Chapter 34 - Kidnapped

Edmund was pacing anxiously around the room, making holes in the floor. He dialed Isabella's number again, but there was no connection.

He got word that she left the hospital hours ago, so he honestly expected her to be home by then, yet she wasn’t, and for some odd reason he could not explain, he felt very uneasy.

‘Did she not read my note? Did she not watch that fucking video?’

He was so delighted when one of the nurses called to let him know that she ate everything on the plate before leaving. He was so glad that he rushed the meeting he had and speeded home, only to be faced with disappointment.

At least to his satisfaction, Regina was already gone when he got here, she spared him of her dire and tremendously undesired presence. He loved her so much only to have his heart broken twice, first when she abandoned him, second when his brother confessed everything about the ten million dollars the cunning bitch preferred instead of him.

‘The fucking bitch!’ He muttered a string of curses to himself. “If I would not have been so blind, she would not have meddled in my relationship with my wife!”

He dialed Isabella’s number again, there was still no connection. He grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled at it in frustration, the panic was making him lose his shit.

‘Moira. Clearly, I am not in my right mind, why did I not call her earlier?

“Is Isabella still with you?” He asked the moment she picked up the phone.

“Hello to you too, cousin!” Her voice of reprimanding tone.

He sighed, smoke coming out of his nose and ears. “Hi. Now can you answer the fucking question?”

“Someone is not in a good mood.” She paused waiting for some sort of reaction from his side, but he remained quiet. “She left hours ago. A friend of mine offered to give her a ride home, but from what he told me when we talked on the phone earlier, she asked him to leave her at the mall to do some shopping. Which was actually weird for she was very eager to see you after we watched your ‘not so much sex’ tape.” She chuckled.

‘So she has seen the footage.’

“How many hours ago?” He inquired.

“Hmm. I don’t know, maybe three?”

His jaw clenched. “Is Alec with you? I presume that he is the ‘friend’ you mentioned.”

When she failed to answer, he continued. “You didn’t think I wouldn’t know about your little romance, would you?”

“Yeah, I suppose that I cannot hide anything from you.” She uttered. “And no, he is not here. He is out with some friends. He warned that he might be out all night. Why are you so worried?”

“It’s nothing. Thanks.” He said before hanging up.

But in reality, he was frightened that it might be something.

He knew that there was a possibility to be alarmed all for nothing, but given the threats and the attempt on his life and on the lives of his brother and his sister-in-law, he was entitled to be concerned. In fact, his heart was throbbing so hard that he felt like a bomb ready to explode.

‘I know someone who has the necessary resources to help me get to the bottom of this.’

“Jason, can you track down two cellphones for me?”

“Sure.” He replied without a second thought.

* * *

After what seemed like ages, the driver pulled over at Regina’s residence, the one she rented after Edmund made her leave his house, Jason got him the address.

He knocked at the door, anger lashing through his body. She opened, greeting him hesitantly, staring at him with conflicted eyes. He got inside without an invitation and started roaming around, checking all the rooms.

“What have you done with Isabella? Where is she?” Edmund demanded, squeezing her shoulders after he verified the last room, with no luck whatsoever.

She studied his face trying to figure out what he was talking about, or so it seemed. “What do you mean? Is Isabella missing? And what does it have to do with me? Funny though, the fact that you lost your wife!”

“Cut the crap, Regina! I know everything about the ten million. Tell me where my wife is!” He ordered in a life-threatening tone that made her tremble.

“So that is why you rejected me? Because you knew about the money?” She rejoiced. “You almost fooled me, I even thought that I'd lost it, my dazzling charm.”

He let go of her shoulders to put some distance between the two of them, she disgusted him.

“No, I rejected you before getting that fucking piece of information, your cheap ‘dazzling charm’ doesn’t work on me anymore.” He clarified. “But this is not about you, tell me where she is or you’ll get to know the dark part of Edmund Stark, one that overshadows your most terrible nightmares!”

Isabella’s phone got disconnected, Jason could not locate her earlier.

“H-how should I know?” She stuttered in fear. “Maybe you should trace her steps, she probably ran away from you. It was done before, or did you forget how I abandoned you without a single word?” She challenged him with a crooked grin on her face.

‘Not in a million years Isabella would do something despicable like that.’

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Why are you back? And why now, after my brother’s accident? It can’t be a coincidence.”

“You want the truth?” She glanced at him, raising a brow. “I came precisely because he had that accident. I knew that your father never told you about that money, but your brother knew. So I believed that he’ll soon be out of my way. I wanted to resume our relationship, that’s why I came back.” She declared nonchalantly.

“Well, if you were the smart girl you think you are, you shouldn’t have left in the first place. Ten million—” He spat. “Ten million is small change, you could have had billions as my wife.”

“Oh do you think I wanted to leave?” She cracked into a sarcastic laugh. “No, love, your father made me leave.”

“My father was very fond of you!” He lashed out.

“That was before.” She paused searching to see if he knew what she was implying. “Before he found out the reason I broke up with Peter, your dear uncle.”

‘What is she talking about?’

“Meaning?”

“You know, Edmund, you have never suffered from hunger in your entire life. Neither did I, but there are people out there that go to bed on an empty stomach. And there are mothers tormented because they cannot tend to their children’s basic needs such as food. My grandmother was such a mother. My mother was the child that went to bed dreaming about three meals a day. So when my mother had a daughter of her own, a smart beautiful daughter, she taught her from an early age how to prevail and even win in life. I am what I had to become, simple as that!” She provided her pathetic reasoning.

“Get to the point!” Edmund snapped, not impressed.

“When Peter’s company filed for bankruptcy and your father appointed you as CEO instead of giving the role to his dear brother, he remained penniless. I had to move on. And I did by starting something with you. I promise I had real feelings for you, I even considered changing my ways, but your father did not believe me, he did not grant me a second chance.”

‘So uncle Peter lost his wealth. Why didn’t Moira say something? She never mentioned a thing to me.’

He always treated his cousin like a little sister, so when her father went abroad, he took charge of her. She told him that her father swore her off and naturally, Edmund filed for her custody. That was about four years ago.

‘What else is Moira hiding? What if… No, that can’t be right.’

* * *

Isabella tried to open her eyes, but she encountered an unexpected barrier, there was a blindfold covering them.

Her hands were firmly tied around the chair she was sitting on, she struggled to break free, but it was in vain. Her body was shivering like a leaf, her mind registering the undeniable truth.

‘I’ve been kidnapped.’

Fear was rushing through her veins fueling her panic as she remembered Alec sticking a needle in her neck.

‘Alec… I should have trusted my instincts, I should have paid attention to my gut feeling, the heart always knows even if the mind cannot explain it.’

She heard footsteps edging closer and the blindfold was brutally removed from her eyes. She blinked a few times to adjust to the light before granting all her attention to the man in front of her.

He gently pushed aside a strand of hair resting on her face. “Ohh, Isabella, I really want to apologize, you are innocent in this picture, but I’m afraid that you need to die too.”

He hovered his hand on her face, trailing her nose and then her lips, making her twitch in repulse. “Don’t worry, sugar, your sister is waiting for you in the underworld. On top of that, I’ll make sure that Edmund will follow you soon.”

All blood dropped out of her face upon hearing the sound of his words.