Chapter 59

Chapter 59

-MILLIE-

Is it weird that I’m already accustomed to waking up feeling nothing? I guess it is. I’ve been taken by Natalie and the guy named Aides. The last I remember was Natalie injecting something into my n*eck.

I listened to my surroundings. Sonja’s heart rate monitor beeping wasn’t there. Panic immediately coursed through my system. What did they do to Sonja? Or was it me they did something to?

Did they kill her already?

F**k.

‘Calm down, Millie,‘ I thought. ‘Focus on your surroundings. Use your other senses. Panicking will get you nowhere.’

Once my mind calmed down, something felt different. There were no cuffs around my wrist. Instead, there were warm fingers laced with mine.

Pinching my eyelids, I forced them to open, the fluorescent lights on the ceiling blinding me. Turning my head to the side felt like an impossible feat. It took all my strength and lasted like a lifetime before I finally made out the silhouette of the man holding my hand. I would recognize him anywhere.

Damian.

He sat on a chair beside my bed, his forehead resting on his arm, and soft snores followed his shoulder’s rise and fall.

Is this real? I tried feeling his hands. It took me a while before I was finally able to squeeze his hand and relish the roughness and warmth of his palms.

Slowly, Damian woke up. His disheveled hair framed his beautiful face. The same face that had been in my dreams. I didn’t want to forget him. He was in my thoughts every time I closed my eyes.

He blinked away the sleep in his

I blinked them away, too. If this eyes, smiling at me. Mist blurred my view of him, and

real I could die from happiness.

was a dream, it was a very good dream. Damian felt so

e murmured, lifting ;

“Millicent,” a*s from the chair to cup my face. He bent over me and k*ssed

my forehead.

I almost sighed in relief. It wasn’t a dream. F**k! He was really here.

BB

Chapter 59

My time in captivity gave me the chance to ponder on everything that I am grateful for, everything that I would regret if I didn’t make it out of there alive.

There’s a lot I wanted to say, but speaking was impossible when my mouth felt as dry as the Sahara. Damian’s green eyes meandered over my face. Catching on my dilemma, he let my hand go and reached for a glass of water on the bedside table, offering the straw to my l*ps.

“Slowly,” he uttered, watching me take one sip at a time until my mouth was parched no

more.

“D–Damian…” I whispered, my tears streaming down my cheeks.

“I’m here. It’s okay.” He placed the water back on the table and sat on the edge of the bed, his hand sliding behind my head until he was cradling half of my b*dy. “It’s okay. You’re safe,” he whispered against my hair again and again.

The trembling of my b*dy intensified as the numbness faded away. I lifted my hand and gripped his brawny one, burying my face in his chest.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” I murmured, pulling him with what little strength I have closer to me.

“I’m so sorry,” Damian said, pulling away. He hooked a finger under my chin and k*ssed me tenderly. It was nothing passionate but a mere brush of his l*ps against mine, yet it was enough to convince me that this wasn’t a dream. He’s really here.

We stayed like that for a while. I didn’t want that moment to end, but as the numbness completely disappeared, questions formed in my head.

“What… What happened?” I asked, looking up at Damian.

A dark bag circled his pretty green eyes. His hair was a mess, and his dress shirt was crumpled like he hadn’t changed clothes for days.

བབ་གན

“Natalie happened,” he murmured.

“She was the one who took me.”

Damian nodded, repositioning on the bed until I could lay my head on his chest. He had an arm under my head, his hand played with my shoulder. “She was also the one who saved you.”

“What do you mean?”

He blew out a heavy breath. “They were supposed to transfer you out of Roslin City.”

Fragments of what happened after Natalie injected me in the n*eck started coming back

Chapter 59

to me.

-flashback-

“What the f**k, Natalie?!” I hissed, moving my n*eck from side to side.

“That will shut you up,” she murmured, a wicked smile on her l*ps.

My eyes widened. Whatever she injected me with was already flowing fast through my system as my heart pumped faster.

“What did you give me, Natalie?” I pulled on my cuffs, the metal digging into

my

wrist.

She smirked, tossing the syringe under my bed. “Something to make you compliant.” At that exact moment, the door opened.

“Are you done playing with her?” this guy must be Aides. I recognized his voice.

