Chapter 122
Chapter 122
A few hours ago…
Ivy’s POV
I glanced around the large hotel room, and the peach dress I was to wear was laid out on the bed. It was a beautiful fabric with sparkles that shimmered in the dark.
I caressed the soft material, and a small smile tugged at the corner of my lips. Asher had bought the dress for me.
The night he bought it, he had given me flowers, whispered sweet words in my ear, and made love to me like it was our last night together. Oh, and he had made promises!
I giggled to myself. Today was date night. He called it “new beginnings.” We had been through so much together, and he wanted us to start afresh, put all the ugly episodes behind us. I wanted that more than anything else.
Max and Taylor were glued to my mind, and it didn’t help that they were nowhere to be found. I had been worried sick about them, but tonight, I was going to forget everything else, well, except Asher.
The plan was simple: we were going on a double date, like a new couple. He would come from home, and I’d come from the hotel, and then we would hit
it off…
I smiled, a wide smile. Tonight, it was us and, well, Janine and…
A sharp knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts. I turned sharply toward the door.
I glanced at the clock. Room service? I hadn’t ordered anything.
Setting my drink down, I stood and walked over, hesitating for just a second before pulling the door open. A hotel waiter stood there in a crisp uniform, a mask over his mouth, a rolling tray before him.
On the tray sat a silver–domed dish, steam curling from beneath the lid.
“Miss Ivy?” His voice was polite but stiff.
“Yes?” I eyed the tray. “I didn’t order anything.”
“It’s a complimentary dinner, courtesy of the hotel.” His eyes grew softer, and I assumed it was a smile. “A small token of appreciation for our VIP guests.”
I hesitated. Hotels did things like this sometimes, didn’t they? And I was staying in one of the high–end suites. Shrugging, I stepped aside and gestured for
him to wheel it in.
“Just place it over there, by the table,” I said, turning back toward the TV.
I had only taken two steps before an arm locked around my waist, yanking me back.
A scream barely had time to form before a cloth pressed against my nose and mouth.
A sharp, pungent scent burned my nostrils. I thrashed, kicking, clawing at the arm holding me, but my strength drained almost instantly. The room blurred, my vision darkened.
No, no, this wasn’t happening.
My limbs felt heavy, my head lolled back.
And then, nothing.
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13.40 MOT, 7 Ju
Chapter 122
A dull throbbing in my skull pulled me back to consciousness.
I felt it before I even opened my eyes, the steady hum of an engine, the cold leather seat beneath me.
I was in a car.
My body was sluggish, may limbs weak, but i forced my eyes open. The windows were tinted, too dark to see outside, but the dim glow of passing streetlight: Bickered through. The air smelled different Stale Unfamiliar.
osn’t alone.
Someone sat beside me.
I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. Just listened. The slow, seaty the and fall of someone else’s breathing filled the space. A man.
My heart pounde
The SUV at a slight bump, and i hit the shift in weight beside me
1 curled my fingers inte fiets,
i could By Be furt
But could i snake
I took a show, ready Breath, Reyng not to make it divious that I was awake. It could catch him off guard, just one chance, that’s all I needed.
9000 a sharp inthate, Plunged toward the dress handle
Bet baked even brush my fingers against in a strong hand grated my wrist, yanking me back.
A cloth pressed against my most agan.
That same sang, pungent smel
FL, IS, THATTAVI
fought harder this me, swasting mying claws face, the arms, anyoting But my strength left me too quickly,
The world span wishandy, my vision splintering into fragments of leghe and shadow,
My last conscious thought was want at this be the d
And then, darkness swallowed me whate
I woke up to the sound of dripping water.
The air was cold and damp, wrapping around me like a second skin. My head pounded, my wrists and ankles ached, the ropes cutting into my skin every time imped
And my eyes opes.
