Chapter Twenty

"Now, should we try again!" He yelled, and she stared at the red point on Noah's forehead.

"Oh my God, Noah. Don't do this to him. I'll do anything you want. Please don't harm him," she pleaded, already on her knees.

"Just tell me where the file is. I'll let you go, and your Noah will be left unarmed," he said with a look of contentment.

"I don't know where it is. Please, I'll do anything. I'll go with you," she pleaded, even when she knew her efforts would be in vain.

"Shoot Noah!" he yelled, but the guards hesitated. "Shoot Noah Faustino!" he screamed again.

"Please don't kill him. I'll tell you where it is," she said in defeat. "Please, just don't harm him. Please. I beg you."

"Go on, we're listening," he said as he settled properly on his chair.

"Erm, it's in his office in one of the safes. You will find it there," she said as she escaped the grip of one of the men that held her. She had never been so scared in her life.

"It's in his safe, you say? But I need a password too, eh?" he said as he rubbed his face. And Ava felt as if she was going to die. She was openly betraying Noah.

One of the guards used his gun to hit her head, and she fell to the floor. As she held her head in pain, the man stood up and bent down to her level.

"I really like obedient ladies, you know. I respect you. If I wanted, I could ask my men to rape and torture until you give me an answer. So tell me," he said. She flinched at how close he was to her.

Then she spat in his face. He bought a cloth out from his trousers and cleaned it off. Then, he wrapped his fingers around her neck.

"If you try anything stupid, I'll choke you to death and throw out your body in a river where even Noah won't find you," he said, She choked and tried to remove his hands, but she couldn't.

He let go suddenly, and she inhaled deeply.

"I think Bella's child doesn't want to be brought into the world. I'll have to do something to hasten that process," he said and stood up.

"It's my birthday. The 11th of July. That's all I know," she said as she held onto his legs. The fear in her eyes was evident. He eyed her and lifted her by her hair. She cried out in pain.

"You look amazing, you know. You shouldn't be wasting your time with Faustino. I'd take care of you," he said as he analyzed her body. "I mean, who wouldn't want Little Ava here as an escort. Check out those curves. But I won't take you because you would only bring me trouble," he said before he let her fall again.

If he really wanted to harm them, he would have. It was obvious that he had a lot of information on them.

"You've been a very helpful, girlfriend. That is very kind of you. If you ever need anything, you can contact me. I would really love to repay this kind favor," he said before gesturing at his men. They left the house.

She lay on the floor and held her neck. She still felt the ghost of the pain from his wicked grip. Then her phone lit up with a message from Noah.

She took the phone in her shaky hands and read the message he'd sent her:

MEET ME AT THE RESTAURANT <3 ;)

She reread the message, and her heart beat faster than she ever thought it could beat.

She had to tell him what happened or this wasn't going to end well.

She sat opposite him and rubbed her cold, shaky hands together so he wouldn't notice. At this moment, she wanted to be locked up in her room, far away from him. She couldn't face him after what she'd done. But it was better coming from her mouth than anybody else's.

"Grandpa asked me to send his greetings," he said, and she managed to give a small smile.

"Noah?" she called with a shaky voice.

"Yeah?"

"There's something I wanna tell you," she said, still searching for the courage to tell him, but his phone interrupted the moment.

"What did you say?" he asked, and he immediately stood up from the table. Ava felt as if her heart was going to fall out.

She held her breath as he yelled at the caller.

He probably knows already, she thought to herself. She felt tears already tugging at the corners of her eyes, and she sobbed internally.

"I'll be back, Ava. Go home. Something has happened at the office," he said before he kissed her cheeks and rushed to the car.

She felt as if tears were falling from her eyes as she bit down on her shaky lip. Her heart was still in her throat when she arrived home and entered their room.

She couldn't take the tension. She couldn't even walk properly. She breathed heavily. It felt like her heart was going to burst out open. She didn't want to break his heart again. She didn't want to ruin something that had barely started. They'd just made up recently, and now this.

She felt her heart, pounding in its cage, skip a beat, and her stomach churned when she heard the doorbell.

****

Noah immediately rushed to the office as Pedro informed him of the break in and easy escape. He screamed at the security guards at the front gate.

