LET HER GO

By this time, Zac had become strung up and he couldn't keep calm any longer as he dialed Ava’s number for the hundredth time.



He was in his mansion, not any of his penthouses and a few escorts were on guards, including Reid and Nick.



Actually, Reid had come by to ask him about Charlotte’s task. In his opinion, he thought that being with Charlotte was not necessary anymore since Zac had acquired his purpose.




However, the moment he stepped into the villa and saw his boss, he knew things were not looking good and he needed no one to tell him it was about Ava.




“Let me go check her in her hostel, boss. Perhaps she misplaced her cell,” Nick voiced out his thought, his gaze lowered as he talked.




As if buying Nick idea, Zac halted his frantic pace and kept silence for some moment before walking up to Nick and then uttered softly, “Let’s go,”



Zac knew something he didn't want to imagine had happened to Ava the moment the car stopped by the house outside and he saw her friends, looking quite worried.



A distressed-looking Hazel was the first person to see Zac coming down from his car and she quickly walked over to him.



“Hi, Zac. Do you have any idea of where Ava is right now? She told me this place is her new home and we’re here to celebrate with her tonight but none of us hasn't been able to reach her for the past one hour,” Hazel’s voice cracked when speaking as she was also trying her best not to imagine the negativity.



After trying Ava’s number for a long time but to no avail, Freya and Caleb had taken Hazel’s car and drove to her former hostel to see if she was there since her colleagues at work were also there and they said she'd left the office before them.



Daniel, Hazel’s boyfriend didn't appreciate how his girlfriend was so worried when nothing has been confirmed yet. He placed a hand over her shoulder and said gently, “Stop worrying, babe. Ava is fine,”



“Then where is she right now, Daniel? Why is her line not going through?” Hazel yelled out and her tears fell down hysterically instantly.



Zac gave Nick a look and Nick immediately understood it. He left that place and moved forward to call Lee.



“Ava is missing, Lee. The boss wants you to look into it right away,” he spoke with urgency into the phone but the person at the end of the phone was a bit reluctant and Nick could feel it.



“Did you hear me, Lee? The boss’s girlfriend is missing_”



“Yeah, I got it,” Lee interrupted Nick firmly and the line went off at once.



By the time Nick returned to where others were, he overheard Ava’s colleagues at work saying…



“Didn’t she say she would be heading the grocery store first?” Gabriella thought back to their chat earlier, darting her worried eyes between Felix and Vera who also looked as worried as her.



“Yeah, she mentioned it!” Vera exclaimed, “Do you think she's probably still at the grocery store?” she wondered, shaking her head at the same time as if to tell herself that it wasn't possible.



Who shops from noon up until night and still hasn't finished shopping?



Nick got to them at that moment and started questioning the three of them if perhaps Ava mentioned somewhere else she was planning to go.




At this moment, it seemed Zac had guessed who could have taken Ava away. With his jaw and fists clenching hard, he produced his phone from his trouser pocket and put the phone to his ear after pressing it shortly.



“Find out Walker's whereabouts now, Reid,” His face contorted with fury, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white, “That treacherous bastard! He has no idea what he's brought upon himself,”




On the other end of the phone, Reid was quite taken aback as he couldn't understand what his boss was talking about. The last time they checked, Walker was mourning his mother and has been hidden from the world since then.



It was known that the death of his mother hit him really differently and some of his rivals had taken advantage of him at this moment of his grieving.



“Walker hasn't even been available to take deals since his mother demise, Zac. What are you talking about?”



“Then who could have dare to abduct Ava if not him?” Zac spat, “Hunt him down by all means and confirm his whereabouts. I'm sure he has a hand in this and I'll make sure he pay dearly for it,” he hissed, his voice dripping with venom.



Reid said he understood his message and will get on it right away and after that, Zac hung up first.


*********

Still in shock, Ava couldn't believe her eyes with who had dared kidnap and restrain her to a chair.



She was engulfed in black leather jacket, collar upturned to frame her face, and her golden hair swooshing around her shoulders.



She looked sexy as hell even with the fierce expression she had on her face.



“What am I doing here?” asked Ava sternly, making her features rigid even though she was damn nervous inside. Like, she could literally hear her own heartbeat loud in her ears.



The lady’s lips curled into a sneer, the vein of her temple popped up as she walked closer and closer to where Ava sat and asked, “What do you think, sweetie?”



