*Warning, this chapter includes some kidnapping scenes.*

Ashley's POV

It's been two days, at least I think it has. My only way of telling time was by how dark it got and the occasional meals they handed to me.

My hands were tied behind my back to a pole.

I tried loosening the rope by wiggling my hands but it was too tight.

The place was dusty with nothing but sand and concrete around me. I wasn't conscious when they brought me here. If it wasn't some kind of abandoned warehouse, it was most likely some unfinished building. We were definitely on a higher floor. I knew this because of the concrete staircase on the left. The floor also ended further down with bricks piled up on the edge.

The two guys who kidnapped me had their backs turned on me and were busy wiping the blades of their knives. If I was going to come up with an escape plan, now was the time.

I noticed a broken glass piece on the floor. I tried stretching my leg out so I could kick it towards me but I had no luck. It was too far and my legs were too short.

I sighed in frustration. How else was I going to get out of here? I still don't know why they tied me up here.

"Are you going to let me go?" I yelled getting the two guys' attention.

"You better keep quiet unless you want us to gag you again," the guy threatened, whom I named Moustache.

Since we arrived, they haven't bothered to conceal their identities. It was either they were incredibly stupid, or they weren't planning on letting me out alive.

The one guy had an angry face with a contrasting thick black moustache to his bold head. I named him Moustache. The other had a scar across the left side of his face. I named him Scar. He looked even more frightening than the one in TheLion King.

Scar walked down to the window. The window was just one big open rectangle. The glass hadn't been installed yet. Scar looked down as he smiled at himself.

"She is here," Scar announced as he walked back to Moustache.

"Great," Moustache answered. "That means we'll be rid of this one very soon. I'm tired of babysitting." He added.

She is here? Who was she? That meant I was about to meet the person holding me hostage. Hopefully, this was all a misunderstanding and they kidnapped the wrong girl. I feel sorry for whoever that girl is supposed to be.

It wasn't until five minutes had passed by that we started hearing footsteps echoing through the back. Hopefully, she was nicer than these two and would let me go.

In full alert, I watched the stairs as a woman walked towards us. She was dressed in a black sheath dress with matching black heels and sunglasses. True villain fashion. It was her heels that had been making all of that noise against the concrete. It took me nearly a minute to recognize her as Madison's mother. She did this?

I hadn't even realized I had stopped breathing.

"We've been expecting you Amelia," Scar said with a smile.

"I had to make sure everything was clear." She answered removing her sunglasses. She slipped them into her handbag. "Our guest looks a bit more comfortable than I would have preferred." She commented looking in my direction.

This was not a mistake. She wanted me to be here. But why? What have I ever done to her to deserve this?

She walked towards me before stopping in front of me.

She was definitely not planning on letting me go. I could still remember the bitter and nonchalant tone she had when she advised her daughter to lie about being pregnant. She was worse than I thought.

"Why would you do this to me?" I asked, my voice hoarse as tears fell down my cheeks.

"Why wouldn't I?" She laughed. "You are the girl who ruined my life and tried to do the same to my daughter." She answered. She picked up one of the knives the two guys had been cleaning up and started pacing the floor. "You know, I was willing to forget about your miserable existence. I told myself you were completely insignificant. But then, I found out that my ex-husband was changing his will and guess who he was planning on leaving most of his money to?" She continued.

This whole thing was about money? I was fine with being broke but alive.

"If this is about money, I don't want any of it. You can take all of it." I pleaded.

"You've been a nuisance since before you were born. The only way is to get rid of you since it didn't work the first time. I tried to be gentle and had someone run you over. But you just couldn't die so now I have to do this." She smiled.

"You don't have to do this. I could just disappear and no one will ever see me again. I won't tell anyone about any of this." I continued. Maybe what I needed to do was to buy myself some more time. Hopefully, someone finds me here before she decides to slit my throat.

"You don't understand how far I've come, all the moves I had to make to get here. I won't let you be the reason my daughter ends up with nothing." She paused.

"I know you must think that I am so cruel but think about all the favours I've done for you. I allowed you to live as long as you did. Do you know how many secrets I've had to bury, the number of people I had to keep quiet?" She continued.

Suddenly everything made sense, how my father never knew that my mother was pregnant. With her influence, I understood why my mother never wanted me to know who my father was.

The thought of finding out everything she has done somehow frightened me. Who knows how many bodies she has buried in her backyard? But I needed to know and I think I knew what she was hinting at.

"Is Madison even his?" I managed to ask.

"I don't know." She answered nonchalantly. "She could be his, or the gardens. No one cares and you won't be alive to say anything." She paused. "Do you finally understand why I have to kill you, I can't just throw all that effort away. You are going to die anyways, that's why I'm telling you all of this." She added.

She walked away from me towards Moustache who was looking out the window. She took a knife from his back pocket before turning back towards me.

My body went into a panic. She was planning to kill me, in the most painful way possible. I tried to wiggle my hands again but had no luck. There was no way out for me.

She stood in front of me before bending down to my level.

"I wonder if your parents will recognise your corpse if I mess up that pretty little face of yours." She spoke. She fiddled with the knife to prove her point. She then ran the side of the knife against my cheek. She wanted me to be afraid.

To my surprise, she got back up on her feet. She returned the knife to Moustache before picking up her handbag. For just a moment, I thought I was safe. That I would be spared from whatever fate she had in store for me. But she had only returned the knife so that she could pull a gun out of her bag.

