Skye's POV

As soon as I repeated the weird passcode that Valerie had shouted over the chaos, the heavy metal door slid open after groaning like a gaping cave that has huge teeth as a door.

I didn't want to leave my friends there and especially not Valerie because that image of her held at a gunpoint was scarring my mind back and forth every few seconds. Even though she fought back like a badass, it still haunted me to the core. But I trusted Shivaay and Ivan to take care of the whole group.

My chain of thoughts were however broken when all sets of eyes were looking at me like laser beams the moment I walked in. It made me uneasy, though I didn't care much as I sighed in relief to see my dad alright. He was tightly tied to a chair but as far as I could see, he seemed unharmed to me.

My eyes first fell on the guy with a camera in his hands and he soon turned away to avoid my gaze. I could guess who he was, which just made me ball my hands into tight fists.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here. If it isn't the prodigal son! But it's such a good thing that you're here because you're very important to me." Mr. Miller's annoying croaky voice reached my ears. There was an evil sparkle in his amber eyes that I had noticed for the first time since I've known him. His lips were sneering as if unamused by my disruption but he was still trying to smile.

"What is the meaning of this, Joe?" I asked him, trying to keep my composure because right now there was a raging madness written all over his old face. One wrong move and he could hurt my dad.

That's when I finally traversed my eyes to look at him. My dad seemed weary but he was still holding up his front daringly. He smiled at me like he was somehow… proud of me. That alone was enough to give my soul some peace. He's never done that before and that very same smile was giving me hope. Hope that everything would be all right. That we would be all right.

"Well, it's good that you're here, Skye because it makes it so much easier for me," Joseph uttered and spoke the latter part of the sentence in a sing-song voice.

"What do you want, Joe?" I asked him, my patience teetering on a loose thread. All I wanted to do right now was to punch some sense into his thick skull. I never knew that I've always strongly disliked Joseph until now. Why wouldn't I though because ever since he's seen me, all he's ever done is criticize my work in an impudent way without actually having a solution himself.

Joseph scoffed and leaned his hands on the arms of the chair my dad was sitting on from behind. "Don't you see it?" He gritted, his brows now tightly scrunched together.

I was about to say something but my dad beat me to it. "Joseph… if you want the money so bad, I can-"

"Goddamnit!" He slapped the arms of the chair before coming to stand in front of my dad. "Why don't you understand, Jonathan? That I don't want money. I want the proper returns for my fucking investment! And you know what?" He seethed, turning to face me this time.

"Whatever it is, we can talk this out an-" my dad tried again but Joseph held up his finger without even looking at him.

"And you know what, Skye?" He repeated, baring his teeth.

I stared at him blankly because I was beginning to understand his reasons. How he would always talk about the "sales" of our company dropping low and how we're unable to make much profit. It all made sense now. And then add that along with Katherine's theory to kick me out of my own company.

However before he could continue with his onslaught of insults reserved only for me, the door behind me groaned again but this time the noise of the door sounded muffled. Must be because we were on the other side of it.

The moment it was opened, those same guards from the outside rushed in with their guns and stuff. From the looks on their faces, they didn't look too happy and my worried-o-meter started escalating.

Where are my friends?! I thought with narrowed eyes.

"What is this?" Joseph almost screamed, seeming insulted to be interrupted. Again.

"Boss… boss…" One of them huffed and puffed but quickly stood up straighter when he saw the murderous look on Joseph's face. "They escaped. I think they left. What if they went to the NYPD?" He voiced his concern.

I sighed in relief when I heard that they had somehow managed to escape. Though it lasted only for a few seconds because Joseph began laughing maniacally.

When I glanced at him, I felt like I was seeing a totally different person. Not a normal seventy-three year old man but someone sinister, hungry for money.

"So you're trying to tell me that some scrawny fellas kicked your ass, huh?" Joseph spoke and took slow, deliberate steps toward them. His boots made prominent 'dock-dock' sounds on the floor because of the complete silence. Once in front of them, he sniffed and cupped his nose. "And you all even pisssed your pants, wow!" His face was passing through every shade of red.

"No, it's-"

"Shut up!" He clutched his bald head in his hands. "Who even trained you?! You are just a bunch of no-brainers!" He took a few deep breaths. "I don't think they have escaped and gone to the NYPD if they value their life." Joseph suddenly grinned, waving his hand at my dad and I when he said "their".

My stomach began churning with uneasiness when he uttered those words. This man really was serious with the way his face was glinting with evilness. I wouldn't put it past him to carry out his threats.

"They must be somewhere around here because I am pretty sure they wouldn't just leave them stranded and alone here, would they now?" His voice was lilting and he was enjoying this very much.

"Don't you think that your game is over? We know that it's you and how you have corrupted the working of my company." I glared at him with strong emotions.