"What good are you if a bunch of thieves can just break into my office? I'm paying you 75 freaking dollars per hour. And this is how you repay me?" he said before barging into the building.

He rushed to his office immediately. He checked the safe and found nothing. Just an empty safe.

"Fuck!" he yelled as he threw everything from his desk in anger. "Pedro," he called out, and Pedro immediately rushed in. "What the fuck is this? Where is the document? Where were you? How did this happen?" he asked Pedro as he fumed in anger.

"It wasn't an ambush. It was planned. Somebody gave them information. You have to get to the bottom of this, Noah. How many people know your password?" he asked as Noah kept on pacing.

"I am the only one who knows my password! Nobody..." He paused to think. Wait, Ava also knows it. Well, not exactly. But she knows how I chose it. I don't think she's the one. I was with her when it happened, and why would she do this? What would she have to gain? he thought to himself.

"Anyway, how did they get access to my office? How is it even possible?" he finally said.

"Well, according to the security footage, they were dressed up as cleaners sent to tidy up your office. The guard in charge of overall security noticed a glitch in the camera in your office. It was an illusion while they were doing something else. He sent guards, but it was too late," he said as he ran his hands through his hair. "We should try to find fingerprints to identify them," Pedro suggested. He went ahead and opened the safe to inspect it, where he found a brown camouflage sticky note.

"Noah, you have to see this," he said as he handed the envelope to Noah.

His heart stung. The feeling of betrayal. Something he'd never wanted to experience again, yet he still fell victim to it. For the first time in a while, he felt a teardrop roll down his face.

YOUR GIRLFRIEND WAS QUITE A GOOD SOURCE OF INFORMATION.

There was a picture of a man's hands around her neck, making it look like she was giving him a blow job.

"How could she fucking do this to me!? How could she betray me like this!?" he yelled with a shaky voice.

He threw the envelope and the note and carried only the picture with him. His eyes burned with tears, but he didn't let them fall. His feelings were mixed with many things. Betrayal. Jealousy. Anger and regret.

He'd showed her his vulnerable side. He'd showed her his weak side.

"Fuck you, Ava. Fuck you big time! Is this picture real?" he said the moment she opened the door. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, and she placed her hands over her lips to hold back her cries.

"Oh, Noah, it's not what you think," she said in an attempt to calm him.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP WITH YOUR STORIES AND FUCKING ANSWER ME!" he screamed, and she let out a cry.

"It is real, but it's not what it seems. I was..." she tried to explain, but he cut her short.

"I don't want to hear it, Ava. How could you do this to me?!" he said while the tears he'd held back finally flowed down his face. In his anger, he bought out his gun and pointed it at her head.

"I hate the fact that I still love you, Ava. I hate the fact that I can't hate you! I hate the fact that I get jealous when I see you with another man! I hate the fact that I can't freaking get your eyes out of my head. All the time we spent in Paris, did it mean nothing? Why did you have to be a cheap slut, Ava? Why?"

"No, Noah, no. It's not any of that! Please listen to me," she sobbed, but to Noah, they seemed like crocodile tears.

"I don't want you to feed me with more lies. Wasn't I satisfying your needs? I tried my best. I sacrificed my work time for you. You were never like this. This is not the Ava I knew. This is not the innocent model. I knew you were a bloody bitch! Never ever call me again. But the funniest part about all this is I still love you, Ava. And I'll always love you. For eternity," he said before he walked out on her.

"Noah, please, wait. I'll explain. Please wait," she followed after him, but he did not spare her any of his time. She begged him continuously, but he just drove away from her.

"Take me to the nearest bar. I need a drink," he said to his driver.

'Wallowing in your grief,' he never understood those words until today. What people said was true. Betrayal made a man lose himself. He was already on his second bottle of whiskey as he watched the dancers on the pole.

One of them came to give him a lap dance, but he felt nothing. She ground harder on him, but there was still no effect until he started to see Ava instead of her. Her arm grabbed his neck, and she placed a soft kiss on his lips. She started making it sensual, and it started affecting him, but he kept on seeing Ava. His hand grabbed her waist, and he pressed her to his bulge. She moaned softly.

"I love you," he said to her, and she smiled. She placed her breasts on his face, and he left soft kisses on her neck.

She moved away from him and grabbed him by the hand to lead him to one of the rooms.