Page 22

I woke up in a dark, cold room with my hands tied to a chair. I couldn’t stop thinking about Sebastian and how he hurt me to save my mom. I was finally ready to let him go and move on, but no. He’ll just keep leading me on because he’s so selfish. I’ve been in this basement for at least two days and haven’t seen anyone. Caleb and Sebastian didn’t come to check on me, and I haven’t eaten. My body hurt all over and I felt weak.
The door opened, and it felt like God himself heard me. Sebastian walked in with Caleb behind him. Caleb was holding something in his hands. I was so focused on what Caleb was holding that I didn’t even see Nina walk in right behind her fiancé. Nina smiled the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. She saw me and laughed. When I heard her dumb laugh, I tossed and turned in the chair.
Sebastian is across from me, watching me while Caleb works on this thing. I could have sworn I saw regret in Sebastian’s bold eyes. Nina wore a pink skirt and a white crop top with heels that were bigger than her ego. Her bump was definitely bigger, which made me hate her even more.
I asked, “What the hell is this?” as I fought with the chair again. Sebastian puts his hands behind his back and appears to be recovering from his wounds.
“Sorry you don’t get the VIP treatment, Princess.” Princess is a nickname my dad gave me, and Sebastian was aware of it. He just wanted to get on my nerves. I angrily stared him down.
“Let’s just make this quick,” Caleb says, getting everyone’s attention. I was staring at him until I gave up and looked down at my lap.
Nina smiles and says, “Wow, it looks like little Aria is finally giving up.”
You are so lucky to be pregnant.
Sebastian hissed, “Caleb, if you don’t shut up, I’ll kill your dog.” I don’t know why, but what Sebastian said gave me a little bit of hope that he might really care about me.
“Get out.” Caleb turned to his future wife. Nina was surprised that he would actually side with Sebastian, and she looked at me. I couldn’t help but smile. She turned quickly and walked out.
Caleb clicked a button on the device again. I asked, “Is this supposed to give me superpowers or what?” I can tell by the way this thing looks that I would definitely become the next black widow or something. I promise that if I get power after this, I’ll kill that bitch Nina.
Sebastian said with a straight face, “You’re very funny,” even though he didn’t find it funny at all.
I don’t trust Caleb anymore because the phone he was holding started to ring. The screen against the wall turns white when he plugs the phone into the machine. I should have known that it was a screen projector before now.
Henry was on the screen with my dad next to him. I said “Henry” while wiggling against the rope. I pulled on my hands, which only made the rope rub against them hard, hurting me.
“Aria.” Henry almost came through the screen when he saw me. Caleb was watching us closely, unsure of my relationship with him.
Sebastian said, “Aria, you must really love Henry if you’re willing to fight more.” He looked at my burned hands.
It looked like my dad was going to blow up with rage.
Sebastian walked behind me, and I stayed still. Sebastian said out loud, “Poor little Aria, she just wanted to play with the devil.”
“What do you want?” my dad asked.
“Caleb, give me the thing.” Sebastian said to Caleb. Caleb reached into his pocket and gave Sebastian a knife.
There’s no way he’s going to hurt me, right? Caleb won’t let him do it.
Sebastian walked in front of me and bent down to my level. He looked at my face, and his expression softened. My lips were shaking.
“Please don’t, Sebastian,” I begged him.
“I’m sorry, but I have to.” He whispers so quietly that I almost miss it.
Henry yells, “Don’t you dare touch her!”
Sebastian turned to face the camera. Sebastian smirked and said, “Oh Henry, we’re so past that.”
Henry’s eyes darkened, and through the screen, his breathing grew heavier. Caleb looked at me and Sebastian with interest, but I was too busy trying to stay alive to look at him.
My dad looked confused but didn’t say anything. He just kept looking at Sebastian’s hand, which was holding the knife.
Sebastian turned around to face me again. He seemed reluctant to do it.
He leaned over and began to unbutton my jeans. I tried to fight it off, but he was too strong. I heard Henry, Dad, and Caleb mumble, but I didn’t pay attention to any of them. Sebastian pulled my jeans down, leaving me in my pink lacy knickers. I was wearing a crop top, so my knickers were on full display. Sebastian slammed the knife into my leg so hard that I could hear it hit my bone before I could say anything.
I screamed in pain so loudly that my heart raced as if it were about to pop out of my chest. My body shook in pain, and I was in shock. I tilted my head to the side to try to numb the pain.
“Aria!” Henry yelled. “I’ll f*****g kill you, Sebastian. I’ll rip your f*****g head off your body.”
“You said we were just going to scare them,” Caleb said, pushing him away from me and bending down to my level.
I shot my head back in pain, and Caleb grabbed it. He tried to make me look at him by pushing my chin in his direction.
“Look at me,” Caleb yells nervously.
Henry’s voice sounded like a faraway scream when he said, “Baby, I’m coming for you.” Everything was getting dark and blurry.
Sebastian growled, “I want my fiancée back in a month. I think I’ll spend some time with my stepdaughter to get to know her better.”
There was a lot of red blood everywhere, and I was starting to feel dizzy. Caleb ripped off his shirt and tied it around my thigh.
“Leave her alone, this is between you and-” My fiancé was yelling before Sebastian unplugged the device. My vision was blurry.
Sebastian pushed Caleb away from me, and he looked like he was about to lose it. Sebastian tore off the rope that was tied around my hands and then tore off the ones that were tied around my feet. I felt so dizzy that my head was falling forward.
Sebastian raised my head. “Don’t give up on me now, Pumpkin,” Sebastian whispered as he picked me up like a bride.
My head hit his arm, and I screamed in pain. It was getting so dark that I could hear people yelling. Sebastian looked down at me and looked really scared. My head fell to the right, and there was no light.
I woke up to a beeping sound and slowly opened my eyes, not knowing what to expect. I was praying that this was just a bad dream and that it wasn’t real. I heard something moving next to me while an IV was pumping through me. Caleb was sleeping in the chair, and he didn’t look comfortable. I looked around the room and saw that I was in a hospital. I sat up and groaned in pain. He did stab me, and my thigh was wrapped in a white bandage.
A deep, tired voice says, “You’ve been out for two days.” I looked into Caleb’s eyes as he sat up and rubbed his sleepy eyes. “I had no idea he was really going to hurt you. I would never, ever put you through physical pain, Aria,” Caleb says as he stands up and walks towards me. He bends down to my level.
When he put his hand on my cheek, I jumped in fear. He seemed upset by how I reacted, but he calmed down when I put my hand on his.
“It doesn’t hurt less,” I said in a rough voice.
“I broke up with Nina,” Caleb said. I couldn’t think or talk. What did he want me to do? Jump into his arms and say, ‘I loved him forever.’
“I stayed with her because I thought that if I left, I would never see my child again. I never loved her. I never loved anyone as much as I love you. “Seeing the life leave your body changed me. I started to think about life without you, but I couldn’t.” Caleb’s eyes searched my face for a reaction, but I was numb. I couldn’t go through this again.
“Nina and I had s*x once, and she got pregnant and made me date her.”
“Where is Sebastian?”I asked, “I don’t want to see him, but I want to know what the jerk is doing after he almost killed me.”