Kidnapping the Mafia Prince's Heiress!

“H-Help me! I'm k-kidnapped…”

The voice on the other end of the call trembled with fear. I froze, my fingers hovering over the keyboard as I processed what I had just heard. It wasn’t just any distress call. It was Mae.

My heart pounded violently in my chest, but I kept my voice steady. “Ma’am, stay on the line with me. Can you tell me your location?”

I didn’t reveal who I was. If Mae realized I was her stepsister, she would break down, say her goodbyes, and lose whatever sliver of strength she had left. I needed her to hold on. I needed her to fight.

She sniffled. “I-I don’t know. It’s dark, and I—”

Her breath hitched. My fingers flew over the keyboard as I pulled up the call’s metadata, attempting to trace the origin. I activated the GPS tracking system, my eyes darting over the numbers and coordinates rapidly appearing on my screen. The location was coming through—slowly but surely.

Almost there. Just a few more seconds.

I typed in commands, my pulse matching the frantic rhythm of my thoughts. Latitude and longitude locked in. A rural area, deep in the outskirts of the city.

“Mae, listen to me. I need you to stay quiet but keep talking to me. Anything you hear, anything you see—describe it.”

“I—I hear footsteps,” she whimpered. “Please… please tell my family I love them.”

No. No, no, no.

I clenched my jaw, refusing to let the panic seep into my voice. “Mae, don’t say that. We’re getting you out of there.”

A loud noise came through the call—shuffling, a muffled scream. Then silence.

The line went dead.

“No!” I gasped, slamming my hand against the desk. The tracking window blinked before disappearing. We lost all the data. The trace was gone.

My hands trembled as I desperately tried to recover the lost information, but it was useless. Whoever had taken Mae had severed the call at the worst possible moment. I squeezed my eyes shut, my breath hitching in my throat. Was she still alive? Had I just listened to her final words?

Tears welled up in my eyes, but before they could spill, my phone rang again. Another unknown number.

I inhaled sharply, forcing myself to switch back into professional mode. I swallowed my fear and picked up.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

A low chuckle echoed through the receiver, slow and deliberate. My stomach twisted.

That laugh.

The blood in my veins ran ice-cold as I gripped the phone tighter.

“Hello, love,” the deep, taunting voice purred.

Bryant Harlow.

I nearly dropped the phone.

My breath caught in my throat as his name echoed in my mind like a curse. My ex-fiancé. The man I had once loved. The man who had shattered me.

And now—he had Mae.

“I see you’re still as sharp as ever,” he mused. “I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out.”

My nails dug into my palm. “Where is she?” I demanded, my voice raw with anger.

Another amused chuckle. “Oh, she’s around… But I have to say, I expected more from you, Geoffanie. Losing the trace so easily? Tsk, tsk.”

My vision blurred with rage. “Let her go, Bryant. She has nothing to do with this.”

“She has everything to do with this,” he countered smoothly. “She’s your sister, isn’t she?”

I gritted my teeth. “Half-sister.”

“Still blood,” he said, his tone mocking. “And blood is such a powerful thing. It binds. It controls. It destroys.”

The line clicked. He was gone.

I stood frozen, gripping the phone so tightly my knuckles turned white. My breath came in shallow gasps. Bryant had Mae. And he was playing with me.

I refused to let him win.

Weeks passed. No body was found. No ransom demands. Just silence.

I was suffocating under the weight of uncertainty. Every night, I scoured every piece of evidence, searching for any trace of her. Every morning, I went to work, pretending I was fine.

Until the email arrived.

No sender. No subject. Just a single sentence.

"Your sister is in the forest."

I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate. I packed my bag, took a leave from work, and drove.

The forest was dense, the towering trees swallowing all light once the sun dipped below the horizon. I set up a small tent and stayed, refusing to leave until I found her. Days passed in restless anticipation.

Then, one night—movement.

A rustling sound. Slow footsteps.

I bolted upright, grabbing the flashlight. My heart pounded against my ribs as I stepped outside. The beam of light flickered through the trees—until it landed on a figure.

Mae.

She was there. She was alive.

Tears blurred my vision as I rushed toward her. She was tied up, her face streaked with dirt and dried tears. Her clothes were torn, her frame trembling.

“Mae!” I choked, reaching for her restraints. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”

But before she could speak, before I could even process what was happening—

A sharp pain cracked through my skull.

The world spun.

Darkness swallowed me whole.

I woke up in an unfamiliar room. The air was thick with a scent I couldn’t place—something expensive, something suffocating. My limbs were weak, my head throbbing.

I tried to sit up. That’s when I felt it.

A searing pain between my legs.

My breath hitched as horror crashed over me in waves. Slowly, shakily, I looked down.

Blood. Dried on my thighs. Staining my shorts.

A sob tore from my throat as I curled in on myself. No. No, no, no—

The door creaked open.

My head snapped up.

Bryant Harlow stood in the doorway, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, damp hair curling against his forehead. His dark eyes gleamed with satisfaction as he leaned against the doorframe.

“Hmm…” His lips curved into a smirk. “I do hope I impregnated you, love.”

My world shattered.