*Amelia*
I curled up into a ball on the Queen-sized bed in the large room, whimpering softly. The lights glowed with a yellowish halo, shimmering down in a circle.
It's been a straight week since Nicholas has hidden me here, and I've been restricted from stepping out to even feel the fresh light breeze.
Don't get me wrong, he has provided everything for me. Dresses, shoes, cosmetics, and so on. He made sure I have everything at my beck, only that I'm not allowed to go outside.
It's so frustrating, I can imagine how miserable my family would be at the moment. After searching for me in the crooks and crannies of the whole city, but to no avail.
Shortly, the sound of the opening pulled me out of my thought and I slowly took my gaze to the door and saw him closing the door behind him.
I shrank back in the bed, my gaze holding his as he increased his pace to the bed.
There was a smirk playing around his lips as he called out, “Love of my life” he crawled into the bed all dressed in a suit and shoes.
I gave an expression of pure disgust, bringing a pillow close to my chest tightly. However, he didn't stop, and I could feel my heart pounding strongly as he reached out his arm and took the pillow away.
“Why did you do that?” I nearly shriek, the fear squeezing out of my throat while I glared right into his sharp eyes.
Instead of replying, he lowered his hand to the upper button of my shirt, but I quickly held his hand, “What are you doing, Nicholas?” my heart wasn't as calm as it seemed anymore.
A flirtatious smile covered up his face immediately as he slowly brought his other hand to my chest, but I quickly clutched my clothing, blocking his attempt.
“Come on, Kiara. I miss the sound of your moans in my ears. They are like a beautiful melody, you know,” he said in an extremely low voice. I grimaced and jumped out of the bed directly.
“How many times do I have to repeat myself that I'm not Kiara?” I bellowed, glaring at him and stepping backward continuously.
While holding my gaze, he stood up from the bed gracefully and calculate his footsteps to where I was.
“Don't make things difficult for me, Kiara. I might just kill you,” he threatened, a ferocious wave lingering across his eyes.
“Then just do that,” I howled, pushing his chest strongly, “Tell me, what exactly is resisting you from killing me now? Huh!”
No matter how much I push him, he wouldn't budge and all of a sudden, he ruthlessly grabbed my hair and I yelped, attempting to break free from his grasp.
“Just comply with my orders, that's all I'm asking for. Don't compel me to do what I'll regret later again,” he growled menacingly with each word he spelled, but I just groaned in pain as he continued to make the pain intensify.
“Do whatever you want to, but I'm not afraid of you,” I said through clenched teeth. My eyes glared holes into his body, and he equally glared back.
A soft knock on the door intruded his next action, “Lunch is served, Boss” Luke notified from outside, and he just threw me off, causing me to fall to the floor like a parabola.
“Let's have lunch,” he turned around and said to me calmly. I scoffed in disdain, shifting back until my back hit against the bed.
“I'm not hungry,” I told him with a scowl, looking everywhere but his face.
He snickered softly, yet I didn't spare him a glance, “I wouldn't like you to grow too lean though, so come and eat something”
“Oh, since you've managed to grow fond of Luke, and to be honest, I'm not against it. Luke has been a good friend of mine and a hardworking assistant. I'll ask him to bring you lunch,”
After he said that, he retreated to the door and stopped walking again, “But you better don't try shit with him, if I managed to find out that you fall in love with him just like how you fell for Alexander instead of me. Then I'll kill you,” he endangered, making the sign of a knife over his throat. With that, he strode out.
I gazed at his back view disappearing out the door and shook my head pathetically. I'm not even worried about myself now but thinking inside my heart that how could someone like Nicholas had managed to acquire Kiara's attention in the beginning?
***
I don't know how long I slept, but the sound of the door opening arose me from my short sleep. It was Luke coming inside holding a tray.
I squeezed my face and brace myself to a sitting position on the ceramic floor.
“Hey. Did I wake you?” he spoke softly while he walked forward and lowered the tray right in front of me.
I didn't reply, but smiled at him instead. If not for Luke, then maybe I would have committed suicide. Being captured in this unknown area is a bit easier with Luke beside me.
“Come on, you need to eat now,” he cajoled, bringing out the plates and positioning them before me.
“I'm not hungry,” I frowned, folding my hands on my chest as if I were annoyed.
He snickered while opening the dishes, “Are you sure you don't want this?” he sneered with a broad wink.
My eyes lit up immediately, it was a steamed bun with pickled cabbage, and it was then I realized there was a soya bean milk along with it on the tray.
Grinning, I discreetly extended my hand forward and quickly grabbed a bun.
My silly movement elicited hearty laughter from his mouth, and I couldn't control mine either.
Luke and I stayed together until evening. We shared a lot of talks, played some of the children's games, and many more.
“Let me start going now, Amelia. It's late,” he proclaimed, rising to his feet. I became sad immediately as I watched him stand up.
“I thought you said your boss isn't around, then stay a little more while,” I whined, giving him my puppy eyes.
He chuckled, “Yes, but he'll be back soon,”
I lowered my head in distress, feeling an emptiness in my heart as if I were a child who had been thrown into a dark cave, waiting alone and in fear until someone come to my rescue.
“Come on, we'll see tomorrow, okay?”
I lifted my head to look at him and opened my mouth to talk.
“Luke!” his fierce voice shouted from outside.
“Bye,” after he said that, he scampered to the door and darted out.