"Son, I am gonna be honest with you here," he said, taking a gun from some random guard. It was a revolver. "Do you see that guy over there?" He pointed toward the cameraman who shifted his weight on each leg every few seconds. He looked scared out of his wits. "His name is Yousuf. Say hi, Yousuf!"

"H-hi," he muttered, his head hung low.

"You see, I had given him one job. Just one job with strict instructions that nobody should follow him. Heck, that wasn't even the deal. The deal was for him to carry out his task with subtlety. No one should even notice him and least of all… my darling, Ms. Jones. I'd asked him to be a ghost. But you know what he did instead?" His jaw was clenched but his weird smile was still intact.

"I-I am sor-"

Joseph's face whipped in Yousuf's direction with a thunderous expression. "I don't think I gave you the permission to talk." Clearing his throat, he adjusted his tie. "So! He did what I didn't want him to do. Valerie followed him anyway. And guess what? I had trusted Yousuf so much that I was ready to bring him under my wing. Ready to disclose my identity to him. Tsk, tsk."

"What is your point, Joseph Miller?" Now I couldn't control my anger anymore. He was testing a thin sheet of paper that could tear easily if irritated too much.

Joseph's grin widened when I took his full name and his amusement was literally see-through. He walked a few steps to stand in front of me. "To the point, eh?" He put his hand on my shoulder as if trying to threaten me silently.

I eyed his hand warily but took no action to swat it away.

"My point is that everybody in here is gonna die except for me and my guards. I wouldn't have had to resort to this but that Katherine just had to make things worse," he told me, uttering Katherine's name with complete disgust.

However, I stilled when he said that we were going to die and my eyes instantly fell on my dad. He, on the other hand, didn't seem so fazed with his eyes closed and head bowed as if in a deep prayer. I remember my mom once telling me that dad had taken his path of belief toward God after losing my older brother, Zedd. Even today, he hasn't stopped.

"I had even threatened her, that bitch! Always belittling me," Joseph continued speaking as if he was in his own trance. "I knew she wouldn't take me seriously and so I had to take a step further to solve all of my problems at once. I went ahead and lured your dad in," he finished, sneering at my dad when he saw his meditating position. "Hoaxed him over to my place for some coffee and to discuss business, you know?"

"You don't have to do thi-" I was about to say something but he cut me off with a frustrated growl.

"Oh, but I do! And now you listen to me, boy. You better do as I say," he commanded and quickly headed toward my dad to stand beside his chair. "I want you to shout your girlfriend's name… Valerie." He winked and all I wished at that moment was to punch his complacent face. "Yeah, so you are to call out her name once I fire the gun."

"Why would I do that?" My hands twitched to actually carry out my wishes and so I fisted them to refrain my urges. If I triggered him then my dad was in close proximity to that monster. It could put him in danger.

"Hmm, let's see. I wouldn't kill your dad but for sure, I can put him in a wheelchair. I can make him unable to walk, unable to talk and unable to use his… hands. Though that'll not be done before I make him sign the will but whatever. Now… are you gonna do it or not?"

My eyes rounded in fear as he pointed that revolver on my dad's knee. My entire body was screaming for me to hug my dad and take all the blows on his behalf but I knew that it wouldn't solve anything.

"Three seconds, Skye. One!"

I closed my eyes but I regretted my decision as soon as I did that.

"Two!"

Behind my closed eyelids, I saw the guard pulling his trigger on Valerie. Then soon another picture of my dad lying lifeless on the floor, still tied to his chair flashed in my thoughts. With harsh breaths, I hastily opened them back again to not want to see those gruesome pictures again.

"And three!"

Joseph was about to pull the trigger when I stopped him. "Wait!" I rushed out the word as I could feel my eyes getting blurry. "Wait." This time my voice was a mere weak mumble. My dad was still in a different world and I decided to put all my fears and hopes on him. On his prayers because my belief in him couldn't be measured.

"Good. A smart decision. Now, do it," Joseph chirped wickedly and he fired a bullet on the wall in front of him.

With my heavy heart beating at full speed, I gulped and licked my parched lips. With all my energy I could muster, I called out her name and prayed to God that Joseph was wrong. That she had really managed to escape this place with her friends. "Valerie!"

For the first time in my life, I felt like I had finally disappointed myself. Was that a cowardly move? I couldn't tell but I knew that I had to take care of this situation. That too instantly. And so I discreetly pressed on the small button of a panic device that I had brought along with me. It was in the safe confines of my jeans pocket. 

Taking precautions ahead of time, I had even given one to Ivan, should anything happen to Valerie. After Shivaay had called me, I asked Ivan to meet me before handing over the other panic device to her dad. I needed Ivan's company because I was literally shaking too much to drive on my own.

Like I had asked him to, Ivan told her dad that as soon as he saw the blip which would happen after I would press the button, they're to call the police.