Chapter 124

124 WINDOW PAIN LUKE’S POV I couldn’t believe it. The car was empty, and Ariel was nowhere to be seen. I looked around frantically, trying to find any sign of her or the men who took her. But there was nothing, just an empty street.

I called out Ariel’s name, hoping she would somehow hear me. But there was yet to be a response.

And then my mother’s mocking words echoed in my head, taunting me once more. She talked nonsense the first time I heard her voice after a very long time. I clenched my fists, feeling the rage build up inside of me. I couldn’t let her win; I couldn’t let her do anything terrible to Ariel.

I quickly pulled out my phone and called Ariel, praying that she would answer. But it just went straight to voicemail. I tried calling again and again, but still need an answer.

“Where are you, Ariel?” I whispered to myself, my heart racing with fear and frustration.

Just then, my phone rang again. It was that useless woman, someone I didn’t believe I used to call mother.

“What do you want now?” I answered the phone call, and my voice was shaking with anger.

“Oh, I just wanted to check in on you and your missing wife,” she said with so much sarcasm.

“Tell me where she is,” I demanded, my patience wearing thin.

“Oh, Pushki. Poor Pushki. Do you really think I would tell you where she is? You’re so predictable. You always try to be the hero, but you always end up failing. What a fool you are,” she taunted.

“You’re the one who sent those men after her, aren’t you?” I yelled, my fists clenched in rage.

“Maybe I did; maybe I didn’t. But it’s too late now; she’s gone,” she said, her voice filled with amusement.

“Tell me where she is!” I screamed, my voice echoing through the empty street.

“Goodbye, Lukę,” she said, and then the line went dead.

“I couldn’t take it anymore. I slammed my fist against the window of my car, feeling completely helpless and defeated. I didn’t know what to do next. I couldn’t just sit here and wait for something to happen, I had to do something.

But before I could even think of a plan, my phone rang again. It was an unknown number.

“Hello?” I answered, my voice shaking.

“Luke, it’s me,” a familiar voice said.

“Ariel? Where are you?” I asked, feeling a surge of hope.

“I can’t talk for long; they’re watching me. But I managed to escape. Meet me at the old, abandoned factory on the outskirts of town. Please, hurry,” she said, her voice urgent.

“I’ll be there,” I said, my heart racing with relief.

I quickly started my car and drove towards the abandoned factory, praying that I would find Ariel safe and sound.

As I parked my car and ran towards the factory, I couldn’t help but feel grateful for my mother’s call. If she hadn’t taunted me and told me that Ariel was in danger, I might never have found her.

I burst through the doors of the factory, and there she was. My beautiful wife was bruised and scared but alive.

I ran towards her and held her tightly, tears of joy streaming down my face.

“I’m so sorry, Ariel. I should have protected you,” I whispered, kissing her forehead.

“It’s not your fault, Luke. I’m just glad you found me,” she said, tears in her eyes.

“Luke,” someone said, tapping my shoulder, taking me out of my imagination. I turned around, and it was Andre. I wondered what he was doing here. Has he been following me the whole time? And I couldn’t believe I was thinking so much that I had to start imagining things. I should slam my head against the wall for that.

“What are you doing here?” I asked Andre, giving him a curious look.

“What are you thinking about?” He inquired immediately.

Staring at him for minutes, I sighed. “It’s nothing.”

“I know you’re thinking about Ariel. I followed you here because I had a feeling you came looking for her. And I wasn’t wrong about that; I saw you from afar, yelling her name. And take a look at how you’re so worried. I didn’t expect you to love her like this.”

“I love her like…” 1 trailed oft, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. I glanced at André once again. “You know what? I’m just going to act like you never said that.”

“Same way you keep on acting like you don’t love Ariel?”

“What are you trying to say now?” I quizzed him cautiously.

“I’m just saying the truth, Luke. You can keep on lying to yourself, but I believe one day you’ll accept the truth.”

“Enough with the truth stuff, bla bla bla, or whatever. I shouldn’t even be joking right now.”

“Who said I was joking?” Andre retorted. “This is the time to be serious, because right now, Ariel is in danger.”

“You continue to speak as if you are the one who initiated the phone call.”

“There’s no need to fight. We both want the same thing: to save Ariel.”

“Oh, please, you don’t know who I’m up against,” I said, almost inaudible, rolling my eyes. And then I looked at my hand; it was bleeding. I didn’t even realize that. The window of my car was smashed by me. And this was the pain that I had brought upon myself, all because I was thinking about Ariel. What the hell was wrong with me?

“I don’t know. But I do know that I’m not going to let anything bad happen to Ariel,” Andre said, fixing his hands on his waist.

I shot him a cold look at that moment. “Of course, you wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.” And I said that because, recalling what happened between me and Ariel at the party, This man slept with her;

I could imagine them doing that shit. Oh, so disgusting.

“Why are you so mad, huh?” Andre questioned me.

Iclenched my fists, trying to calm myself down before I said something I regretted. “It doesn’t matter why I’m mad, okay?”

Andre held my shoulder. “What is the problem? I thought we had put our differences aside at the party.

Why are you being so mad?”

“Get your hands off me,” I told him coldly. At that moment, my blood was boiling with rage at the feeling of his fingers gripping my shoulder. I couldn’t stand the thought of him touching me; his presence made my skin crawl. I made sure my voice was steady and firm as I demanded for him to release me. His touch was an invasion of my personal space, and I was not going to tolerate it.

124 WINDOW PAIN As Andre gazed into my eyes, he released his grip on my shoulders, following my request. We stood facing each other in complete silence, exchanging a look that was far from pleasant. I could feel the weight of his stare, and I knew he could feel mine. Despite the discomfort, I couldn’t look away, and I could tell that neither could he.

A car suddenly appeared in the distance. It slowly made its way towards us and eventually came to a stop just a few feet away. My eyes widened as I saw the driver step out of the car.

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