4: 4
04
At that, Lewis looked at me, and something murderous rose slowly in his eyes.
Then, calm as anything, he lied to my brother.
Said I'd been out at a dinner, took a fall, smashed my phone by accident, and was fine.
When Maya looked confused, he flipped the whole thing on its head.
He turned my brother into the housekeeper's son, and turned me into some pest who wouldn't leave no matter how many times she was told to.
Hearing that, Maya hated me down to the bone.
She had someone break my legs on the spot.
And just as she was about to go through with the original plan, strip me bare and throw me out of the hotel,
Lewis stopped her. He took the drug he'd prepared in advance from one of the thugs and forced it into my mouth.
I understood exactly how vicious he meant to be.
I clenched my teeth shut and refused to swallow, even if it killed me.
He sighed.
Then a hard slap cracked across my face, and he forced it down.
Not until Maya left and the door was shut tight
did Lewis bend down and whisper in my ear like a devil.
"Tomorrow, the news that you jumped off a building out of shame, unable to bear the humiliation, will be trending everywhere. It'll be the talk of the moment."
"Blame it on yourself. The young lady found out who I really am, so she has to die."
"But rest easy, young lady. Once I have the inheritance, I'll send Mr. and Mrs. Henson down to keep you company."
No. Mom and Dad were in danger.
My pupils shrank.
I struggled on instinct, but wave after wave of heat surged up inside me.
Watching my eyes glaze over in pain,
he pulled a stack of bills from his pocket and set them on the table, giving the thugs in the room a smile heavy with meaning.
"Whoever makes the young lady feel good gets ten grand a round. No cap."
In an instant, every one of them looked at me like wolves circling a lamb, closing in bit by bit.
I bit down hard on my tongue to hold on to the last shred of clarity.
I looked at the door they'd blocked off, and my eyes fell on the balcony outside the room.
Jump. Half-dead, maybe, but alive.
So while they'd let their guard down over my broken legs, I threw myself headfirst into the crowd and rushed out.
Only when my body hung out over the empty air did they get scared.
Maya and Lewis heard the commotion and shoved the door open.
Seeing the plan had slipped, his eyes darkened.
A moment later he looked at me, almost hopeful.
"Relax. A drunken slip and fall is easier to cover up than a suicide."
"Betty, no matter what, you're not getting away."
Listening to the sound of Lewis's men gathering downstairs,
my heart went to ash.
At the very edge of despair, a row of luxury cars came sweeping toward the building not far off.
Watching my own brother and his lead man step out in a clean, hard line,
the light came back into my eyes.
I was right. My brother couldn't stop worrying and had come to find me himself.
I wanted to scream for him.
But everything went dark, and Lewis threw something over my head and dragged me back.
"Not one word about today, from any of you!"
"If anyone asks, say Betty had a few drinks, broke her phone, got upset, and went home early."
"As for where she went, nobody knows."
Hearing that, Maya pouted, playing coy.
"Nigel, what's the matter with you? You're so worked up you've broken a sweat."
But Lewis clamped a hand around hers as she reached to wipe it, his face colder and more bloodthirsty than she'd ever seen.
"The one who most needs to keep her mouth shut in a minute is you. Say the wrong thing and I'll be done with you."
Then they bound my arms and legs, gagged me tight, and stuffed me into the bedside cabinet.
Through the crack, I watched my brother storm in with his men.
His brow was drawn tight, and after he looked around and didn't see me, his face went cold.
"Where's Betty? She's not here, and she didn't go home."
"Talk. Have you people hidden her away?"
