Slowly, my heavy eyes fluttered open. I found myself seated in an upholstered chair, my wrists bound behind me with a rope.

The first thing coming to my view was an expansive room shrouded in darkness. Squinting my eyes at the corner, I surveyed the place with the aid of the moonlight spilling through the floor to ceiling glass window behind me. 

The expansive room filled with furniture screamed with luxury. From the high ceiling, an expensive dangling chandelier, pristine white walls, the plush carpet covering the floor length and the fancy canopied bed, exhibit nothing but a lavish lifestyle.

A scowl etched deeply into my temples as my eyes struggled to locate the exit. After seemingly endless exploration, finally my eye located the door. 

The room appeared to be empty. Reasons told me I should grab the chance to escape now or else I will never have the chance to get out of this room alive.

Try as I might, I tried freeing my wrists. But the damn rope would not even budge. It was looped around my wrists rather too tightly. The more I struggled, the more the rope dug into my tender flesh. 

Grimacing at the throbbing wound in my head, I stopped resisting.

How did I end up here? I inwardly asked myself, tears forming at the corner of my eyes at the soreness in my wrists.

I willfully summoned my recollection of today's events to find out how I ended up here. As though a switch flipped on, the memories came rushing back to me.

I recall vividly as a solid object hit my head with force. I dropped to the ground, the metallic scent of blood reaching my nostrils. With my vision fading, I caught sight of blood dripping from my head, staining both my hands and shirt.

I recalled almost everything except one particular detail, the face of the perpetrator who hit me with a baseball bat before l lost my consciousness.

Only two people have the motive to kidnap me. It could either be ‌Vince, Ace's egotistical step-brother whose advances I turned down countless times, or Angela, the jealous mistress jilted by my ex-husband at the altar.

My thoughts scattered in the air when the fancy canopy parted open, revealing the figure seated on the bed, watching me quietly in the dark.

A horrified gasp emerged from my lips as I caught a faint glimpse of white beaded high-heeled shoes.

I knew it! Angela is behind all this!

Still in her white virginal wedding gown, she emerged from the shadows to show her face. The silvery moonlight revealed the splotches of blood in her pristine white gloves as she stood parallel to me.

Gaze locked with mine, she made no move to come closer.‌

She sat on the bed with a captivating charm of a siren. Hitching the hem of her long skirt, she crossed her legs, revealing flawless long legs that could make any man go crazy.

As though a photographer will take a shot of her prenup photos, she paused and tilted her chin forward. But instead of holding a fresh bouquet of white roses, it was a gun she was clutching tightly around her fingers.

"I see you're awake," she grinned, a devilish glint sparkling at the corner of her eye.

"I just woke up, too. I fell asleep after waiting for you to wake up." she added. The smile on her face continued to haunt me with fear.

You're twisted! How could you soundly sleep, knowing an unconscious woman was bleeding in front of you? I wanted to scream at her face, but I stopped myself in time before blurting out the words aloud.

No! I couldn't annoy her. She might shoot me and harm the baby!

Despite the fury swelling inside me, I took a deep breath, waited for my emotions to cool down before meeting her gaze.

"What do you want from me, Angela?" I shot her the question. My tone remained calm despite the conflicting emotions inside me. Feart, fury, disgust, and hate bubble inside all the same time. It required me an exorbitant amount of self-restraint to prevent them from erupting.

"Why don't you figure it out on your own?" She shot back. Her gloved fingers toying with the gun, letting it bounce back and forth on her palms.

I swallowed hard.

What if she fired the gun and killed me? Fear swelled inside me like an enormous balloon, overpowering any other emotions I felt inside me.

No. I guess she won't kill me yet. She will toy me first, like the gun in her hand.

"I couldn't think of a reason." I replied. "You have my ex-husband, don't you?"

Anger flared in her eyes. "That bastard jilted me on the altar in front of a thousand guests!" She spat bitterly. Unforgiving eyes landed at me.

"You seriously couldn't keep a man for a long time." I blurted aloud, too late to take it back. Her eyes flared with rage. Within a flash of lightning, she crossed the gap between us.

Smack!

The gun slapped the side of my jaw, tearing at the tender flesh of my lips. Blood leaked from the bruised skin. I could taste the metallic taste of blood in my mouth.

"How dare insult me!" She screamed, flailing her arms in anger. "I will teach you to respect me!"

My patience snapped like a thread. I glared at her. Rage lit my eyes with fire.

 "You don't deserve an ounce of my respect, Angela." I spat in between gritted teeth. "Respect is earned, not given. A home-wrecker like you with no self-worth is not entitled to one!"

Smack!

The blow landed on my jaw again. But the rage boiling inside me shielded me from the pain. I feel nothing except the numbness crawling in my jaw.

I stared at her coldly, with daggers in my eyes. If eyes could kill, Angela had dropped dead on the floor seconds ago.

"Close your mouth or I will splutter your brain on the floor." She threatened, pressing the gun hard into my temples, ready to pull the trigger if required.