Ch.107

Ch.107
At a certain point that night, I left the room and found Henry lying on the couch still shirtless.On a side table next to the couch, there were several lit candles. I had to admit that he was making an effort. If only he used this to do something good for someone, maybe he would have found someone who could give his life a different purpose., other than destroying Travis.

I went near the glass door and looked outside , wondering if my family members had been rescued, but until that moment, there was no sign of Travis nor the cops and I just wanted to leave this place and get away from this man as soon an possible.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Henry approached with a drink in his hand and a smile on his face." Care to join me? I took the glass to avoid being rude to Henry. He was calm and I didn't want to irritate him any further, for whatever reason.

I took only two sips and made an excuse saying that I was going to the kitchen to get something to eat. if I had an empty stomach, I could end up feeling sick.

I made a sandwich and while putting things away, I spotted a knife set on the kitchen counter and noticed they was a small one. I thought about grabbing it and keeping it In case Henry tried something, but it would be too obvious if I took one of the knives from that set. Henry would probably notice it was missing.

I looked towards the door to make sure Henry wasn't coming, then carefully opened some drawers to see if I could find a smaller knife.

Luckily, I found a fruit knife and put in my pants waistband, then sat on the counter to eat.

After I left the kitchen, Henry was in the living room talking on the phone. He just glanced at me and I continued towards the bedroom. Before entering the room, Henry called me and walked towards me.

" I believe you will be happy to know that they're free."

" You released them?" I asked excitedly.

Henry leaned in closer before answering." No, your dear Travis took the cops and rescued them, I have no idea how he figured out the hideout.

I felt extremely relieved, but couldn't show too much emotion.

Henry seemed more serious than before and continued speaking while looking directly at me.

" You know, Travis wasn't suppose to find them that quickly and it makes me wonder how he found out. And when I think about it even more, I realize I was so excited that I didn't pay attention to you wasting my time with some of your words in that apartment before we left for here."

I started to get apprehensive because it seemed that Henry was suspicious about the whole situation. " That was a tip off right to know the actual location, wasn't it?"

"No... I just..."

Before I could continue, Henry forcefully grabbed my jaw and pushed me against the wall. " Don't try to be clever with me, Ayanna. I guarantee you will regret it."

Henry looked over my body before continuing." I may desire you, play nice to you, but I also guarantee that I can hurt you, so that you learn to respect and obey me, So as I said before, behave yourself and I hope you haven't given or dropped any other clues for the cops or Travis to come after you, or I assure you , you'll regret it."

Henry let go of my jaw and my breathing was heavy. I started to think about what exactly I had done. But other than that I was happy Irene, Allison and Timothy was safe.

I turned to go back to my room, but just as I did, the door was pushed open from the outside. Instinctively, I spun around-only to come face to face with someone who wasn't supposed to be here.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in disbelief.

Allison stammered, unable to give me a proper answer. "Well... well..."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Allison, I asked what you're doing here. Because from the looks of it, you don't seem like someone who was captured."

As I spoke, Henry stretched out his hand, and Allison took it before sitting beside him.

"Hey, Ayanna, calm down," Henry said, a pleased expression on his face. "Don't be too harsh-she's pregnant, remember?"

He looked at Allison with satisfaction before turning back to me. "Allison here is the final piece of my game. And you were right back then, when I was following you-that's when I overheard you talking to Jenny about getting a surrogate. When I noticed you were coming out, I stepped back a little and bumped into you, making it look like a coincidence."

His gaze flickered to Allison, then back to me.

"I had some of my men follow you to the hospital. I arranged for Allison to be enlisted as a surrogate and then threatened the doctor to present her first. Well, you liked her at first sight and picked her. It's not my fault you're too trusting." He smirked sarcastically.

My throat was dry when I finally found my voice. "Is the baby Allison is expecting... mine?"

This time, Allison answered. "Believe it or not, the baby belongs to you and Travis. I only agreed to help Henry with his plans. But Ayanna, you're a good person, and I promise I won't let any harm come to the baby. I swear." She sounded apologetic, but I wasn't sure if I could trust her.

Fury boiled inside me as I turned back to Henry. "Why are you so bent on ruining our lives?" I shouted.

Henry's expression darkened. "Because Travis ruined mine!" he bellowed, standing up abruptly.

His eyes burned with hatred as he continued. "He took what was rightfully mine, and I want him to suffer for it!"

I exhaled sharply, shaking my head. "Henry, I'm tired of your sick games. I've been here for so long, and I still have no idea what the hell Travis took from you!"

Henry let out a bitter chuckle. "Since you insist-be my guest." He sank back into his seat, crossing his arms.

His voice turned cold as he began. "My biological parents abandoned me at an orphanage when I was a baby. I lived there until I was two, and then I was adopted by a wealthy couple. My adoptive mother passed away when I was sixteen, and three years later, my father died too. Before he died, he told me he had a son-his biological child-whom he intended to leave his fortune to. He even apologized to me for it. But at the time, I didn't care. I was just grateful I had experienced what it was like to have parents."

I frowned. "And what does Travis have to do with this?"

Henry scoffed. "Are you daft, or just pretending to be dumb?"

He leaned forward, his voice laced with bitterness. "After my father's death, my mother's sister came to the house and told me she wanted to take me somewhere. I agreed, and she led me to a massive mansion. She told me it belonged to me-along with several companies my mom had left in my name. She knew my dad would never let me inherit his fortune because he had biological children of his own."

I stayed silent, listening intently as he continued.

"My mother was the eldest daughter of one of the richest men in the city. But after she got married, my grandfather decided to pass his wealth to her younger brother. However, he left some properties in my mother's name, which she later gave to me."

He exhaled deeply before continuing. "A few days later, my father's biological children showed up at the house, along with their mother-his mistress. I saw the way they looked at me... like I didn't belong. But I wanted peace, so I invited Travis out to talk. My only intention was to let him know that I had no interest in the inheritance because my mother had already left something for me."

His fingers curled into fists. "But when we got there, the place caught fire. I tried to escape, but I fell down the stairs."

A memory clicked in my mind. "Wait... you're Travis Sinclair-the adopted son of Mr. Sinclair?"

Henry's lips curled into a sinister smile. He clapped mockingly. "Wow. Good guess."