen, my breath shallow.

My phone suddenly vibrated, breaking the haunting silence. My hands trembled as I snatched it up, heart hammering -please, let it be him. I sighed in disappointment when I saw that it was not him.

The screen showed an unsaved number; my finger lingered on the answering button, but I swiped to answer it anyway. “Hello?” I answered, half expecting to hear on the other side, a small part of me thinks he is thinking of me wherever he is.

“I thought you'd follow me, or call out my name at least." A low, woman's voice crackled through the speaker, dripping with malice. My throat tightened, and I carefully sat down on the couch, embracing myself, feeling like my life was about to get worse with this call. “Who is this?” I tried to remember where I knew the voice from, but I couldn't come up with anything.

The person on the other end of the line paused for a second. "I guess you don't want to find out the truth, huh?" My stomach dropped violently as though the floor had given way beneath me. I was tempted to call out Tyson's name to tell him to stop playing games with me, but a part of me knew that it's not him. This voice, I know this voice.

“What do you mean? What truth?” The words tumbled out in a rush, my voice thin and shaky from the shock. I heard the person on the other side of the call laughing, a vicious laugh, and the line suddenly went dead.

I lowered the phone slowly, my hand shaking so badly I nearly dropped it. My pulse thundered in my ears as I racked my brain trying to remember where I knew this voice from. I jolted in shock when my phone vibrated once again. I looked at it as the same unsaved number. I picked up the call immediately, the urge to know the truth this person is referring to, making me eager to hear what she has to say.

"I have a gun aimed at your stupid husband's head. If you don't come to this location in thirty minutes, he's dead." My heart thumped against my chest, threatening to jump out of my throat. I stood up feeling nauseous and kept pacing up and down, unable to reply. "I don't have access to his money," I said, my voice was cracking at the end.

"I don't care, just get here with the money." I closed the speaker of the phone with my hand and bit my hand to stop a scream coming out, whimpering from disbelief and a broken heart. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?" I made a feeble attempt to try to make her change her mind by being sympathetic. "I saw you at the bar, watching him leave with me." I took off my jacket, suddenly feeling very warm, and I started sweating everywhere where the phone was still in my hand.

"He doesn't deserve you, you don't deserve all of this." And the line went dead, my phone pinged with a message with the location. I immediately pressed on it, and it showed a vacant land that is for sale in town. I took off my shoes and everything I was wearing and dragged my body to the bath upstairs. I need to get a bath and clear my mind before I make any decisions.

I opened the cold water and got in instantly, and I got cold, but I embraced the cold because it made me think clearly. The bathroom door suddenly opened as I was lying in the bath, thinking about my next move. "Why did you scare me like that?" Luca shouted, looking at me with an angry look on his face. I turned and looked at him, and he instantly softened. "What's wrong? Why do you look so miserable, and why would you text me 'send help' but you are relaxing in a cold bath?"

"I need your help. Someone kidnapped Dan. I think it's a hooker because Dan met her at the bar and they left together, but now she's demanding a ransom for him." I braced myself for the long questions that Luca would ask him, but I trusted him to help get out of this situation. "What? What was he even doing at the bar?"

I sighed as I got out of the bath, butt naked, not paying attention to Luca, who was covering his eyes. I dried myself and quickly put on my clothes and sneakers. "We have approximately 15 minutes before she kills him."

"You are serious? Em, you're pregnant, your baby bump already showing. It's like in the middle of the night, you can't be walking around pregnant in the middle of the night."Luca preached, and I rolled my eyes, already annoyed by how dramatic he is being. "Are you coming or not?