Chapter 158 Younger Version
ANNA'S POV
"Damn it, boss, the hurricane is already here,” one of the men said as the video continued playing on the massive projector screen.
His voice echoed through the hall, carried by the speakers that had earlier been meant for my speech. Now every single guest was staring up at the screen, frozen, watching a past none of them had expected to see.
“Forget about the hurricane,” Richard Cole replied in the video with irritation. “We’re in here, so nothing can happen to us. We would just sit it out. Tie that little bitch up to the chair, let’s be done with it.”
My stomach twisted painfully as the scene unfolded.
On the screen, I watched them drag the little girl across the room.
Dragging me.
The younger version of me struggled helplessly in their grip, my small feet scraping against the floor while the men moved quickly toward the chair placed in the center of the room. One of them held wires in his hand, preparing them as if tying up a child was the most normal thing in the world.
The room in the video looked darker than I remembered, but the details were becoming clearer with every passing second. The walls, the window rattling from the violent wind outside, the way the storm’s noise leaked through the building, it all felt too real.
Too familiar.
I felt my hands slowly curl into fists at my sides.
I already knew what was coming next.
I had lived it.
In the video, the men loosened the wires that had been binding my hands, only to prepare to tie me down to the chair properly this time. One of them bent closer, gripping my arm roughly, clearly not expecting anything from a child.
But just like my memories had always replayed in my mind…
Little me suddenly moved.
I lifted my foot and slammed the sharp tip of the small heels I had worn that day straight onto the man’s foot.
Hard.
The sound of his pained scream rang through the speakers in the hall.
Even in the present, several guests flinched slightly.
On the screen, the man immediately bent down, clutching his leg in agony, completely losing his hold on me in the process.
And that was the moment everything changed.
I could feel my chest tightening as I watched it happen again.
The younger me clenched her small fists tightly, panic and determination written all over her face.
She didn’t hesitate.
She ran.
Straight toward the door.
“Stop her!” Richard Cole’s voice roared through the video. “Don’t let her leave!”
The anger in his voice sent a cold shiver down my spine.
I remembered that voice.
I remembered that exact moment.
In the video, the men immediately rushed after me, but the moment the door opened, the violent hurricane outside made everything chaotic. The wind howled loudly, rain crashing down so hard it almost blurred the camera’s view.
Outside looked terrifying.
Dark.
Wild.
But little me ran into it anyway.
Watching it now, my heart pounded heavily in my chest, just like it had that night.
The men chased after me, but the storm worked in my favor. The hurricane made it almost impossible for them to see clearly. Debris flew around, wind pushed against them, and rain poured down so heavily that even the camera capturing the moment shook violently.
That was how I escaped.
That was the moment my life could have ended but didn’t.
Because I was small enough to crawl under a parked car nearby and stay hidden.
Small enough to stay quiet and wait.
I swallowed slowly as the video continued.
The footage cut back to the inside of the building when the men returned.
“I’m sorry, sir… we lost her,” one of them said nervously.
Richard Cole slowly turned around in the video.
The expression on his face was something I would never forget.
Pure fury.
He grabbed a glass of water from a nearby table and hurled it violently against the wall.
The glass shattered instantly.
“Fuck!” he shouted angrily.
Even now, standing in the hall surrounded by hundreds of people, hearing that word through the speakers made my stomach churn.
“How did you buffoons let this happen?” he continued furiously. “She’s just a little kid! You idiots got beaten by a child that’s not even half as big as you are!”
The men immediately lowered their heads.
“We’re sorry, sir,” they said in unison.
“Sorry for yourselves,” Richard snapped. “You all are complete idiots. How the hell am I going to get back at those bastard Quinn family now?”
The moment he said that, a wave of murmurs quietly spread across the hall.
I could almost feel every guest turning slightly toward my family.
But I didn’t look at them.
My eyes were locked on the screen.
Then Richard Cole suddenly turned toward the camera.
He noticed it was still recording.
“You,” he said sharply. “Why are you still recording? Do you see the little brat here? No. So stop that recording and delete that video now.”
And just like that—
The video ended.
The screen went dark again.
For a moment, I could hear nothing except the loud beating of my own heart.
The entire hall had gone completely silent.
Not a single voice.
Not a single movement.
It felt like the air itself had frozen.
And honestly, I didn’t blame them.
Because what they had just witnessed…
Was the truth.
I slowly realized my teeth were pressing hard against my lip.
Too hard.
A metallic taste spread in my mouth.
Blood.
I had bitten my lip without even noticing.
So Richard Cole… was behind my kidnapping.
That single thought echoed loudly in my mind.
The Cole family.
They must have known about it.
Ryan’s mother.
The entire family.
And suddenly, a terrifying question crept into my thoughts.
Did Ryan know too?
A sudden sound beside me pulled me out of my thoughts.
My dad.
He was gasping.
Struggling to breathe.
“Dad!” I said quickly.
Dan and I rushed to his side immediately.
“Take it easy, Dad, breathe,” Dan said, placing his hand behind his back and supporting him.
Dad’s face looked pale, his chest rising and falling unevenly as he tried to steady himself.
Everything that had just been revealed was clearly hitting him harder than anyone else.
I could understand why.
The man he once trusted…
The man he once called a friend…
Had tried to kidnap his daughter.
Meanwhile, Mom hadn’t moved.
She stood frozen a few steps away.
Her hand covered her mouth as tears filled her eyes, slowly spilling down her cheeks.
She looked completely shattered.
And then—
My eyes slowly shifted.
They landed on Ryan.
He stood a few feet away from me.
Still.
Frozen in place.
His eyes were wide open in shock, maybe even wider than mine had been while watching the video.
It looked like he couldn’t even process what had just happened.
But the moment he noticed I was staring at him—
Everything changed.
I didn’t say a word.
I didn’t need to.
My eyes spoke for me.
The disgust.
The betrayal.
The anger slowly building inside me.
Throughout the entire time I had known Ryan…
I had never looked at him that way before.