She returned to me before pointing the gun at my temple. "As fun, as our little talk has been, I have to get rid of you now. I want you to die knowing that absolutely no one came to your rescue or even cared that you were gone." She said.

I closed my eyes hoping it would be quick and I wouldn't feel any pain.

I thought that this would be the moment that she would pull the trigger and everything would be over. I embraced that fate. Instead, she stepped back before turning to Moustache.

"Untie her," I heard her say.

"I don't think that is a good idea, ma'am," Moustache answered.

Suddenly I was fully alert. My will to live returned.

"Untie her," she demanded. "I want to watch her beg for her life before I kill her." She said. This woman was truly a psychopath.

Moustache sighed before doing what she requested. Using one of his knives, he slit the rope.

Even with my hands free, I could still feel the pressure of the rope digging into my skin.

Using the pole I'd been tied to, I pushed myself up. I had almost forgotten how to use my legs.

"Any last words?" She asked pointing her gun at my forehead.

I breathed deeply.

This couldn't be the end, it couldn't be how I died. I wouldn't allow it.

With all the strength I could master, I launched myself forward and slapped the gun out of her arm. Because my legs weren't strong enough, I fell to the ground. Moustache rushed towards us. He grabbed my arms before I could grab the gun.

"You witch," Amelia yelled out.

Moustache pulled me up to my feet. I pushed myself forward holding Amelia by her arm. I scratched her arm, leaving a bruise. Moustache pulled me back as I kicked Amelia in the stomach.

"Now you will pay for all of this!" Amelia yelled picking up her gun.

She turned off the gun's safety before placing her hand on the trigger.

"Wait!" Scar yelled in panic. "There is someone here. Standing by a car parked outside, I see another car coming. You can't shoot her now. They will hear the gunshot." Scar warned.

I was about to scream when Moustache placed his hand over my mouth.

She remained hesitant as she pointed the gun at me.

She finally accepted defeat as she pulled the gun down. Maybe if I made enough noise, someone could find me and I'd finally be freed from this.

"You got lucky this time, you won't be so lucky next time." She threatened.

We heard footsteps and voices entering the building.

"I want you to tie her up and wait for me until I return. I have to try and get rid of whoever it is." She announced.

She then slipped her gun back into her handbag and walked downstairs.

I tried to free myself from Moustache's grip. Scar walked over to me and covered my mouth with a cloth as Moustache held me back.

I heard noises downstairs along with some familiar voices. 'Was that Tristan?' My mind registered. What was he doing here? Maybe by some miracle, they'd be able to hear me.

"If you don't behave, we will kill you and everyone else downstairs," Moustache warned.

This was my only chance to get out of here. I used up all of my strength and knocked my elbow into Moustache's abdomen. He stepped back in pain, releasing me from his grip as I fell to the ground. Moustache pressed his teeth together, trying not to yell from the pain. I picked up the piece of glass I noticed earlier and stabbed Scar with it in the leg.

I picked myself up from the ground and ran in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, Moustache was right behind me as he pulled me back. I hadn't gotten far but I managed to kick several bricks that fell to the floor below. Hopefully, someone notices.

I continued to struggle in Moustache's arms as he pulled me back. Before I could register, Scar injected something into my forearm.

Suddenly, everything became blurry before I lost my conscience.

***

My eyes slowly opened as I regained consciousness. Everything was dark around me with only a dim light where Moustache and Scar were standing. It was nighttime.

I would have loved to have thought that I had been rescued and finally safe but those kinds of scenarios never happen in my world. I was still tied to a pole.

Moustache noticed my movements. He growled at me.

I closed my eyes as I rested my head on the pole. I thought about my mom and my sister and even the people I had once walked past in the street and would never see again.

I thought I would at least get a moment of peace, but the nightmare was about to continue. Amelia returned. This time she was dressed in black sweatpants with a black hoodie over her head. She also carried two paper bags which she handed to Scar and Moustache along with her handbag.

"Wake up!" She yelled walking towards me. She kicked my leg after I remained unresponsive. "I warned you, you won't be so lucky this time." She said.

Moustache and Scar pulled out some food from the paper bags. Hopefully, it was poisoned.

She then turned towards Scar and Moustache. "We have to speed things up and get rid of this one soon before anyone else comes here." My daughter told me that no one would come here, clearly, she was wrong." She said. "That girl can't do anything right," she muttered.

"Is she a part of this? Did the two of you plan this?" I asked. My mouth was dry and the rest of my body was weak. My voice was barely audible.

"If she was a part of this, you wouldn't die as quickly as I'd prefer. " She answered coldly. "You should learn to shut up. You are just as annoying as your mother who won't stop calling." She paused. "Now, I'm going to be kind enough and give you some options. How would you like to die? Would you prefer a bullet in the head? We could use the classic method and choke you to death, we could even try poison." She added coldly.

She laughed sadistically. "You know what? I was joking. I'm just going to shoot you in the head." She said.

She reached into her handbag and pulled out her gun. This time I was convinced she wouldn't be hesitant.

"I have a much better idea than that," I heard someone say in the dark.

I tried squinting my eyes to help me focus but I still couldn't make out who it was. The figure emerged from the dark as he approached us.

My eyes widened at the sight of who it was.

I was surprised when I found out Madison's mother was holding me hostage but I would have never expected him.

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A/N: Thank you so much for reading. Please comment down your thoughts and vote if you enjoyed the chapter.