Ava scoffed an incredulous sound. To be frank, she really didn't know what to think about this lady as they held no grudges against one another.



Although, she seemed pretty close to Mia Dawson but she wouldn't stop so low to do this because of Mia or would she?



“Are you doing this because of Mia Dawson? Did she pay you to kidnap me or_”



*SMACK*



Ava had not finished talking when she was interrupted by a tight, resounding and deafening slap. She felt buzzes in her ears along the taste of blood in her mouth.



She slightly lifted her head and saw that the lady’s face had grown from fierce to murderous, bloodthirsty, ferocious, and more names related to a look that had to do with killing.



“The next time you raise your head and directly look into my eyes then I'll behead you, I promise you,” the lady threatened ferociously, her teeth clenching.



“Then what are you still waiting for?” Ava snapped, “I have no clue why you've decided to keep me here but whatever the reason is, I'm sure you're not letting me go soon or might even end up killing me. So why don’t you just save yourself from the unnecessary stress,”



The lady’s lips upturned to a mischievous smirk, “I can see you’ve become quite sharp-mouthed,”



Before Ava could even react or think of her next words, her hair was suddenly pulled and her head was forced to be looking up at the lady’s vicious face.



“You've become this sharp-mouthed ever since you got entangled with my boss, huh? Where's he now? Is he looking for his college princess already? Do you think he can ever find you?” Her teeth ground with the questions, tugging at Ava’s hair even harder.



Ava couldn't hold back the whimper that left her lips, her eyes had closed as she had surrendered to the lady to do whatever she wanted with her.



“You bastard, you took the boss away from me!” the lady suddenly yelled, “I did my best, I did my fucking best for him to see me as a woman not just as a subordinate but can you believe what he said to me?”




Ava swallowed, staring at her and waiting for her to continue.



“The boss fucking told me that he would kill me if I ever contemn you again. The look in his eyes that day verified that he would really do that. What am I saying? The boss never says what he won't accomplish. He only says what he'll surely do,”



Watching this woman rant like this, Ava unbiddenly recalled how the lady had almost slapped her because she had dined with Aurora back in Zac’s mansion some months ago. It was starting to make sense now.



So this woman had hated her since that day? But Zac had not even demonstrated his love to her that day.



“It’s not my fault that your boss doesn't take a liking to you, Miss. You can't keep me here and punish me for what I know absolutely nothing about,” Ava snapped again. She couldn't just keep mute and watch this woman insult her.


“You little snitchy bitchy,” The lady snarled, raising her hand and giving Ava the same slap she’d given her earlier.

Ava felt her inner cheek torn at once and the taste of blood in her mouth came surging again.

At this point, she could not feel her ears and for a long time, the lady words seemed to be echoing in the place but she couldn’t decipher what the words were.


“I know I'll surely be sentenced to death after the boss learned about this but trust me, you'd be long gone before then,” the lady sneered triumphantly at a bloody mouthed Ava and after one last glare, she marched out of the place.


Listening to her footsteps fading into the darkness, Ava suppressed the sorrow in her heart and laughed bitterly.

Of all the cruel pranks in the universe, never had she imagined to be kidnapped because of a man before.


She was really hurt as if numerous sharp objects poked her straight in the heart. Was she going to die like this?


“What are you doing, Arianna?” this question and the tall masculine that appeared as soon as the words emitted almost gave the lady a scare.


However, she breathed out a soft sigh and waved a hand at him. “You startled me, Lee,”

Lee came closer. Straight and vibrant body that was covered with inks, most of them were tiny little wordings that could only be seen at a closer look.

Yellow-haired that was messy at the top of his head but cut straight at the back. He looked really cute and handsome too. A typical lady’s fantasy.

“Let her go, Arianna. You've done enough,” He affirmed, his stare hard on the lady in black outfit right in his front.

A humorless chuckle rolled out Arianna’s mouth, “Are you kidding me right now, Lee? Do you know since I've been looking for this opportunity to send that girl away from the boss’s life?”


“And now that I've found her and all I need to do is too execute my plan and throw her out of this world, you want me to let her go? That joke is damn expensive, Lee,” Arianna twicthed her mouth, behaving like the huge man was just joking around with his words.


“Let’s go in,” she added and started to walk away but suddenly, a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

For a long minute, he stared into her eyes with a look that spoke of heartbreak, devotion and undying love, and said at last, “The boss will kill you once he knows this, Arianna,”