So, bang bght spied from a single hanging buth, casting jagged shadows across cracked concrete walls. The air smelled of midew and semang sett Aventin
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Chapter 127
that set e
struggled against my restraints, twisting, pulling, nothing budged. The chair beneath me creaked but held firm
Stay calm. Think
I took a shoty breath
And then scrvamed.
The sound echoed, bouncing off the empty walls. I screamed again, louder this time, until my throat burned.
A slow clap came from the shadows.
froze
And then I saw hoi,
Taylor
Stepping forward, her face half–lit by the weak bulb, her expression unreadable.
I wasn’t even surprised.
There was no shock, no moment of disbelief. Deep down, I had known.
Taylor tilted her head. “Finally awake, I see.”
My throat was dry. “You did this.”
She smirked. “You say that like it’s a surprise. Is it really, Ivy Whitfield?”
“You kidnapped me!”
“You make it sound so dramatic.” Taylor took a step closer, arms crossed. “I was kind of hoping you’d just die in your sleep, but I guess this works too.
Gives me time to have a little fun.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. No. I wouldn’t let fear win.
“Why?” My voice was quiet, almost pleading. “Why would you do this? What have I ever done to you?”
Taylor’s smirk faded.
Silence stretched between us.
Then, finally, she exhaled, her expression twisting into something resentful. “Because you’re perfect.” The words dripped with venom. “You have everything. You always have. And I’m sick of it.”
My stomach twisted. “That’s why?” I whispered. “Because of jealousy?”
Taylor’s jaw clenched. “Don’t act like you understand. You don’t know what it’s like. You never have.”
“You think my life is perfect?” My voice cracked. You have no idea what I’ve been through, Taylor.”
“Save the sob story,” she snapped. “I don’t care. I want your life. And if I can’t have it,” she leaned in, her breath hot against my cheek, “then you can’t have it either.” She shrugged. “None of us can.”
A shiver ran down my spine.
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13:46 Mon, 7 July o
Chapter 122
I had known Taylor for years. Once upon a time, we had been inseparable. But this, this person standing in front of me wasn’t the same girl I was best friends with. This wasn’t the girl I had called sister.
“You don’t have to do this,” Itried again, searching her face for even a glimpse of the person she used to be. The person I had known, “We were friends.”
“Don’t.” Her eyes flashed. “Don’t say that. That girl doesn’t exist anymore.”
A sharp pain cut through my chest.
Taylor stepped back, exhaling sharply before turning to the doorway. She called out, her voice sharp. “Make sure those knots are tight. I don’t want her. trying anything.”
A shadow moved at the entrance. A man, tall and broad, stepped forward. When he came into the light, I saw he was a mean–looking man with jagged scars on his face.
Taylor glanced back at me, her lips curling into a cruel smile. “You’re going to be here for a long time, Ivy. Unless Asher comes running…” Her lips curled into a wide smile. “To me!” She yelled and cackled, clearly amused. It was an unhinged sound.
And then she was gone.
I was alone.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
I closed my eyes, exhaling shakily.
Memories flickered through my mind, laughing with Taylor, all the trips we had taken together, the times we shared. How had it come to this? When had everything gone so horribly wrong?
Tears burned behind my eyelids, but I refused to let them fall.
I wasn’t giving up.
Even in the darkness, even with the cold biting at my skin and the ropes digging into my wrists, I held on to one thought. Asher will come for me.
I pictured him storming in, his jaw clenched, his eyes burning with determination. He wouldn’t stop until he found me. No matter what it took, no matter how dangerous it was, he would fight for me. Because that’s who he was.
I let the image of him fill my mind, chasing away the fear that clawed at my chest. I imagined the warmth of his arms, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat against my cheek.
If I closed my eyes, I could almost hear his voice, calm, steady, telling me to hold on just a little longer.
So I did.
I refused to cry. Refused to let the fear win. Taylor wanted me to break, but she didn’t know one thing, Asher was my strength.
And as long as I believed he would find me, I wasn’t lost. Asher was my protector. I was his.
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AD
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13:46 Mon, 7 Jul 2016