A few moments after Luke had stepped out, the door opened again, and there stood him in the doorway. His hands are in his pocket and emanating a powerful aura.
I pressed my lips to a straight line and readjusted on the bed.
“We're going out on a date tomorrow,” he proclaimed, and I just scoffed scornfully, crinkling my legs together without uttering a word.
“Are you just going to remain silent?” he raised his voice with a scowl.
“Does my opinion matter in any way?” I raised my gaze in his direction and slammed back.
He stared at me in silence, and I equally gazed back. And without further ado, he turned away and shut the door after him.
“Desmond,” I muttered, my heart burning with despair. “I miss you,” the tears in my eyes finally fell, and I simply wiped them away.
The following evening…
I sat in the window bay of the bedroom, my gaze dwelling on the grass outside. My heart seemed to be filled with all sorts of mixed emotions.
A knock snatched me back to reality, followed by Luke's soft voice, “Are you busy?”
I stood up and looked at him with a beam, “Shall we continue from where we stopped yesterday?”
He grinned, and I took it as an approval, “I hope he's not around,” I grimaced while I walked up to him.
“No, he has gone out to get your dress for the evening” I rolled my eyeballs upon hearing these words.
I wish I could find a way to escape.
“Let's talk outside,”
I looked up at his face in surprise, and he nodded with a smile.
Outside.
We both sat on one of the small staircases in the front yard and conversed merrily.
I was already feeling chilly, but our discussion wouldn't allow me to speak about it as I continued to rub my arms.
“Here, wear this,” I heard, and I turned to see Luke stretching out his large sweatshirt to me, only left in his white inner shirt.
I smiled gently at his kind gesture and collected it, and then wore it.
“Whoa, I feel warm now,” I glimmered.
He smiled, “That's great,”
A shocking silence stretched between us as we both stared ahead with our own thoughts.
“What do you think would be happening in your household now?” Luke questioned, cutting off the awkward atmosphere.
“Please don't remind me, Luke, it's just quite unfortunate that I was unable to bid them a good farewell”
He stared at my side face while I continued to gaze forward, “So you already lose hope about meeting your family again?”
I chuckled dryly and turned to look at him, “Is there any reason for me to keep hoping? No. Destiny isn't just being fair with me,” I said while discarding my gaze from his face.
“How do you mean?”
“Growing and suffering in the hands of the woman I've always known as my mother, but got to realize later that she only picked me up from a matron. Knowing recently that I'm a twin and meeting my twin sister after all these years even though we haven't detected who our real mother is,”
“Found a true love from the only man I've ever loved and so on. However, I never knew that all the happiness wouldn't last forever,”
Pausing for a moment and looking at his face again, “It's quite unfortunate, right?”
Luke didn't say anything but lowered his head instead, “It's pathetic,”
I nodded.
Another short silence ensued between us, “So you're truly a twin, and you're not Kiara?”
I glared at him playfully, “Even you? So, you didn't believe me all this while?”
He chuckled softly, “If you're bestowed the opportunity to call one of your family members now, who would it be?” asked Luke curiously.
“Granny,” I answered directly. “Granny? Who's Granny?” his brows furrowed while he asked?
A wide smile broke out on my face as I answered his question, “To cut the long story short, Granny is just like an angel sent to me from above,”
“Whoa… I see,”
I wonder how anxious Granny would be since last week.
“Here, call any of your family or friends who can help you escape from this place,” Luke said while stretching out his cell phone to me.
My eyes widened in shock and horror as I stared at his face, “Come on. Hurry,” he put in, looking ahead again.
“Why are you doing this, Luke, and I hope you know the consequences?” I asked patiently, with tears assembling in my eyes slowly.
“I know, Amelia. Now take the phone and call anyone,” he said impatiently.
I collected the phone and hugged him tightly, catching him off guard while my tears finally fell.
“That's enough, Amelia,” he said lowly while disengaging from the hug.
I beamed and punched Desmond's number into the phone, and I was glad he picked up at the second ringing.
“Hello, Desmond. It's me, Amelia. You need to start coming to the uptown of the city right away. Please hurry and if possible, you can bring along the police. Please…” Luke suddenly snatched the phone from my ear.
I looked at him with annoyance, but his uncomfortable gaze was dwelling onward, and I took the initiative to look in the same direction, only to find Nicholas standing a few meters away from us with a shopping bag in his hand.
“Boss, you're back?” Luke asked with uneasiness while standing on his feet.
“Yes, Luke. Is there a problem?” he asked with a little smile while walking toward us.
Luke answered quickly, “No, not at all”
His smile remained undiminished on his lips as he passed by us and went inside.
“Do you think he caught us?” I mumbled to Luke's hearing, but he just shook his head, “I don't think so. Let's go in”
As soon as we reached inside, Nicholas ambled to the entrance door and bolted it. He turned around and retrieved a handgun from his pants trousers.
I became scared as I peeked at Luke's face, who was not looking shocked at all.
“What are you doing, Nicholas?” I shouted.
“What does it look like? Of course, I'm killing both of you right in this spot,” he said calmly, aiming the gun at Luke and moving closer.
I immediately went to my knees and began to plead in tears, “I beg you in the name of whom you love the most, Nicholas, please don't do this,”
“Just shut up, you bitch!” he howled at me, a trace of a hurricane forming in his eyes.
“Luke! You betrayed me!”
That was the line I heard last, then followed by a gunshot.