Chapter 4
"What makes you think you have the right to take anything from the Turner family?" Martin's voice was low and dangerous, his eyes blazing with fury.
He advanced on me until I was cornered against the wall. "Return the shares. And after that, get out of here. I won't tolerate manipulative women in my life."
I stood there, watching him rant until he was done.
Then, I raised my hand.
Smack!
The sharp sound of a slap echoed through the living room.
The air seemed to freeze.
Martin clutched his face, staring at me in utter disbelief.
"How dare you hit me?" he gritted out.
He'd always been the golden boy, never once humiliated like this.
I flexed my tingling fingers, glaring at him coldly.
"That slap was for me," I said, my voice icy. "Martin, cut the self-righteous crap.
"First, I'm not some substitute. I'm Maya Hall.
"Second, I never begged for these shares. Your father shoved them into my hands.
"And third, and most importantly." I paused, making sure every word was crystal clear. "I'm done with this marriage. The divorce is happening.
"You and your precious first love? I couldn't care less about either of you."
With that, I turned and walked away, not bothering to look back.
Martin was completely blindsided by my barrage of words, left standing there dazed and speechless.
By the time he finally came to his senses, I was already at the door.
"Stop!" he shouted, storming over and grabbing my wrist. "Maya, spell it out for me! What are you really after?"
I wrenched my hand free, my eyes full of disgust.
"You don't have the right to know what I want," I shot back. "Right now, you should be worried about your precious first love who got kidnapped. Well, did you find her?"
I was twisting the knife, hitting him right where it hurt.
Sure enough, his expression soured further.
"That's none of your business!" he snapped.
"Oh?" I arched a brow. "So, you still haven't found her, huh? Figures. The Parker family isn't exactly a walk in the park.
"Who knows, maybe your precious Sandra's getting roughed up..."
I didn't need to finish. The message was loud and clear.
Martin's breath came out in harsh bursts, his eyes boring into me like he could rip me to shreds just by looking.
"Shut up!" he spat. "Maya, if anything happens to Sandra, I'll drag you down with her!"
Drag me down with her? Sure, why not?
I'd make sure he and Sandra get a luxury suite in hell.
I was roasting him in my head, but on the outside, I kept a straight face.
"Mr. Turner, instead of wasting your breath threatening me, why not send more people out to look for her?" I said. "After all, every minute you waste here means your precious Sandra is in even more danger."
I 'helpfully' reminded him.
Just as I expected, my words pushed him over the edge. He shot me a murderous glare, snatched up his car keys and stormed out.
As I watched him bolt out the door, my smirk grew.
What an idiot he was.
He'd never imagine the mastermind behind the whole kidnapping was the "substitute" he always despised.
And his precious first love? Right now, she was getting a taste of the special surprise I cooked up for her.
I headed back to the attic and locked the door behind me.
From the hidden compartment under my bed, I pulled out a spare phone.
As soon as I powered it on, a secure message popped up.
It read, [Maya, the "package" has been delivered to the designated location.]
There was also a video attached.
I tapped on the video.
On the screen, Sandra was tied to a chair, her mouth stuffed with a cloth and her eyes covered.
Her expensive custom-made dress was now dirty and rumpled.
A few men with rough, menacing faces circled her, cameras in hand, grinning like predators.
"Well, this is the number one socialite in Anbutin City?"
"She's pretty damn good-looking."
"Boss, when are we gonna get started?"
One guy kept rubbing his hands, clearly itching to get going.
The leader, a scar-faced thug, spat on the floor.
"What's the hurry? Wait till the client gives the word. Just record, no touching. Got it?" he ordered. "The client wants her reputation destroyed, and make her wish she was dead."
I watched Sandra struggling in terror on the screen, and not even a hint of sympathy crossed my mind.
In my previous life, she did the same thing. She hired a bunch of thugs to destroy my innocence, filmed everything, and used the footage to threaten my parents.
In the end, she drove them to suicide, both jumping off a building.
Sandra, this time around, I would let her feel the same hopelessness.
This was only the beginning.
I saved the video and sent it to Lenny.