“Valerie!”
Stephen grabbed a fruit knife from the table and pressed it hard against my throat. “Tell me where she is?”
When I remained silent, the blade pressed down another fraction. Only when my collar turned crimson did the fury in his eyes give way to panic.
Seizing his momentary lapse, I grabbed the knife handle and plunged it deep into his arm.
His bodyguards swarmed forward, pinning me to the floor. Stephen clutched his wound, staring at me as if I were a stranger. Then he suddenly laughed.
“Valerie, you did a good job!”
After forcing the address out of him, I was bound and dragged to the scene. His men panicked the moment they saw me as a hostage.
Tabitha pushed him away and screamed for help, “Stephen, save me! I’m in so much pain!”
Neither side was willing to release me; the situation was tense and Stephen couldn’t wait any longer.
“Release Tabitha and I’ll release Valerie. We’ll exchange!”
Before his men could react, Stephen shoved me away and charged toward Tabitha with all his might. He cradled the woman in his arms with utmost tenderness, like a lost treasure finally recovered.
A scene I knew all too well. A year ago, I was kidnapped by Stephen’s enemies.
He went alone, braving a hail of bullets, trading his life for mine. Only this time, I was the bargaining chip, the one he abandoned.
“It’s all that bitch’s fault! Stephen, help me kill her!”
Tabitha cried, pressing Stephen’s hand against her leg. “I can’t stand up anymore, Stephen. I can’t dance for you anymore!”
Stephen loved girls who could dance. Like Tabitha, I was discovered by him in a bar. That day, he excitedly brought Tabitha before me.
“Look, she dances just as beautifully as you.”
His eyes sparkled, like he’d found the most fascinating new toy. Back then, I didn’t care. I naively thought he was just playing around, never imagining he’d become so attached to his toy.
I snapped back to reality as a gun pressed against my forehead.
“Valerie, I told you before, there won’t be a next time!” His voice was colder than the gun.
“What? Are you going to kill me to avenge her?”
I broke free from the ropes and staggered toward him. “Shoot me then! What? Too scared now?”
The veins in Stephen’s gun-gripping hand bulged violently. He swung the barrel and fired at my subordinate.
“Valerie!” His eyes blazed crimson. “You should be grateful I didn’t kill you!”
He scooped Tabitha into his arms and walked away without looking back.
***
I camped outside the ICU for two days while my subordinate remained unconscious.
“Miss Powell, it’s not pleasant to have your lover hold a gun to your head, is it?”
Tabitha appeared before me in a wheelchair, a smug look on her face.
I replied, “Thanks for your concern. It was more comfortable than having my leg broken.”
Tabitha’s hand on her knee tightened momentarily before she continued.
“You must be disappointed. No matter what tricks you pull, Stephen doesn’t love you anymore!”
She traced her fingers along her neck, deliberately exposing the overlapping bruises. “You’ve been married to him for three years and haven’t been able to have a child. But I’m different! I got pregnant on the first try.”
I curled my lip in disdain. “There are only two types of cheating: never and countless times. The world is full of girls like you, who can dance and get pregnant.”
I stared down at her legs from above. “Oh, I forgot. You can’t dance anymore.”
“So what makes you think you can keep his heart, when all you can do is bear children?”
“It’s all because of you!”
Stephen’s voice echoed from the corridor corner. Tabitha’s smile twisted into a grimace.
“Valerie, watch this closely!”
With strength from somewhere unknown, she clenched her fist and slammed it hard into her own stomach.
“Ah!”
She let out a piercing scream. Stephen, who was passing by, panicked.
“My baby!”
“Valerie! Why did you do this to me?”
