Serena caught a sharp, chemical smell. It was ether.
The next second, everything went black.
When she opened her eyes again, her hands were tied behind her back. She was on the ground, forehead pressed against the cold barrel of a gun.
Not far from her, Brionne was in the exact same situation.
And a few meters ahead, Wilmer stood there with his men, facing off against the kidnappers.
Serena froze for a split second, then quickly understood.
They’d been kidnapped.
And both she and Brionne were being used as bargaining chips.
“Sir,” the kidnapper leader said, “five hundred million, plus that shipment you’ve got. Get it to me fast, or both your women are gonna suffer.”
Across from them, Wilmer’s expression was tight.
Three minutes later, he took a laptop from one of his men and said coldly, “The money’s been transferred. Let them go.”
The kidnapper raised a hand. After confirming the funds, a smile crept onto his face.
“Money’s here. But I haven’t taken the goods yet.”
He paused, then added, almost mockingly polite:
“I’m not unreasonable though. Here’s the deal. Pick one woman. You can take her now.”
“As for the other, once I get the goods and make it out to sea, I’ll send her back.”
Serena’s breath hitched.
She looked at Wilmer.
And unexpectedly, he was already looking at her.
Their eyes met.
His lips moved slightly, like he was about to say something.
But just then, Brionne woke up.
“Wilmer, save me!” she cried.
Serena clearly saw it. That flash of pain in his eyes.
Then he spoke.
“I choose Serena.”
Serena lowered her gaze.
Right on cue, the kidnappers shoved Brionne forward.
In a moment like this, people always choose the one who matters most.
And once that choice is made, the one who matters most is the one the kidnappers won’t let go.
So if he wanted to save Brionne, of course, he had to choose Serena.
And yet, Serena felt nothing. No pain. No heartbreak.
So this was what it felt like… to finally let someone go.
Three days. That’s all it took.
“Don’t worry,” the kidnapper said, dragging her back step by step. “Once we’re safe, I’ll return your wife.”
The tension in the air was suffocating.
Then suddenly, Wilmer’s voice cut through it.
“Serena!”
She looked up.
For the first time, there was real anxiety in his eyes.
His fists clenched. He pressed his lips together.
“Don’t be scared,” he said. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
But the moment the words left his mouth, a gunshot rang out.
Everything shattered.
“Wilmer, you dared to shoot?!” the kidnapper roared.
Wilmer’s face changed instantly. “That wasn’t me!”
But no one was listening anymore.
The gunshot was like a fuse being lit.
Bullets started flying. Both sides opened fire. Chaos erupted.
Wilmer’s heart dropped straight to the bottom.
Panic fashed across his face.
If things escalated now, Serena was as good as dead.
“Whatever it takes,” he ordered harshly, “get her out!”
But the kidnappers had come prepared.
The fight turned brutal. Even Wilmer got injured.
“Sir, we need to fall back!” one of his men shouted. “If we keep going, we’re gonna lose too many people!”
But Wilmer had completely lost his usual calm.
He kept pushing forward anyway until one of his trusted men knocked him out from behind.
As darkness swallowed him, the last thing burned into his vision was Serena.
Standing there in the middle of gunfire.
Looking at him completely expressionless.
On the other side, once Wilmer’s people retreated, the kidnappers pulled back too.
They’d taken even heavier losses. Only seven of them were still standing.
The leader spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Fuck! Thought having her would keep him from making a move.”
“Didn’t expect that bastard to play me.”
“What do we do with her?” someone asked.
The leader stared at Serena, eyes dark.
“Kill her. Dump her in the ocean.”
Serena said nothing.
She lowered her eyes and quietly waited.
She had been through ten years with Wilmer and seen storms far worse than this.
She wasn’t afraid of dying.
It was just… kind of ironic.
After finally divorcing him, she was about to die because of him. Funny, in a way.
But the death she expected never came.
Serena opened her eyes, and realized that at some point, over a dozen camouflaged mercenaries had silently appeared inside the abandoned factory.
They moved fast and clean.
Before the kidnappers could even react, they were all taken out.
The leader of the mercenaries walked up to her.
“Ma’am,” he said politely, “we were sent by Sir Aidan to bring you back.”
Serena paused.
Aidan. Aidan Dickerson, her future arranged marriage partner.
After a moment, she nodded. “Thank you.”
She borrowed a phone, downloaded the recording she had saved in the cloud. The conversation between Brionne and the scar-faced man. And then, she sent it to Wilmer.
Then, without hesitation, she boarded the helicopter waiting for her.
And as it lifted into the sky, she didn’t look back. Not even once.