He was thinner than I expected, wearing a leather jacket, rugged jeans, and boots. Tattoos covered his n*eck to his chin, a canvas of abstract art I can’t recognize anymore.

I was slowly losing focus. My sight became blurry, and my eyelids were already closing.

Aides stared at me, his eyes slanting. “Hey, you good?”

Natalie looked down at me. The wicked smile on her l*ps was replaced with concern. What did she give me? I think I’m seeing things because she looked genuinely concerned now.

I opened my mouth to answer Aides, but Natalie beat me to it, hovering over my b*dy. “Millie?” she cupped my face, slapping my cheeks as if waking me up. “Look at me, Millie. Something’s wrong with her,” she looked back at Aides.

“I can f**king see that,” Aides shoved Natalie aside. She stumbled back, looking over Aides‘ shoulder as he checked my vitals.

“Is she sick?” Aides asked, forcing my eyelids to open, doing what medics do to check my vitals.

“I… I don’t know,” Natalie answered. Aides faced her. His shoulders tensed as she loomed over her.

“Try to f**king remember, Natalie. Does she take some kind of medication?”

“Not that I know of,” she murmured. Aides was in her face in an instant, gripping her throat, pushing her against the wall.

I tried to speak and tell Aides what he wanted to know, but my b*dy felt boneless. It’s

Chapter 59

like I was nothing but a pile of goocy.

“Aides-” Natalie held onto Aide’s wrist as he lifted her up, her feet pushed on tiptoes from the floor.

“If she dies, we’re both dead, so use your f**king head and try to remember if she’s taking any medication!” He screamed in her face, his saliva drizzling at Natalie’s face.

Natalie’s l*ps trembled, tears welling in her eyes. My view of her became blurry, but I heard her say. “I think she’s taking insulin.”

Aides let her go. She dropped to her feet, couching.

Aides quickly walked towards the shelves on the far wall, checking bottle after bottle. “Did we have insulin?”

“I don’t think so. All we have are medications for Sonja,” Natalie said, standing on her feet now. “We better take her to the hospital.”

By that time, my eyes were already closed.

“We can’t take her to the hospital,” Aides groaned, agitated. “She’s our f**king leverage. If we lose her, I won’t get Brian back!”

“If we don’t get her out of here, we’ll lose her, anyway!”

-End of flashback-

found you

“The cops found

and Natalie on the river banks,” Damian continued.

“Natalie gave me something that made me lose consciousness,” I said.

Damian hummed. “She gave you insulin.”

“What?” I looked up at Damian.

“She’s diabetic, and she gave you enough insulin to make you lose consciousness.”

“Why would she do that?” I can’t believe Natalie would save me. This was the same woman who stole my fiance, the same woman who orchestrated my kidnapping, and now she saved me?

No one would blame me if I couldn’t believe this shit.

“To stop them from getting you out of the city, Millie.” Damian’s hold on me tightened. “If they were able to move you out of the city, it would take days for me to find you.”

“Someone was helping Natalie. A guy she called Aides,” Damian didn’t look surprised to

NGG

Chapter 59

hear that.

“Natalie already confessed. It’s Aidan Fletcher. Rome’s brother.” My entire b*dy went stiff at the mention of that surname. “They’re going to use you as leverage to blackmail

me.”

“Blackmail you?” I frowned.

Damian hummed a yes; a frown could be heard in his voice. “They’d ask me to withdraw the case against Rome.”

I mulled over his discovery, still unable to believe everything would be this easy.

“Where is Aidan now?”

With a shake of his head, Damian said. “The f**ker chickened out and let Natalie take the fall. He thought you were dying, so he left Natalie with you when he heard the sirens of the cops.”

I nibbled my lower l*p. “Why do I feel this story was too good to be true?”

Dad used to remind me that if something was too good to be true, it usually wasn’t true. I’m glad that I wasn’t the only one feeling that way.

“It f**king is. Natalie’s story about you might have checked out, but Sonja’s connection to her is still unclear. She said that it was Sonja who instructed Rome to hurt you. And when things went sideways, Sonja bailed on their deal.”

“So Aidan took his anger out on Sonja when Rome was arrested for assaulting me?” I finished his story with a question.

Damian nodded. “That’s the story they are going for.”

“Something about this doesn’t feel right, Damian.”