Chapter 139 Chapter 139
Chapter 139 Chapter 139
Aliyah’s POV
The number was unknown, but something in my gut told me exactly who it was. With trembling hands, I answered and switched it to video call. The screen lit up, and Tatiana’s face appeared. A smug, cold, and triumphant. Behind her, in what looked like a dimly lit abandoned warehouse, sat Elara and Hope.
Tracy and I screamed at the same time. The girls were tied to chairs with thick ropes. Their faces were streaked with tears and dirt. Hope’s lip was split and bleeding, her small body shaking with sobs. Elara looked even worse. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, her hair messy and tangled. But the worst part was the part that made my heart shatter. It was her arm. The supportive sling had been yanked off completely. Her injured arm hung limply at her side, swollen and clearly in terrible pain. She was trying so hard not to cry, biting her lip, but soft whimpers escaped her anyway.
“Elara!” I screamed, my voice breaking.
“Baby, Mommy’s here! Mommy sees you!” Tracy’s scream was raw and guttural beside me.
"Hope! My baby! What did you do to her? Let them go, you monster!”
Both girls started crying harder when they heard our voices. Elara’s little face crumpled. “Mommy… it hurts… my arm hurts so bad…” Her voice was weak and trembling. “She pulled it off… she said I don’t need it anymore…” The image of Tatiana roughly yanking the sling off Elara’s arm flashed in my mind. I could almost feel the sharp, excruciating pain my daughter must have endured, the bone not fully healed, the sudden jolt, the swelling.
Fresh tears poured down my face as I imagined Elara screaming in agony while Tatiana laughed. My baby was in pain, scared, and calling for me, and I was powerless to reach her.
“You heartless bitch!” I screamed at the screen, my body shaking with rage and grief. “How could you hurt a child? She’s just a little girl! Her arm was healing and now, you’ve made it worse! She’s in so much pain because of you!"
Tatiana laughed, a cold, mocking sound that sent chills down my spine. She stepped closer to the girls, making sure the camera captured their tear-stained faces clearly.
“Look at them. So fragile. So innocent. Yet here they are, suffering because of you and your precious Asher. You stole him from me. You humiliated me. Now it’s my turn.”
Asher moved behind me, his hands gripping my shoulders tightly. I could feel him trembling with barely contained fury. Cohen stood frozen, his jaw clenched. Papa and Cynthia watched in horror from the side.
Tatiana’s expression turned deadly serious. “Here’s the deal. I want both of you, Aliyah and Asher to come alone to get the children. No police. No security team. No tricks. If I see even one extra person, I will kill them. Twenty million dollars. Cash. Bring it with you. Twenty million or I kill the children. You have until tomorrow morning at 8 AM. I’ll send the location one hour before. Failure to show up alone with the money, and you’ll never see these brats alive again.”
The threat hung in the air like poison. Tracy collapsed against me, sobbing uncontrollably, her cries turning into hysterical wails.
“Not my Hope… please… not my baby…” I couldn’t stop the tears streaming down my face. Elara was looking straight at the camera now, her voice small and broken. “Mommy… Daddy… come get me… my arm really hurts… I want to go home…”
"Baby, Mommy and Daddy are coming,” I choked out, trying to sound strong for her even as my heart was breaking.
"Be brave for me, okay? We love you so much. Just hold on a little longer.” Tatiana smirked and ended the call abruptly. The screen went black. The room erupted in chaos. Tracy cried her eyes out, rocking back and forth, repeating Hope’s name like a prayer. I buried my face in my hands, sobbing loudly as the image of Elara’s injured arm without the sling burned into my mind.
The pain she must be feeling. Sharp, throbbing, unbearable for such a young child. I imagined her trying not to cry, trying to be strong, while Tatiana tormented her.
Asher pulled me into his arms, his own voice rough with emotion. “We’ll get the money. I’ll liquidate everything if I have to. But we go alone. We follow her rules. I won’t risk their lives.”
Cohen nodded grimly. “I’ll help arrange the cash discreetly. But this is dangerous. She’s unstable.”
I pulled away from Asher, wiping my tears furiously. “She hurt my baby. She yanked off the sling like it was nothing. Elara is in so much pain right now, and we can’t even reach her. Twenty million dollars… or she kills them. How can we trust her? What if she takes the money and still hurts them?”
The fear was overwhelming. My mind raced with worst-case scenarios — Elara’s arm permanently damaged, Hope traumatized for life, or worse. The wedding that had been so close now felt like a distant dream. All that mattered was getting our girls back safe.
Tracy’s sobs filled the room again, raw and heartbroken. I held her tightly, both of us mothers broken by the same monster.
Asher stood tall, his face set in determination despite the fear in his eyes.
“We will bring them home tomorrow. No matter what it takes. Tatiana will not win.”
But as the afternoon light faded and silence fell over the house once more, all I could hear were Elara’s whimpers echoing in my head and the terrifying countdown ticking toward tomorrow morning.
Twenty million dollars or our children would die. The nightmare had only just begun.
The next morning arrived like a death sentence. I barely slept, my eyes swollen from hours of crying and my mind replaying the video of Elara’s pained face and her injured arm without the sling. My body ached from the stress, and the slight spotting I had noticed earlier in the night terrified me even more for the baby growing inside me.
At exactly 7:30 AM, Asher received the location from Tatiana. We were to meet her in an old abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city, isolated and perfect for her twisted, sick game.