Chapter 99

Chapter 99
When I returned to Queen's Courtyard, Samantha was already waiting in my office, seated on the plush couch. The moment I entered the room, she looked at me and asked, “How are your medical results? I hope everything's fine.”

Feeling like my legs would collapse, I slumped onto the single couch opposite her and sighed. “I’m pregnant.” The words emerged from my lips.

She blinked rapidly, slowly digesting my words. “Come again?”

“You heard it right, Sam.”

She finally stopped eating her buttered toast and set the half-finished treat down on the table.

"You've got to be kidding me.”

I shook my head. “I wish I was, but it’s true. I just found out this afternoon from my medical results. I really am pregnant.”

Her palms cradled her forehead as though she suddenly had a headache. “You're not in a relationship, Elizabeth. You don't even have a boyfriend, nor have you been dating anyone so how can you be pregnant?”

“Does your brother know? Is Sapphire aware of your pregnancy?” she asked frantically, getting up from the couch and pacing back and forth.

“You're the first one to know,” I told her in a surprisingly calm manner.

“Who's the father?” Before I could respond, Samantha froze and gasped. “Don't tell me it's…..”

“Crimson.”

Samantha collapsed onto the couch, shooting me an unbelieving and horrified glance. “Seriously? He was the last person I thought would be the father of your child!”

As if it dawned on her, she frowned. “C-could it have happened during my wedding night?”

My cheeks burned. “It's an accident. We were both drunk.”

“Does he know you're carrying his child?”

I shook my head. “He's not aware. We haven't seen each other in a month, and we never had the chance to talk since we parted ways at Seaside Hotel.”

“You need to tell him, Liz. He deserves to know the truth.”

“If we see each other, I'll tell him.”

My best friend heaved a sigh. “You two are going to have a second child. You should think about what's better for your future, for the children’s sake.”

Sam left the office. A short while later Sapphire entered. “There was a letter for you, Liz,” my step sister said, handing me a letter.

I took it from her and read the contents.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

“Nothing,” I told her. “I have to go out. Someone's asking to meet up with me.”

I collected my coat and put it on.

“It's late. I shall accompany you.”

We left the hotel. I drove while Sapphire sat silently in the passenger seat, her eyes fixed on the passing scenery outside. I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

Crimson said that it was important and that we both needed to go to the place. I wondered if it was an emergency.

I reached over and placed a reassuring hand on her knee, giving it a gentle squeeze. "It's going to be okay, Sapphire. We'll go back to the hotel after talking to him.”

“But we didn't tell Louis or Sam that we're going out.”

“I was in a hurry, so I forgot. I promise we'll be back quickly after this.”

She nodded, offering me a small smile before turning her gaze back to the window.

A short while the car skidded to a stop in front of an old building. I thought at first that I was in the wrong address but Crimson specifically wrote in the letter to meet up here.

Sapphire went out first then I followed but when I emerged from the car, she wasn't there.

Did she go inside the building? With quick but careful steps, I made my way to the door. I took a deep, long breath and pushed it open.

"Sapphire?" I called out, but the deafening silence answered. I decided to go back, but I stopped when I saw a broken vase on the floor. There was blood in it.

"Saph? Where are you?"

There was no response.

Thud!

I collapsed on the hard floor after a hard object hit me. My hand automatically flew to my throbbing head, and when I held my fingers in front of me and my gaze landed on them, I saw blood—my own blood. The crimson liquid clung to my fingers as if I had dipped my hands into a bucket of paint.

"I will kill you. Celestine had suffered because of you.” An unfamiliar voice hissed.

I looked at the man and instantly recognized him. He was the man who was always with Celestine.

“What did you do to Sapphire?” If looks could kill, he already fell to the floor cold and lifeless.

He replied with a sarcastic grin. “You don't have to know…”

The pain in my head was becoming worse and my vision started to blur from the amount of blood I lost.

“I can pay you any sum you want. Name your price..Just let us go.”

He burst into fits of laughter that filled the whole room. "I’m not interested in your money.… Celestine will never find happiness unless you die.” .

Before I could think of a response, he effortlessly captured my hands then bound them behind my back. I struggled hard but my strength was no match to a man with his size.

He stuffed a cloth into my mouth to muffle my screams. Afterwards, dragged me across the floor as if I weighed no more than a feather. He continued to move forward until he finally reached a room. He kicked the door open, and dumped me into the floor beside an unconscious body.

A muffled scream escaped on my lips seeing the blood on my step sister's clothes. Her eyes were closed and there was no sign that she's still breathing.

It's all my fault…. If it weren't for me, Sapphire's life would never be endangered. I should have listened to her when she said she didn't want to go.”

I was consumed with too much guilt that I could scarcely breathe.

“After I deal with Crimson, you're next.” The man said. He then turned away, dialing a number.

“It's me, the man you're looking for.” He said to the man on the other line. He snapped a picture of me and sent it to Crimson.

"I am waiting for you…. Make sure you're alone or you will never see her alive." Before the other line could respond, he rudely pressed the end button.

The man knelt down in front of me. "I wonder who will I kill first? You or your ex husband? Well, I could have fun with you while he watched. How would he feel witnessing me fck the woman he deeply cared about?"

I glared at him. He just grinned in response. He got up, pacing back and forth while waiting.

An hour passed by. Finally, footsteps sounded in the hall.